He scooted over so I had room. I sat down and slipped my shoes off. Laying down in bed, I turned to Patrick to say good night, but he was already asleep. He was laying on his side, facing me, with a little smile on his face.
Letting out a breath, I smiled and said, “Sweet dreams, Patrick.”
Just as I was about to fall asleep I heard Patrick say, “Sweet dreams, Derr,” and I knew that whatever struggles we were about to face would all be worth it in the end.
Chapter 6
Patrick
“Ugh.” Groaning, I tried to sit up in bed. I quickly realized I would rather just lay there in agony. I couldn’t believe how much I had drank last night. I was just so damn nervous when I met Derrick. Oh my god, Derrick! Sitting up in bed, I yelled, “Derrick!” at the top of my lungs.
“Yeah?”
I saw Derrick standing in my doorway with just his jeans on. “What the fuck?” I yelled, jumping out of bed. Placing a hand on my chest, I had to calm my rapidly beating heart. First off he scared the fucking shit out of me, and second— goddamn motherfucking shithole! Wow, was he gorgeous shirtless.
“I’m sorry. You asked me to stay last night instead of Iz, so I stayed,” Derrick said. He waved his hands back and forth. “I didn’t think if you would remember the next day.” He looked at me. “I’m sorry. This was a mistake.” He headed into the hallway. “Maybe I should just get going.”
Before I could think of anything, I grabbed his hand. “Stay.” Derrick tilted his head. “Please?”
Slowly he relaxed. “Okay.”
Smiling at him, I gave his hand another squeeze and then let go. I grabbed the water and bottle of aspirin then sat on the bed. Looking up at him, I felt like I had some explaining to do. “I’m sorry about last night. You just made me really nervous so I decided to drink a little bit, or maybe a lot, to calm my nerves.” Popping the pills into my mouth, I took a chug of water and swallowed. “I don’t normally act like that, but you made me nervous.”
He chuckled. “It didn’t seem like I was making you nervous last night.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I muttered, “Well, you did.”
Bumping shoulders with me, Derrick said, “Just so you know—you made me nervous, too.”
Turning to him, I smiled. “You want to get some breakfast?” I knew it would be a struggle to be around food right now, but I wanted to get to know this man. I needed to get to know him. I wanted to hear everything about him. Hear every word he had to say.
“Uh, yeah, sure.”
He didn’t seem too sure of himself. “If you don’t want to, then we don’t have to.” I paused. “It’s just my grandma makes the best breakfast in the whole wide world.” Looking over at my clock for a quick second, I realized she would be walking into my apartment any minute, telling me breakfast was ready. I looked at Derrick. “In fact—”
“Sweetie!”
Derrick’s shoulders straightened up and he looked nervous. Grabbing his shirt at the bottom of my bed, I tossed it to him.
Catching the shirt, Derrick mouthed, “Thanks,” and just as he put the shirt on, Grandma came walking in.
“Swee—Oh!” Looking between us, Grandma waved her hands, flustered. “I can come back later.” I jumped up from the bed. Thankfully I was still wearing my clothes from last night. Walking over to Grandma, I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a big squeeze and a kiss on the cheek.
I nodded towards Derrick, who was standing as straight as he could. I found this ironic, since he was anything but straight. I suppressed a chuckle. It was important that Derrick feel comfortable around my family, and at the moment, he was anything but. “Gram, this is Derrick. Iz introduced me to him last night and I wasn’t really feeling good. He was nice enough to take care of me last night.”
Gram’s eyes lit up and she walked over to Derrick, extending her hand to him. “Thank you, Derrick, for taking care of my little smartass over there.” She turned around to wink at me. Looking back at Derrick, she said, “And thank you for taking care of my drunk grandson last night. I really appreciate it.” She smiled at him.
My jaw fell open. “Grandma, I didn’t—” but she put her hand up and turned to me.
“I don’t want to hear you lying to me, Pat. Grandpa and I saw the lights from the taxi and peeked out the window.” Turning back to Derrick, she gave him a wink and said, “We saw this hunk of a guy carry you up the steps while Iz let you inside.” She sidled over to me and talked every so sweetly. “So, you ready for some breakfast? I made some apple walnut pancakes with bourbon syrup.” She paused for emphasis. “I made them especially for you.”
Letting out a laugh, I muttered, “Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks, Gram,” and smiled at her.
Patting me roughly on the cheek, she smiled. “Nothing but the best for my grandson.” She turned to Derrick. “I’ll see you two downstairs in a few, then?”
“Yeah, definitely. I’m starving,” Derrick said with a smile.