“You’re not useless. We missed you today. I’ll leave my door open in case you need me.” And with that, he went upstairs.
Aly tossed off her coat and kicked off her UGGs before climbing onto the sofa next to Andy. He shifted as she settled and then rolled over and rested his head on her thigh. She smiled down at his sleeping form. He hadn’t done this since he was about five. They used to watch movies together when he was little. This particular one was his favorite, and she’d seen it about thirty times through her late high school years and the first year of trade school. Then she’d joinedMi Casa es Su Casa, and she hadn’t seen it since. She raked her fingers through his curls, rubbing his scalp as she moved.
“Aly?” Andy croaked.
She froze. “Yeah.” She expected him to ask for Will or tell her to go away.
“Can you keep doing that? It feels good.”
She smiled and started up again. “This one still your favorite?”
He nodded against her leg. “I love Groot.”
“I think the raccoon guy is my favorite. He cracks me up.”
“Rocket, not raccoon guy.”
Andy’s tone made her smirk. She knew Rocket’s name, but pretending she didn’t was their thing.
“How ya feeling?”
His thin shoulder shrugged against her thigh. “Kinda better.”
“That’s good.”
“Can we finish the movie before we go to bed?” he asked.
Her heart squeezed. “I’d love to.” Maybe it was a small thing, but his desire to watch this with her again felt like a big win. A hug and tucking him in without a complaint from him had her going to bed with a smile on her face.
Too bad she didn’t feel like smiling not even six hours later.
“Ugh.” She groaned and flushed the toilet again. Her stomach felt like it was full of hot coals. She didn’t even have the energy to stand up.
A light tapping sounded on the hall door.
“Yeah?”
“Can I come in?” Will called.
Was he insane? No, she didn’t want him to come in.
“Aly?”
Her stomach clenched, and she gagged. She’d been puking on and off for almost a half hour. There couldn’t possibly be anything left in her stomach. She hadn’t really eaten the day before. She swallowed hard, but before she could say anything, the door opened.
“Here.” Will held out a white cloth, but she didn’t have the strength to reach for it. He only waited a beat before he crouched beside her and used the damp cloth to gently wipe her face. It was adorably sweet. And yet…
“Will.” She sighed. “I look like garbage, and I feel worse. I’m pretty sure I reek of puke. This is embarrassing.”
He stood, tossing the towel into the sink before he crossed his arms and glared down at her. “Letting me take care of you when you need it is the opposite of embarrassing. This is what men do; they take care of the people they care about. Now shut up and let me help you back to bed.”
She wasn’t sure whether his lecture was sweet or rude. But sometimes it was hard to tell with Will. He bent down again, and before she grasped what he was doing, he pulled her into his arms and stood.
Holy cow. She was too heavy for this.
“I’m entirely too—”
“Sick to walk? I agree. You need to get into bed and rest,” he said, moving easily into the hall before turning into her room. He was acting like she weighed a hundred pounds. “Taking care of you and your brother would be a hell of a lot easier if you two didn’t fight me so much.”