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My body moves on its own, propelled by fear mostly, but I have to be careful as I sit. I suck in air through my teeth and wince, but I take a seat as directed.
Even through the pain and through the pounding headache, my focus remains on the fact that all three of them are watching me. When I look up, Carter stares back with slight concern.
“Do you need an Advil?” Jase’s question comes with the shake of a bottle and I watch him as he closes a cabinet.
“Yes, please.”
“Let me get you water too,” he comments.
I nearly tell him I can do it, wanting to confess I just came in for a cup of coffee and I didn’t mean to bother them, but instead of the statement leaving me, the words stay put at the back of my throat. I grip the edge of the table as if it’s keeping me grounded. Daniel and Carter are still staring, even though Daniel has the decency to glance away when I look up at him.
Carter doesn’t. The only thing that pulls his attention away is his phone pinging in his hand.
Whoever it is, he answers with a text as I accept two white pills and a glass tumbler of water from Jase.
“Coffee?” Daniel questions as I throw the medicine back.
I swallow the pills and water quickly, nearly choking on them to answer, “Yes, please.”
As I hand the glass back to Jase, my hand trembles and I wish I could stop it. I nearly drop it. I wish I could control myself.
“You all right?” Jase asks, eyeing me closely.
“Just a little under the weather, I think,” I tell him as a shiver travels down my spine again. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”
The noise of the coffee grinder roaring to life startles me and the three of them stare at me once again. Heat engulfs my entire body. Flashes of last night come back to me, one by one, as I glance at the chair next to me. The one Declan held me in.
I feel fucking sick. Like I’m about to heave up a mostly empty stomach.
“I’m just glad Declan didn’t lock you in a tower somewhere,” Daniel comments lightly, as if it’s a joke, but I can’t manage the energy to even smile at the thought.
“It’s a joke. Just thought he might not let us see you again for a while,” he explains and Jase elbows him, muttering something into his ear just as the coffee machine that I can’t see sputters.
“Do you have a fever?” Carter questions, and I look back up at him. One breath in and one breath out is what it takes to steady myself.
“I’m just cold,” I answer him, once again wishing for that blanket. As if reading my mind, Daniel emerges once again with a blanket for me, handing it over while keeping his distance.
It’s quiet as I wrap it around myself and I try not to look at them because I feel my throat getting tight and the emotions overwhelming me. All I can hear is the murmur of men and then the tink of a spoon against ceramic before Jase brings me a cup.
“Cream and sugar,” he says and I answer, “Yes, please,” before looking down.
“He said you liked it that way I mean,” Jase explains and that’s when I realize he’s already added both.
“Declan messaged,” Carter states from across the room. He leans against the counter and motions to his phone.
“Oh,” is all I can respond as the questions rampage in my mind.Is he happy with me?is one of the loudest, followed by,Am I going to be okay?
“He said you’re allowed out,” Carter tells me and I hear him stepping closer so I look up, both of my hands wrapped around the mug. “He also said that I shouldn’t be an asshole to you.”
Jase and Daniel huff a laugh at his comment and I wish I could too, but I am very much not okay and far too aware of that fact.
With a sweep of pain at my temples, I finally sip the coffee. My eyes close instantly as the warm runs through me and the froth of the coffee is licked from my lips. Like everything else in this place, it’s exceptional.
A moment passes and it’s fairly quiet apart from Jase and Daniel discussing something lowly by the fridge. A part of me wishes they would leave, so this panic in me would subside. But another part of me doesn’t want to be alone. I just want Declan back. I wish more than anything that he hadn’t left me.
It takes another sip of coffee and every ounce of courage I have in me when Jase looks back at me to ask him, “Where’s Declan?” I know Carter is still right there, watching me, and I’m also aware it was evident that I asked Jase and not him. A chill sweeps over me, followed by a heated sensation, causing me to shiver involuntarily.
“He had to take care of some things at the office,” Carter answers, not Jase, and I’m forced to meet his cold gaze. I don’t think the man can help it. He simply elicits fear.
