What? That was so mean! Like limiting her Pop-Tart intake. But she had to admit she did work hard to get her breathing under control.
“That’s it. In. Out. And again. Well done. In. Hold. Out.”
Finally, she started to feel like she could breathe freely. Her lungs weren’t burning. Panic no longer held her hostage.
She still felt nauseous and shaky, though.
“What . . . what was that?”
“Panic attack,” Gray told her. “I know someone who gets them fairly often.”
“I don’t want one ever again. That was horrible. I couldn’t breathe.” Her voice was croaky and she gave Gray a grateful look as he held a straw to her mouth so she could sip some water.
“Are you . . . are you some sort of wizard?” Immy asked, staring at Gray with wonder in her face.
“Uh, what?” he asked.
“Immy loves Harry Potter,” she explained.
“And you just totally spelled Maeve,” Immy added.
“Uh, no, I didn’t,” Gray said, looking uncomfortable.
“You got her to breathe properly and drink water without complaining.”
Gray raised his eyebrows. “You don’t like water?”
“No,” Maeve said. “I only drink it when I get desperate or have to swallow pills.”
“We’ll work on that.” He ran his finger down her cheek and over her lips. She parted them and nipped the tip of his finger, letting out a small moan of delight.
Someone cleared their throat and she looked up with embarrassment as she realized everyone was staring at her.
Right. Awkward.
“You going to introduce us, Maeve?” Sampson asked, his arms crossed over his chest. “And tell us why you never said anything about having a boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” she asked, looking at Gray. “Is that what you are? I thought we were just having a bit of how’s your father.”
“What?” Immy asked.
“Sex,” Jenner told her bluntly.
Now Jenner and Sampson were glaring at Gray. Uh-oh. She probably shouldn’t have said that. The guys were all extremely overprotective.
“We were,” Gray said calmly. “We’re not now.”
“Since when?” she asked.
“Since you ran from me without a word and I realized that you’re mine. And that I’m not ever letting you go.”
24
Well.
That hadn’t been the way that he’d intended to tell her of his feelings. Not while she was lying in a hospital bed and certainly not in front of these people who claimed to be her friends.
Sure, they acted like they cared. Now.