Bleeding—But Not To Death!
Dahlia
Why haven’t doctors figured out a way to stop cramps? This should be on the top of someone’s list. They could sell millions of pills every month if doctors could just make them disappear. I squeeze my pillow to my abdomen.
There’s no way I’m going to work today. The pain is just too intense.
Me: Hey there. I just wanted to let you know I won’t be into work today.
Adonis: No problem. I’ll arrange for coverage. Is everything alright?
He’s so sweet.
Me: Just feeling a little under the weather.
Adonis: Anything I can do?
Mindy was right. He cares about his staff.
Me: I’m all set, but thanks.
Adonis: Let me know if you need the rest of the week off .
Staying in bed until my period is over sounds like a dream, but it’s not practical.
Me: Will do.
Adonis: Feel Better!
I wish it was that easy. Nothing ever seems to help. Not even eating—
Dinner!
Vex! Oh no, he was supposed to pick me up tomorrow after work. There’s no way I can plaster a smile on my face and have dinner with him.
Me: Sorry, I need to cancel dinner.
Vex: Why?
There’s absolutely no way I’m telling him the truth. I’d die.
Me: I’m not feeling well today.
There, that sounded okay.
Vex: What’s wrong? I’ll have a doctor right there.
No!
No!
That’s not what he was supposed to say. A normal guy says, hope you feel better, then runs away. I should have known Vex doesn’t do normal.
Me: Nothing’s wrong. I don’t need a doctor.
Vex: Then I’ll pick you up for dinner at 8 tomorrow.
He’s going to make me say it.
Me: I’m really not feeling up to dinner.
Vex: Are you or aren’t you sick? Because if you’re sick, I’m bringing the doctor over.
Why does he have to be so stubborn?
Me: I’m not sick. I’m just not feeling well.
Vex: ????
Vex: Never mind. The doctor and I will be there soon.
GAH!
Me: I’m not sick. I have my period .
And now, I’m going to crawl into a hole and die… possibly from bleeding to death. Most likely from embarrassment.
There’s no response.
Why are men afraid of a period? It’s just a little blood… a lot of blood and a little bit of whining. Vex kills people with his bare hands. Blood shouldn’t scare him.
Men!
I set my phone on the bedside table and curl up in a little ball.
***
Who is knocking at my door at this time of day?
Hope and Mila should be in school now.
Maybe they’ll just go away. I pull the blanket over my head and sink back into the mattress.
After three more knocks, it stops.
Whoever it was, was persistent.
My phone chimes.
Vex: Where are you? Are you okay?
Was that him knocking? It was certainly loud.
Me: I’m in bed. I told you I was fine.
Vex: Should I let myself in? Or are you up to answering the door?
Let himself in? I didn’t give Vex a key.
Does that mean he’d break down my door?
Me: That door is an antique.
Vex: You’re cute.
I’m really not. Today I’m anything but cute.
Me: Fine. I’m coming.
Vex: Are you glaring at me as you get out of bed?
Me: Mayb e
Me: Possibly
A groan escapes as I sit up.
Me: Probably
Vex: Lol
Vex: Don’t worry, Dahl. I’ll make it worth the effort.
What does that mean? He doesn’t plan on kissing me. He better not plan on kissing me for the first time when I feel like this. A kiss should be special. This is unacceptable.
I stomp down the stairs and swing the door open. “I’m not kissing you when I feel like this!”
“Good to know.”
Why doesn’t — “You brought me flowers.” Tears fill my eyes. “I yelled at you, and you brought me flowers.”
“Don’t cry.”
“I’ll cry when I want to.” It’s not like I can control it when my hormones are like this.
“If I hand you a box of chocolates, will I get more tears or a smile?”
I shrug. “Can’t answer that question. You’ll have to risk it.”
“Here’s the deal. If you cry, I’m taking you home with me. You never cried in my bed.”
In his bed!
“Good, a blush is better than tears. Here are your chocolates.” He hands over a giant floral cloth-covered box. The intoxicating scent of chocolate tickles my nose.
“Argh” A cramp shoots through my abdomen.
He steps forward. “Here, take this.”
An impossibly light bag lands in my arms as he lifts me up. “What are you doing?”
“You should be in bed.”
That’s where I was until you decided to spoil me. “I can walk there.”
“Not without discomfort.” He moves to the stairs .
I should protest. I should ask him to put me down. I should not cuddle in his arms. “There are a lot of stairs and I’m heavy.”
Vex raises an eyebrow at me.
Fine. Whatever. If the Bone Crusher wants to show off his massive muscles, who am I to interfere? “What’s in the bag?”
“Popcorn. I was informed that some women like sweet things and others like something salty.”
He got me popcorn. “With real butter? Well, fake butter that tastes like salt and delightful guilt.”
“No. I got you popcorn with real butter.”
“Are you going to have some with me?” Why did I ask that? Of course, he isn’t going to sit with me as I wallow in my bedroom eating all this and whining about how much it hurts.
We stop at the first-floor landing.
“Which way?”
Um. This isn’t good. “You can put me down here.”
“Dahl?” He doesn’t move to let me down.
“Up three more flights.” Why did I have to pick the top floor? Not the very top. The attic is kinda creepy. “The view is the best up there. My room has all these bay windows. It feels like I live in a castle without all the drafts and lack of plumbing.”
“Am I making you nervous?”
The little smirk on the corner of his lips is… sexy. Rude but sexy. “You shouldn’t be happy about that.”
“I shouldn’t do a lot of things.”
Like carrying me to my bedroom. Why am I even letting him do this? I’m an absolute mess. “You shouldn’t see me like this.”
“Like what?”
“I’m a mess in my robe. My mom’s rule—”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re in pain. Once I get you settled into bed, I’m going to call Barb and see if there’s anything— ”
It’s my turn to interrupt. “There’s nothing. I tried all the ‘cures’ several times. Birth control was the worst.”
He stops mid-step. “You’re on birth control?”
“No. Well yes, I was for about four months when I was sixteen. It didn’t help at all. All it did was make me moody and hungry all the time.” Not to mention all the zits I got. It’s better not to think about high school.
“So, you’re—Never mind.” He shakes his head, which bounces the popcorn around.
Nerves bounce around in my belly with the constant lingering ache. We’re almost there. No man I’ve liked has ever been in my bedroom.
Does this even count? He’s not here to—I shouldn’t have let him carry me up. This is almost as bad as him knowing that I have my period. What if he thinks I’m crazy? I might have gone a little over the top with my decorating. A room like this needed all the ruffles and florals. Anything else would have been a disservice to the designer.
Vex is going to think I’m a silly old woman. Most days I feel old. Maybe I should start collecting chinchillas. Or some other weird pet, but not snakes.
Vex stops at the top landing. The entire floor is my bedroom… and sitting room and closet. They even managed to install a stunning bathroom up here. It’s a woman’s dream.
Vex must hate it. His eyes move around without giving away a single thought.
“You know you’re irritating sometimes.”
“What did I do?” He glances down at me.
“I can’t tell if you love it or hate it. That’s irritating. Remind me never to play poker with you.”
“You play poker?”
Irritating man. There’s no way I want to answer that question, especially when he’s such a mystery.
“What do you want to know, Dahl?”
Should I ask him? Is this a trap? Will he think I’m even nuttier? “Do you like my room? ”
“It’s exactly who you are.” He starts moving towards the bed again.
That isn’t an answer. I mean, if I infer things, it might sort of be an answer.
But it really isn’t an answer answer. “You’d hate being in here.”
He stops and leans his head down until we’re eye to eye. “I will never hate being where you are.”
Oh.
Oh.
Oh.
Oh.
“Any other questions?”
Dozens. But not one of them will ever come out of my mouth. “Would you mind taking your shoes off? The rugs are practically impossible to clean.”
The smirk is back on his face.
“What? I know it isn’t practical to have a white shag carpet, but you have to step out of bed and feel it on your toes. The soft, slippery sensation… it’s—” And now I’m going to set on fire I’m blushing so hard.
“Offer accepted.”
That smirk is back only this time… “I… um… I didn’t…”
“Don’t worry, Dahl. I know what you meant.”
“Good cause. I… um… I’d better shut my mouth now.”
“There’s no need to on my behalf. Your skin is a lovely shade of pink.”
My hand goes to my cheeks. “Red isn’t a good color on me.”
“I doubt that.” Vex sets me on the open space of my unmade bed like I’m a porcelain doll… those are creepy… not a doll, maybe a porcelain bear. Those aren’t scary.
“Do you want me to get you a drink?” He takes the packages from me, sets them on the table, and keeps the flowers in his hand.
Um. “Milk please.” Only a heathen doesn’t drink milk with chocolate.
As he turns to walk away, the hormones… yeah, I’m going with the hormones take over and I blurt out, “Um… If you want… You know if you don’t have anythi ng else going…. You could um…” Just say it already! “You could get yourself a drink too.”
Slowly, Vex turns back around. “Are you inviting me to stay?”
Um. That’s what it sounded like, but he’s giving me an out. I should take it. Why would I even think about asking him to join me when I look and feel like this?
Because every second with him feels better than a second without him. “Yeah.”
“I’ll grab a drink then.”
“And a bowl for the popcorn.”
“Salty it is.”
More like a little… or a lot of both!
Did I really just invite him to stay for a while? I should go change. Just the thought of changing makes my entire body spasm with pain. That’s out of the question. I could brush my hair.
Wait. What are we going to do?
Ideally, I’d binge a cheesy rom-com and then read a few books off my Tbr list. But I can’t exactly offer him one of my books to read. Does Vex even read?
He’s got to be able to read. The club doesn’t just run itself.
A business that complex requires some reading, but that doesn’t mean he enjoys reading. The half-dozen books scattered around my nightstand give away my love of reading.
Will that bother him?
I’m overthinking this. You overthink everything, which is why you’re always working to the last minute of your deadline.
Ugh. I flop back against the pillows.
The pillows!
Vex is going to be lying on my bed in a few minutes.
I spring up.
What do I do?
Should I recommend we sit on the couch downstairs ?
That seems silly. I literally laid in his bed with him for days.
But Vex doesn’t have any jammies.
He needs a blanket to lie on.
Something soft. He likes a weighted blanket. I don’t have any of those. Maybe I could order one.
Before he gets upstairs with a glass of milk?
This shouldn’t be that hard. I climb out of bed. All I need is a blanket. Something that doesn’t scream a girl lives here. Even though that’s exactly what I am.
On my way over to the chest, I shrug out of my robe. It’s fine to walk around in, but way too hot to wear in bed.
There has to be something.
“What are you doing up?” Vex walks in seemingly seconds later, but really it has been ten minutes according to the bedside clock.
Uh oh. I poke my head above the chest lid. “Um. I’m… Um.” I yank the first non-crocheted blanket out and shut the lid. “Getting you a blanket.”
“Dahl, it’s hot in your house. I don’t need a blanket.”
Hot! “I keep the temperature at a chilly 66.”
“Still don’t need a blanket, Dahl.”
“But you don’t have jammies on. I. um… I… um… didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that I... you wear those clothes outside… and it’s my, um… bed. And in bed, people wear jammies.” I just said jammies… twice. I should have called in sick from the airport. Or a hotel. Anywhere that he couldn’t have found me.
“I can grab a chair or sit on the floor.”
“NO!” And now I’m yelling at him. “There’s no need. I’ll just put this on the bed. The way we can cu—” I slap a hand across my mouth and drop the blanket to the floor.
A slow smile spreads across his face.
Dreamy .
Pull yourself out of it. For two minutes sound like a grown woman who has mastered the English language. “What I meant is, you’ll be more comfortable on the bed. I’ll just spread this out. Then we can relax.”
“That’s doubtful,” Vex whispers so quietly I’m not even sure those are the right words.
With as many times as I’ve put my foot in my mouth today, I better just spread out the blanket and keep my mouth shut.
This is ridiculous. You’ve smoothed the blanket six times already. It’s fine. Everything is fine.
Everything is not fine, but you can pretend it is. “All set.” I rush around to the other side of the bed and climb in.
Why am I doing this? It’s too weird. We aren’t even dating and here Vex is in my bedroom. “Are you—Do you—Is this—”
“Dahl, relax.”
“I don’t do that very well.” There isn’t much I do well around you.
He walks over and sets my glass of milk on the nightstand, without dropping the beer or glass bowl in the same hand. Next to the milk, he sets the soft pink dahlias that are now in a vase. “Thank you.”
The irritating man just turns around and walks to the other side of the bed.
Fine, work the sexy silent thing. I’m good with that.
I try not to stare as he pours the popcorn into the bowl and settles in. Failure was inevitable.