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I wish we could come clean to them and put it out in the open. What’s the point? In on month, we won’t even live in the same city.
Steam fills the bathroom, heating the open space. “We should let my mom have some alone time.”
Kat nods, but her smile turns to a frown that surprises me.
I tip her chin up with my finger so that our eyes meet. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t feel so hot.” She looks away from me and covers her mouth with her hand.
I get down on one knee in front of her and place my hand on her thigh. “What can I do?”
“You can hold my hair while I puke.”
I lift Kat up from the tub, help her over to the toilet, and flip up the lid.
She sinks to the floor, holding onto my leg. “I shouldn’t have mixed apple martinis with that Japanese beer Austin was drinking. Ugh, why did you let me do that?”
“I tried to stop you. And you only had one beer and two martinis.”
She grunts as she positions herself over the bowl. “It was a bad combination. You don’t want to watch this, Dean. Maybe turn your head or something.”
I grip her long, blonde hair and hold it as she hurls the contents of her stomach. After Kat finishes, I hand her a tissue to wipe her mouth and sit on the floor next to her.
“I hate that you have to see me like this,” she whispers.
“You have seen me at some of my worst moments. This is nothing.”
She closes the lid and pushes herself up from the floor to sit on top of it. “I need to brush my teeth. You might die if I breathe on you.”
We both laugh at her theatrics.
“How about I take you back to your room so that you can brush your teeth?”
“That sounds like a good plan
. We need to get your mom situated first.”
“I don’t deserve you,” I confess and mean it. A woman who cares as much about my mother as she does me is a keeper. I hold out my hand for Kat to take and help her up from the toilet.
“Yes, you do. You deserve so much more.” She leans her head on my chest, as we walk out of the bathroom.
After we fix my mom a cup of tea and say goodnight, promising to come back in the morning, I ride the elevator up one more floor to Kat’s room. The suite is larger than my mom’s, with even more windows that overlook the city and a larger dining area. I escort Kat into the bedroom and turn my back to her as she gets changed. Even after all the times I have seen her naked, I still like to give her some privacy.
“Okay, you can look. I’m decent,” Kat announces, sounding much better than she did downstairs.
“Bedtime.” I pull back the covers for Kat to get into bed, and she complies with my order.
She throws her hands above her head and yawns, before patting the open space next to her on the mattress. “Get in. I need you to snuggle with me.”
Every time Kat gets sick, she has me do this with her. She has routines with her brothers and dad. I am in charge of continuing the tradition. Before she died, Kat’s mom would hold her in her arms, curled up in bed, and sing her to sleep. I cannot sing, so I don’t. Austin and Duke had continued in their mother’s place, and as her best friend, it was a job I’d inherited.
I strip down to my boxers and sink onto the mattress. Kat rolls onto her side and pulls my hand over her stomach, keeping our fingers interlocked.
The second my head hits the pillow, I close my eyes and take in the vanilla scent of her skin. She smells good enough to eat. My reaction to being this close to Kat after such an eventful night has me regretting the decision to undress. We almost never have this problem, though, on occasion, I have gotten hard around Kat when the feeling wasn’t mutual.
She has never made being her friend easy. Any man on campus would jump at the chance to have a girl with her beauty, brains, and talent. But most guys are pussies and too afraid of a girl who can play hockey and kick their ass in the process.
“Dean,” She whispers.
