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What the fuck? What in theactual fuck, Fitz? I’m not sure if the question is more because I’m shocked, or because I’m disappointed in my lack of restraint, or both. And this affection - this softness. It’s not a side of me that I’m used to showing. Frankly, I’d forgotten it existed.
But before I can think on it too much, I hear a gentle mumbling and realize that Piper, in just a few minutes, has completely passed out on my chest, and all I can do is smile the shit-eating grin I’ve been hiding since her lips first met mine.
Chapter 16
Piper
Iwakeuponmy own the next morning, blinking several times at the canopy above my bed, trying to let the memories of last night trickle back, rather than hit me like a tidal wave.
Bex is curled up next to me under the blankets, snoring loudly, and when I shift, she rustles, popping her head out to say hello and blinking her weary eyes.
I realize, with a jolt, that Fitz isn’t in the bed next to me - and he definitely had been when I'd fallen asleep. Hadn’t he? Or was that a post-concussion fever dream?
I grope under the covers for my phone, scratching under Bex’s chin, and finally locate it on the side table, plugged into the charger. I have several messages waiting for me, but open his first.
FITZ WESTFALL
Had to head out early for work and didn’t want to wake you. I walked and fed Bex. Hope you feel better today.
Though the words are plain, my heart patters a little bit. He walked and fed my dog. He didn’t want to wake me.
“I was wondering when you were going to emerge from the land of the dead,” Carla’s voice drawls, and I look toward my open bedroom door to see her leaning against the frame, a large coffee cup in hand. An admin at a physical therapy office, she’s dressed for work in dark blue scrubs, her short blond hair straight against her cheeks. She smirks at me from over her cup. “He left at about 6.” I glance down at my phone. 7:15 a.m.
“I must have fallen asleep during the movie,” I admit, pushing myself up against my headboard and letting Bex cuddle into my lap.
“You did,” she muses, taking a drink. “I went out to the living room at about midnight and he was out there, he made sure you took your meds, too.” My eyes widen at her words, and I let my head fall back against the wall, mortified.
Memories from the night before flood me, a vague whisper of someone shaking me awake, shoving my daily pill container and a glass of water in my hand before letting me fall back asleep.
“What was he doing in the living room?” I ask finally, and she smirks again.
“Come see for yourself.” She nods toward the hall, and I pull myself out of bed to follow her.
It’s spotless. The entire living area, kitchen, even our small breakfast nook with a two-person table, all spotless. The cans and food containers that had littered the counters are gone, the mail stacked in neat piles by recipient on one corner. I shudder to think what clothes were littered around the room as I see them piled in a laundry basket under the bar. The blankets on the back of the couch are folded into neat little rectangles, and even the TV remotes are lined up on the coffee table next to a straight stack of trashy magazines we’d discarded at our yearly vision board party.
“Uh,” is all I can manage, and Carla nods appreciatively next to me, drinking her coffee.
“He cleaned, he walked the dog, he brought you food…” She runs her eyes over me, still clad in my sweatshirt and leggings, my hair a rumpled mess. “Did you swear allegiance with unlimited head or something in those texts?”
I snort, my fingers reaching out to touch the tv stand near the hallway entrance, which has clearly been wiped down.
“It’s been very PG-13,” I admit, and don’t addas much as I wish otherwise. “With the exception,” I say after a moment, “of my accidentally throwing a vibrator on his desk at The Pine.” Her horrified look tells me I’m not going to get out of this conversation without telling her details, so I move to get coffee from the half-empty pot on the counter.
By the time I’m ready to head out the door, I’ve penned a response to Fitz and wait to press send until I’m locking up, Carla right behind me.
PIPER DELMONICO
Were there woodland creatures in here last night or did you clean my apartment?
I close the phone, throwing it back in my purse and walking out to my car, where I pause, watching my roommate throw her big bag in the backseat. She stands up and catches me looking at her, arms crossed, and raises an eyebrow.
“I have a tendency to run head-first into things,” I say quietly, thinking back to a conversation I'd had with Penny and Alex when I first got to the game last week.
They'd pressed me for information on my interactions with a certain redhead, and after sharing a look that told me they'd talked outside of our normal group chats about their concerns, Penny reminded me that I sometimesready-fire-aim.
“You do,” Carla agrees with a nod, and I roll my eyes at her. The dull thud of pain is still present, though less than yesterday.
“Do you think I’m running head-first into this?”
