“I can’t remember how everyone likes their coffee,” Asher grumbled.
“Zeke drinks it black, Miles adds half a packet of sugar and a teaspoon of creamer, Ethan would prefer a mocha, but if you put some cocoa mix in with the coffee it’s close.” I listed them off without having to think about it.
“You can remember that this early?” Asher asked as he picked up a cocoa packet.
“Well, it’s coffee,” I reminded him. He snorted.
“Coffee is life,” he said in a droid voice. I chuckled.
“Coffee get brain started,” I countered in my own droid voice.
He smiled as we picked up our trays and moved to the hot food table.
“What are we getting?” I asked.
“The food here isn’t bad, actually,” Asher informed me. “If you get breakfast for Zeke, I’ll get breakfast for Ethan.”
“Oh, yeah, give me the heavier tray.” I grinned up at him.
He chuckled.
I loaded up two plates of eggs, sausage and toast. For Zeke I added a couple of waffles before we went to the cashier.
I pulled out my wallet and paid for half of breakfast. Then we snuck the trays out of the cafeteria and headed back to Miles’ room.
We were in the elevator between floors when Asher broke the silence. “We’re going to be okay, right?” he asked quietly.
My pulse raced. “I hope so.” I swallowed hard. “What do you think?”
He sighed. “I don’t know. Right now, I’m trying to remember why I shouldn’t kiss you again.”
The butterflies went nuts as heat flashed through me. “Ash…”
“I know,” he whispered.
The elevator doors opened. We walked out and down the hall towards Miles’ room.
After the doctor checked on Miles, she decided he was well enough to be discharged. Asher took Miles, while I drove Ethan. Ethan refused to go home.
Asher was walking with Miles into Miles’ house as I was pulling to a stop in the circular gravel driveway. I quickly shut off the truck and hurried around to the other side. Ethan was already getting out carefully.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go home?” I asked for the third time.
“Yeah, this is closer, and I have some of my ibuprofen still here.” He grunted as he started limping towards the door. I followed close behind him into the house. “I’m going upstairs, Beautiful. Can you bring me a bottle of water, please?” He grit his teeth and put his foot on the first step.
“Nah-uh.” I grabbed his arm carefully. “You're going to my room. It’s closer and not upstairs.”
He looked up the stairs and scowled at them. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” He stepped down and headed for my room. I walked with him. When he sat down on the bed he was cursing under his breath.
“What do you need from your room?” I asked.
After taking several deep breaths, he opened his eyes. “I need both pill bottles in the nightstand, the TENS unit, and some shorts to sleep in. Don’t bother with a shirt.”
“What’s a TENS unit? And where is your room?” I asked.
“It looks like an iPod with cords connected to sticky patches. And my room is down the left side, the first door.”
I gave him a small smile. “I’ll be right back.” I left my room and headed for the stairs. Asher was coming down.
“How’s Miles?” I asked as I passed.
“Hurting. I’m getting him some water and making him a sandwich to eat with the pain killers,” he said as he continued down the stairs. “How’s Ethan?”
“Hurting, I’m getting his pain meds now. Can you make him a sandwich too?” I asked as I continued to climb the stairs.
He nodded as he stepped off the stairs. “On it.” I headed down the left and opened the first door. Ethan’s bedroom at Miles’ house looked a lot like his bedroom at home. The walls were covered in posters, only here his clothes weren’t all over the floor. His bed was simple and lengthwise against the wall, just like at home. I went to the nightstand and pulled out the drawer. I pulled out the two pill bottles and dug around to find the TENS unit. It looked exactly like he said, a little iPod. Closing the drawer, I moved to the dresser and found a pair of mesh shorts. It was summer, these would work for sleeping, right?
I hurried downstairs and into my room. Ethan was slowly eating a sandwich. I set the bottles and TENS unit on my nightstand then set the shorts next to him. “Let me get you some water.” I went to the kitchen.
I was pulling out a couple of bottles of water when Asher came in. “Ally, I need you to go upstairs. Miles is at his computer trying to type,” he bit out.
“Go tell him if he doesn’t get his ass in bed I’m going to come up there and take his glasses away.” I closed the fridge.
He grinned. “I’ll try, but you might want to check on him.”
“I will.” I showed him the bottles. “I’ve got to get Ethan his water and then I’ll head up.”
“I’m going to get some sleep,” Asher told me, his warm eyes running over me. My heartbeat picked up. He looked away from me and started rubbing his neck. He turned away and left the kitchen, leaving my heart aching.
I sighed and headed for my bedroom. We’re going to be okay. We’re going to be okay… right? I walked in, looked up, and froze.
Ethan was only in his dark red boxer briefs, sitting on the side of the bed with the mesh shorts in his hand. Those muscles, that toned… holy shit. I swallowed hard. Bruises were here and there. A large one ran down his left side.
He lifted his head and raised an eyebrow. “You peeping on me?”
I rolled my eyes and walked over to him. “Turnabout is fair play. You want a hand?”
He smirked. “You don’t want to say that to a guy in his shorts, Beautiful.”
I chuckled and took the shorts from his hand. I knelt down and got them around his feet before wiggling them up to his knees. He groaned as he got to his feet and pulled them up. I steadied him when he wobbled. He cursed and sat down, wincing. “Carajo co?o!,” he bit out.
“Did you take your meds?” I asked, trying to figure out how to help.
“Yeah, they’re gonna take a half hour to kick in.” He groaned. “Lexie, get out of here. I’m just going to be miserable.” There was no way that I was going to leave him here like this.
“Get on the bed and roll over,” I ordered.
He lifted an eyelid. “Why?”
“’Cause I’m going to give you a massage,” I told him, before going into my bathroom and getting my lotion. When I walked back in, he was cursing as he lay down further on the bed. Careful not to bump him, I climbed on the bed and moved to his side. I put some lotion in my hands and warmed it up.
Before I could even touch him, he turned his head to look up at me. “Soft hands, Beautiful,” he warned.
I gave him a small smile before gently touching his back. I cursed. His back was locked up tighter than ever. I started with long, soft strokes to loosen his muscles. As they began to let go, he groaned deeply. My hands began working on the smaller knots down his spine. When I got to his lower back, he grunted. I eased up on the pressure, but I wasn’t making any headway.
“I can’t get these, Snoopy. I’m sorry.” I leaned back on my heels, trying to massage my hands to get the knots out.
“It’s okay, my muscle relaxer is going to kick in soon,” he muttered. “Thank you, Lexie. It hurts less already.”
I lay down beside him. “So, your doc changed your pain meds?”
His eyes opened and met mine. “Yeah. He did a couple weeks ago. I’ve been trying not to take them.”
“Why not?” I asked, my voice quiet.
He sighed. “Because they’re opiates and there are more side effects than I’d like.”
“Is there any other option?” I asked, hoping.
He closed his eyes and sighed. “Surgery. The doc wants me to get a fusion done.”
My stomach knotted. That didn’t sound good. “What does that mean?”
“He wants to cut off the part of the bone that is pressing on the nerves in my spine.” His voice was weary. “And because there is more than one, I’ll probably need a spinal fusion to protect my spine.”