Chapter Four
Rowan
I went from discovering that I had accidentally stolen a bag, to meeting the sexy lawyer who owned it, to flirting, to now being asked on what I thought was a date—all in the matter of one evening. That was a lot to wrap my head around.
Grabbing a late dinner sounded fabulous, and Sammy and I had rules about if we met someone, so I wouldn’t be upsetting him by accepting. Although, that was purely conjecture since neither of us had found someone when we went out like this.
“I could eat.” It came out a lot more relaxed than I felt. I wasn’t nervous; rather, I was excited and anxious. It had been a long time since I was interested in a man and even longer since I was interested in a man who was a member of Chained.
Before I could ask him if he wanted to eat at the club or go find someplace quieter, I was tapped on the shoulder. I turned to see someone I didn’t know, another little.
I’d seen her around the club, but we’d never talked or played together. She was usually here with two friends who seemed to like to keep to themselves. They were always together and never had a mommy or a daddy with them. It took me aback to see her standing there, bouncing on her toes.
“You’re friends with Sammy, right?” she asked, and I instantly knew something was wrong.
“Did something happen?”
“No. But he’s sick. He wouldn’t talk to us, but we’re pretty sure he needs you.”
That was when I noticed her two little friends holding hands, off to the side, watching the entire conversation.
“I need to go,” I told Summit, already walking away.
I might really be attracted to that man I’d just met, but Sammy had to come first. I followed her to the little room where he was in the corner, crouched in a ball with his head in his hands.
I knew this position. He was hit with a migraine, which had him not speaking to the other littles making sense.
“Thanks so much for getting me.”
“We littles have to stay together.”
“For the record, when he gets sick like this, he usually doesn’t talk. It’s not you.” I didn’t want her to feel guilty about it.
He didn’t get migraines often, but when he did, they always slammed into him out of nowhere like this. He probably had a three-minute window of knowing it was coming. If we’d been someplace where he had his phone, he’d have called me.
“Hey, Sammy, I’m here.” I put my arm around his shoulder. “Let’s get going. Keep your eyes closed. I’ll lead you.”
He was going to be dizzy as it was, but if he opened his eyes, I’d never get him home. It wasn’t my first time at this rodeo, but I really hoped it would be my last. When I first met him, he got these quite often. He’d seen some specialist, and they were spread much further apart now.
It took a while, but I got him back into the dressing room, threw jeans and a shirt over his little clothes, and did the same with mine.
We could get properly changed at home. If I had wanted or asked for help, Ms. Lily would’ve arranged it.
Sammy wouldn’t want that, and as long as I could handle it, I wanted to respect that.
I felt badly for Summit, but I’d made the right call. Sammy wasn’t even talking. It was a bad one.
I took our backpacks, grabbed the phones we’d checked in, got Sammy to my car, and drove him home.
It was a slow trip, not wanting to make it worse for my friend.
During the day, keeping up with traffic in the city mattered.
But at night? Traffic was at a minimum, and my going exactly the speed limit didn’t annoy anyone.
Getting Sammy into his place proved more difficult than getting him to the car, as the motion of the trip had exacerbated his situation.
Apparently, I hadn’t gone slowly enough.
I managed and got him down to his little clothes, and put him into bed.
I went to the medicine cabinet, found his pills, and got one for him, along with a sippy cup of water.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get him to sit up straight enough to drink from a glass, and the little sippy would give him some comfort.
I put my arm behind Sammy and propped him up enough to give him his medication and a drink. Then I dug through his nightstand to find a mask and put it over his eyes. He still hadn’t said anything, just a nod here or there.
I took his hand. “Do you want me to stay?”
“Yes,” he whispered. The word was barely audible.
I’d thought he’d want me there, but I wasn’t one to assume. When you hurt, sometimes you wanted someone with you, and others, you wanted to be left completely alone. It wasn’t something I could guess at effectively.
I got ready for bed, crawled into the other side, and grabbed one of his stuffies to snuggle with. Once he was asleep, I allowed myself to sleep too.
He was doing a lot better in the morning. I wouldn’t say he was perfect, but he was conversant and willing to eat.
“New medicine seems to be working better,” I said.
“So much better. The last medication, when I had a migraine, I was out for two days. This was considerably less.”
“It is,” I agreed.
“I just wish I saw it coming.” His mom got migraines, but always had auras first. He wanted them too. “Thanks for helping me.”
“It’s no big deal.” If I’d needed it, he’d done the same for me.
“You were with the guy you stole the backpack from. It was kind of a pretty big deal.”
“I didn’t steal from him, but yeah, point taken.” It was a pretty big deal. But honestly, if a guy didn’t want me helping my friend when he was in need, I didn’t want him anyway. It doesn’t matter how cute he is or isn’t.
I grabbed my pack to get ready to go, putting my little clothes inside. When I opened it, I heard the crinkle of paper coming from the front pouch. I reached inside and found a note. It didn’t say a lot, but it was what I needed to hear.
Thanks for keeping my backpack safe. I had a nice time chatting. Here’s my personal number. Call if you want to reschedule that dinner.