What did he need to do to prove himself? He wanted to shake some sense in her. Obviously, that wasn’t an option.
She avoided eye contact and said in a soft-spoken voice. “Okay. Let’s eat.”
“You sure? I can get you some buttered toast if your stomach’s upset?”
She lightly shook her head and smiled. “That’s unnecessary. But maybe we could skip the cheese?”
He squeezed her shoulder on his way to the kitchen. “Yeah. That’s probably a good idea.” While pulling the twine from the lamb, he shot a glance at Bree’s sitting with hunched shoulders at his kitchen table.
He knew Bree. She was probably sitting this night out because she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He picked up the dish with the lamb and placed it back into the turned-off oven.
He rummaged around his cabinets. Bingo. He walked over to Bree with his hands full and gave her a kiss on top of her head before sitting down next to her.
“Here, I think this will do the trick.”
After stacking his plate with slices of white bread, he placed the peanut butter and jam on the table. Bree chewed the inside of her cheek. “But… you’ve put so much work into dinner.”
“I’ll bring it over to Keenan tomorrow. Let him enjoy it. You know how I like my peanut butter and jelly. It’s no hardship for me. In fact… you’re doing me a favor.”
He winked and smeared a heavy amount of jelly on his bread.
Bree snorted and fell against him with her shoulder to his. “You’re crazy.”
“Damn right I am. About you.”
She gave him a blinding smile, although her chin wobbled. He kissed her nose and placed a slice of bread on her plate.
“So, are you in?”
Bree pulled softly at her earring and gave it a moment before answering, “Yeah. I’m in.”
Bree woke up in a cold sweat. Her hair stuck to her head. She tried to roll to her side but instantly stopped moving as a wave of nausea came crashing over her.
Another gag reflex followed, and she shot off the bed, not caring about the drumming in her ears. Just in time, she knelt in front of the toilet.
“Yowza!” Gwenn said behind her as she grabbed Bree’s curls and fisted them in a ponytail.
“Dec told me last night to check up on you. He said it could be bad… he wasn’t kidding.”
Between her second and third round, she asked, “When did he do that?”
“When he brought you here. After he’d tucked you in.”
Gwenn rubbed her back, and Bree took a deep breath. Yuck, she smelled sour jelly. She gagged again and after another two rounds she said, “I’m going to wash up. Thanks, Gwenn…”
“I thought you were feeling better? Didn’t you puke earlier this week?”
Bree groaned, as she couldn’t get into it now. “Please…” she whispered while she grabbed the sink to pull herself from the cold bathroom tiles. She needed to clean them. Perhaps she could do that first before taking a shower?
“No, no. Don’t even think about it. I’m taking care of it. You go on, now.” Gwenn motioned for Bree to get under the spray that she’d just turned on.
“Nothing I haven’t seen before. I have the same tits and ass. Now, go!” Gwenn pushed the shower door further open. She pulled Bree’s camisole over her head and fisted it in a ball. She dunked it in the bin and made a work of Bree’s underwear.
“Okay, easy… the moment you feel dizzy or sick, and you can’t call out, you tap on the glass of the shower door, okay?”
Bree nodded, and when Gwenn looked over from wetting a towel in the sink, she said, “Thanks, Gwennie.”
“No problem.”