“We both know that’s a lie.” He turned on his side with his back to me. “I don’t want to fight you while I’m miserable. Please, don’t leave once I fall asleep.”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
He looked over his shoulder at me. “Because as much as you don’t want to, you like me.”
“I never said I didn’t like you. I like all of you. Well, like might be too strong of a word for Greer, but I like the rest of you.”
Walker fell onto his back and glared at me. “I don’t like them flirting with you or you with them.”
I couldn’t help it; I started to laugh and couldn’t stop. Clutching my stomach, I rolled onto my side and curled into a ball, trying to prevent peeing myself.
Walker growled, and the sound halted my giggles. “There’s nothing funny about them flirting with you. I swear they’re doing it to piss me off.”
“Why isn’t it possible they like me? I’m a fun girl.”
“Oh, trust me, I know how fun you are, and it makes my blood boil to even think there’s a possibility they want the same thing I do with you.”
“You hush,” I pushed him until he was on his side and facing away from me. “They don’t want to be with me.”
“They saw you in your bikini, and even though I didn’t see it, I can only imagine how hot you looked in it. Now every time they look at you, they’re imagining you naked.”
Boys. They were so obsessed with sex. I didn’t want to tell him they might be imagining me with my clothes off. It would set him off. The thing was. I didn’t care how much they wanted to see me naked. It was never going to happen. I didn’t see any of them the way I saw Walker.
Turning on my side, I pressed my back into Walker’s and pulled the blanket up to cover us. “Stop being ridiculous, and get some sleep. And if you get me sick, it’s going to be your ass taking care of me.”
“I’d take care of you every day if you let me,” he murmured into the quiet room before quickly falling asleep.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
walker
Waking up, I felt like complete and utter shit. I was on fire. My skin was slick with sweat, and my mouth tasted like ass. I edged my feet out of the blanket, trying to cool down. It hurt to move even the smallest bit.
“Oh, thank God! I thought you were in a coma,” Pen rushed out. Her hand ran up my arm and up to my forehead.
I rolled over to see her long caramel hair up in a messy bun. She was still in her sweatpants but now only had a tank top on that showcased her perfect tits. Looking up, I found her nibbling on her bottom lip. Gripping her hand in mine, I pulled it close to my chest. “I’m fine. Well, I’m not fine. I feel like death warmed over, but I think I’ll live.”
“Oh, you think you’ll live, do you?” She laughed shakily. “I was this close to calling an ambulance.” She held her hand up with her fingers apart only the tiniest amount. “Hopefully, it’s just the flu, and you’ll be fine in a couple of days. Otherwise, we’ll have to cancel a show or two.”
“No,” I sat up with a groan. Pen’s hands were on me, helping me sit up and covering my naked torso with the sheet. I held her hands to my chest. “You’re not canceling anything. I’ll be as good as new by our show in… wherever we’ll be next. I just need to flush my body with a lot of liquids.”
“Maybe you should think about taking some medicine.” She placed the back of her delicate hand on my forehead. “You’ve still got a temperature.”
“Having a temperature is a good thing. That means my body is fighting whatever it is I have.”
“Yeah, until it gets too high, and you have a seizure or go into a coma,” she said with big eyes and her tone as serious as a heart attack.
I scoffed and instantly regretted it. “How often do you think that happens?”
“I don’t know, but it does happen. That’s why they say you need to keep your temperature down.” She pulled out her phone, and her face fell. “Shit, we need to be on the bus in thirty minutes. I’m going to text the guys and tell them you’re taking the bedroom until you’re better and it’s disinfected.”
I wasn’t going to argue with her. The thought of being jammed up in my bunk while my body ached and I felt like shit sounded like pure torture.
Needing to pack up my shit, I slid to the side of the bed. Looking back over my shoulder, I asked. “Can we get me some apple juice? Ice cold apple juice always makes my throat feel better.”
Jumping up, Pen ran around to my side of the bed and pushed me down until I was flat on my back. “What are you doing?”
“Getting ready to leave. I have to pack what little I bought up last night,” I explained as my body sagged into the bed. While I talked a big game, I wasn’t sure how I was going to get on stage in a couple of days if I still felt this way.
“You just rest, and I’ll pack up your things.” Her phone started pinging with rapid-fire texts. With her attention diverted, I once again tried to haul my ass out of bed, but Pen must have had eyes in the back of her head because she pushed me down with a sweet little kitten growl. “Please don’t make my life harder than it already is.”
There was a pleading tone to her voice that had me giving in. “Fine, I’ll let you do it all while I just lay here and watch you.”
“Thank you.” The exhale that came out of her was full of frustration. “The guys are fighting about me demanding the bedroom for you.”
“Tell them I’ll give up my week,” I mumbled as I searched for my phone. I didn’t like that they were putting even more stress on her. I found my phone the second she did. Pen grabbed it up and put it in my bag. “I can’t even have my phone?” I whined. Even I sounded annoying to my own ears.
“No, you can’t because I have a feeling you were going to engage with them, and I don’t need you fighting my battles. If you’re always stepping in, then they’ll think I’m not capable.”
She started to move, searching for more of my belongings, but I grabbed Pen’s wrist and held it until she looked down at me. I can admit I didn’t like feeling like an invalid, but I didn’t mind Pen taking care of me. Maybe she’d soften up to me. At least she had last night, or else she wouldn’t have stayed.
“We all know you are fully capable of kicking ass and taking names. This is just me trying to make your life easier in the short amount of time we have before getting on the bus. You still have to get your things as well.”
“Fuck,” she pulled away and moved around like a chicken with its head cut off. “I totally forgot about my stuff. Can you imagine if I had left it all here? What was I thinking?”
“You were thinking about me and taking care of me because you’re a wonderful and selfless woman.”
“Oh please,” she rolled her eyes. “Don’t kiss my ass. I am far from selfless. I’m doing my job.”
“I don’t believe anywhere in the contract states that you have to take care of us when we’re sick.” I followed her as she grabbed my hoodie and threw it on the bed. “If it was Cross or Kenton, would you have stayed?”