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Cory was still asleep on my side. Over the last few hours, he slowly migrated to the middle of the bed, and his hand was wrapped around my leg. I quietly ordered room service for the both of us at around ten and started looking at the code I’d grabbed from Nathan. By the time the food arrived, I had an idea of how I could get some information from the phones the wipe triggering. I couldn’t wait to get home and start working on it.
Cory woke up with a start when we heard the rapping on the door.
“Stay here, I’ll check,” he grumbled, stumbling out of bed, his hair plastered to one side.
“It’s just food. I ordered room service,” I told him. He nodded but still went to open the door. The smell of eggs benedict made my stomach growl, and I was eagerly waiting for him to drag it over to the little table.
“I’m going to take a shower. Start without me,” he grumbled. I was a little surprised at his mood this morning and hoped he was just sleepy.
I sat down and continued working on the code I would need to flash into the cell phones before the data wiped while I waited for Cory to come back.
“Why haven’t you eaten?” he asked, annoyance prominent in his voice.
“I was waiting for you,” I answered, frowning.
“I took too long. Your food is cold now, Evie.” He sighed. “You need to get your energy back and flush any remaining drugs out of your system,” he chided, loading up a plate of fruit, eggs and bacon before putting it in front of me.
“That’s why you’re mad?” I asked.
“Mad? Who’s mad?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.
“You?” I answered, unsure now.
“I’m not mad. Why do you think I’m mad?” he frowned.
“You’ve sounded annoyed since you woke up,” I pointed out.
“I’m not. Eat.” He pointed at the plate.
“There it is again,” I said.
“What?” he asked.
“Annoyance in your voice. Why are you mad?”
“I said I’m not mad,” he answered stubbornly.
“I’ve known you since you were one. You can’t fool me,” I reminded him, crossing my arms and not touching my plate. I didn’t know why I was pushing. I should leave it alone. It was clear he didn’t want to talk about it, and I should respect that, but it was bothering me that I didn’t know what was bothering him.
“I had a bad night’s sleep Evie, that’s all. Eat.” He handed me a fork.
“I’m sorry I made you sleep in the small bed,” I said more quietly. I forgot he was six foot three and broad-shouldered. Sleeping in a double bed would only be comfortable if he were alone and sleeping diagonally on the bed. I made him give me comfort while he just got a shitty night’s rest.
“What? That wasn’t why,” he said, looking confused and then uncomfortable. “I dreamt I didn’t get there in time,” he said, looking down.
“Cory… I don’-I don’t know what to say, except you did. I don’t remember anything. I won’t have nightmares or trauma. You saved me, and I’m happy you insisted on coming with me.” I took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m going to say something you will likely never hear again, and I hope you appreciate the significance of this and cheer up.” He was listening carefully, so I took a big breath and grinned.
“You were right. I was wrong. Coming with me was a good idea, and I would have been in trouble without you,” I said.
I wasn’t sure what he expected me to say, but there was shock evident on his face at first, then he threw his head back and laughed. No, laughing wasn’t the right word. He started he was laughing, but now he was snorting and holding his stomach; the rest of his laugh eventually went silent except for the snorting. I put a piece of bacon in my mouth, enjoying the sight before me, and waited patiently. Tozi was a mess of purrs and tail wags in my head.
“I needed that. Thank you,” he said, still laughing a bit. “Now eat.”
“I’m eating. Sheesh!” I said, digging into the eggs benedict.
It was past noon by the time we got on the flight home. During the flight, I told Cory everything I found out about the sleazeball Nathan, and everything I did that morning to ensure he couldn’t hurt anyone again.
“Wow, I’m impressed. That’s a good way to destroy him,” he said. “But wait a minute. This whole time, you didn’t need to get the phones; you could have hacked the guy?” he asked.
