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Blowing out another breath, I thought about what she’d do if I told her it felt like a betrayal to my sister that I didn’t want to leave.
If I told her what my first thought was:I’m not ready to leave home so soon.
If I told her it was those types of thoughts that had set us on this course in the first place.
Which was why I didn’t say the words. Not now.
Instead, I gave her a short nod. “Let me know what happens with the plumber.”
The moment was over, and we both knew it. In its place was a giant question mark.
I hated those.
As I ran to change my clothes, shove some clean shirts and shorts into a duffel bag, I thought once again about how odd it all was—and if I’d made the biggest mistake of my life by kissing her. If I’d ever be able to move on now that I knew what it was like.
And I wondered when I’d started thinking of this place as home.
Chapter Twenty-Five
BURKE
I woke up hot. Very, very hot. And not the good kind, like I’d fantasized about when I planted face-first into the bed in my sister’s guest room.
Ford was sprawled out against me, his knee lodged up under my neck and his elbow jammed into my side. I tried to shift carefully, allow my nephew to keep sleeping, but the moment I moved, he rolled, whacking me in the face with his foot.
“Ford,” I grunted, shoving at his leg.
“Mhm.” He stretched and his arm flopped dangerously close to my balls. “What time is it?”
“Time to stop hitting me in the junk, kid.”
His chuckle was sleepy, and he sat up, hair sticking out at all angles. “I slept so good.”
I covered my face with one arm. Partially because it was bright and I’d forgotten to close the curtains before crawling into bed, and partially for protection against flailing limbs. “Glad to hear it,” I said dryly.
After landing late the night before, I’d picked up my nephew from the neighbor’s house, carrying a sleeping Ford back home and walkinghim up to his bedroom. He’d sat in his bed, trying to get his bearings, before he looked up at me with those big eyes of his.
Kid looked terrified. “Is my sister gonna be okay?”
“Yeah, the doctors are taking real good care of her. Your mom texted me just a little bit ago; she’ll be back to normal in no time.”
“How long will they be gone?”
“A couple days, probably. But I don’t think she’ll be running around with you for a week or two.”
He nodded, but his eyes filled with tears all the same. “Do you think she’s scared being at the hospital?”
These kids did crazy fucking things to my heart. I couldn’t fathom taking much more, and they weren’t even my own. Parents must have been losing their shit on a regular basis worrying about every damn thing that could happen.
I sat next to him on his bed. “Nah. You know Felicia; she’s probably breaking all the rules and driving the nurses crazy.”
Ford smiled, but he still looked worried. “Can we do a sleepover in your room, Uncle Burke?”
I’d basically say yes to anything he asked for, if it made him feel better, but I wasn’t sure my sister would appreciate me admitting that out loud.
I nudged him on the shoulder. “Do you snore?”
“I don’t think so. Do you?”
