“I do. I didn’t intend to tell her the way it happened. I wanted to make it special, better than anything she’s ever dreamed of, but it just came out.”
“That’s how you know it’s real, honey,” Marilynn said.
“It was definitely memorable.” Sable’s expression turned serious again. “But as I was saying, if you love her, you’ll listen to her when she tells you what she needs. The minute she thinks she’s holding you back is the moment you’ll lose her forever, so you might want to choose your fights more carefully in the future.”
He felt sick at the thought of losing her. “I’m not great at thinking before I speak, especially when it comes to Amber. I’ll have to work on that.”
“You’ll learn,” Marilynn said. “It’s hard to put your head before your heart, but in this case it’s important.”
“I know. I’ll try. What else should I know? Should we get in touch with Amber’s doctor? How long should I let her sleep? What can I do to help her tonight?”
“I spoke to her doctor and made an appointment for Monday so he can check her out,” Marilynn answered. “It’s been years since she’s had a seizure, and breakthrough seizures, which is what they call seizures that occur after a sustained period without them, aren’t all that uncommon, but he wants to run some tests and check her out in case her meds need to be tweaked. As far as tonight goes, let her sleep. She will probably be sore and a little foggy. It takes a while for her body to recover. Just be your loving self. She’ll let you know what she needs.”
Sable smirked, earning an eye roll from Marilynn.
“I spoke to Phoenix earlier. She’s covering the bookstore for tomorrow, so Amber won’t need to go in. Do you want or need us to stick around?” Marilynn asked.
“No, but thank you for everything.”
Marilynn hugged him. Then she touched his cheek the way his mother often did, and said, “I’m going to miss our morning chats while you’re gone, but we’ll take good care of our girl.”
He wasn’t sure he was going to leave, but he kept that to himself as he walked them to the door. After they left, he headed into the bedroom. Amber was lying on her side sleeping, her hair covering one cheek, a pillow tucked against her stomach and Reno stretched out against her back. She was wearing black leggings, his VSU sweatshirt she’d confiscated earlier in the week, and pink ruffled socks. He swore his heart tripled in size at the sight of her.
Reno’s head popped up.
“Shh. It’s okay, buddy. Go back to sleep.” Dash toed off his shoes and climbed onto the bed beside her, lying nose to nose, the pillow between them. He put his arm around her, wishing with everything he had that he could take her epilepsy away, suffer it himself instead of her. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and closed his eyes, her nearness righting all of his disheveled pieces.
WAKEFULNESS TRICKLED IN slowly with Dash’s familiar scent, his warm breath wisping over Amber’s lips. The weight of his arm on her side brought a feeling of safety. The bedroom was dark, the house quiet. He was still there, and he loved her. With everything I have and everything I am. She’d been too foggy to trust her own memory when they’d left the bookstore, and she’d made her mother repeat his words so many times, Sable had finally offered to get them tattooed across her chest if it would stop Amber from asking again. Their mother had told her how well Dash had handled her seizure, and Sable, her overprotective, big-hearted sister who didn’t believe in anything warm and fuzzy had said she’d felt Dash’s fear, but it wasn’t the fear of a pussy—Amber had cringed at her sister’s raunchy word choice then, just as she did now—it was the fear of a man who loved a woman so desperately, he couldn’t fathom anything happening to her.
Dash’s eyes opened, and he touched her face. “Hi, beautiful. How’re you feeling?”
“Like I slept for a month and want to sleep for another. I’m a little sore and my head’s still foggy. How long have I been asleep? And where are my pants?”
“Several hours.” He glanced at the clock. “It’s midnight. You got hot about an hour ago and took your pants off.”
“I’m sorry for ruining your signing and embarrassing you.”
“You couldn’t ever embarrass me, and you didn’t ruin the signing. We sold out of the books, and it still lasted an extra hour and a half because your enforcers made me stay and sign every book, bag, and notebook in the place.”
My enforcers. She warmed all over. “I’m glad you did. But shouldn’t you be at dinner with your brother and Shea?”
“Are you really asking me that? They’re having dinner with your sisters and their husbands, and then they’re flying out.”
“You should—”
He silenced her with a kiss. “You banned me from coming home with you and insisted I finish the signing. You will not send me away.”
“Okay, bossy.” She put her hand on his face, his whiskers tickling her fingers. A sliver of insecurity slipped in, and she hoped he wasn’t having second thoughts about saying he loved her. He didn’t sound like he was, but those were three big words. He could still care deeply about her but not have meant to say them. “How about you? How do you feel?”
“Like I watched the woman I love fight her way down the field without any protective gear, and I was shackled to the bench, unable to help.”
Tears dampened her eyes, because she knew he was telling the truth about loving her and feeling helpless.
“And like I never want to leave your side, but I know you won’t allow that to happen.” He tucked her hair behind her ear and pressed his warm, rough palm to her cheek. She put her hand over his, holding it there. “But mostly I’m glad you’re okay and sorry for not taking better care of you, for wearing you out and making your life more stressful with the signing.”
Emotions billowed inside her. She knew better than to let herself get run-down, and she wasn’t about to let him take the blame for her inability to keep herself in check. “That blame’s not yours to take, even if it feels like it is.”
“I’m owning it, sweetheart, and learning from it. I will take much better care of you in the future.”
A tear slipped down her cheek at his boundless love for her.
He brushed it away with his thumb, his brows knitting. “Why are you sad?”
“I’m not. I’m happy. You’ve seen all of me, and you’re still here. If I’d known wetting myself would make you fall in love with me, I might have done it sooner.”
He moved the pillow from between them and shifted closer, gently pulling her into a kiss. Threading his fingers into her hair, keeping her close, he whispered, “How am I going to leave you tomorrow?”
“Hopefully sexually satisfied.” She was in no shape to have sex, but she loved teasing him.
He growled and kissed her so tenderly, she knew he was worried about hurting her.
“What are the rules about sex and seizures?”
“You probably shouldn’t have sex with me while I’m having a seizure.”
He laughed softly. “You’re a regular comedian, aren’t you, sweet thing?”