Chapter Eighteen
Jordon finished cleaning up after heating up their food and went into the living room where she found Spider still in his wheelchair, starting to doze off.
She stood and watched him for a moment, noticing that even in sleep he had a slight crease between his brows, as if he was worrying about something . .. or maybe he was hurting?
“Spider?” she spoke normally at first, hoping he hadn’t fallen too deeply asleep yet. But he didn’t stir. “Spider?” She spoke a little louder this time, moving closer. She didn’t want to startle him awake, and she wasn’t sure how he would react if she touched him.
He still didn’t even flinch.
She moved around behind his chair. Then carefully reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Spider?”
He gasped and sat up straight. “What?”
Jordon moved around so he could see her. “You fell asleep. Why don’t you go lay down? Take a nap.”
Spider shook his head. “That would be rude. Besides, I’d rather spend time with you than sleep.”
She tilted her head and watched him for a moment. He yawned, then glanced at her, as if trying to see if she’d noticed.
“How about I come lay down with you?”
His eyes went wide. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, as if words escaped him.
He exhaled in a rush as he dropped his gaze.
Spider let his head fall forward for a couple of seconds.
When he lifted it again, he met her gaze.
“As much as I’d love to say hell, yes, to take you up on the offer, I have too much respect for you and for your father.
I wouldn’t want to compromise your reputation that way. ”
Now she really wanted to smack him. “You’re an idiot,” she said instead.
She moved around in front of him then bent forward until her face was inches from his.
“I’m offering to lay on the bed, fully clothed and with the door open.
We can talk. Then, if we want, we can fall asleep.
” She was silent for only a few seconds.
“You’re exhausted. I can see it, even if you weren’t dozing off so quickly.
Don’t be an idiot. Let’s go lay down for a while. ”
“Are you sure?”
She rolled her eyes, stood and moved around to the back of his chair. “I’ll take that as a yes. Hit the brakes.” She waited while he moved the two levers in front of the wheels, then pushed the chair down the hall. “Tell me which one’s yours.”
He gave her directions and she steered him into the room.
“Which side do you sleep on?” she asked.
“Of the bed or my body?” his tone told her he had a smile on his face.
Jordon shook her head at his word play. “Both.”
“Usually I go back and forth, as I move in the night but with this,” he laid his hand on the cast that came halfway up his right thigh, “It’s easier to sleep on my right. I don’t care which side of the bed, though.”
“Good. Because I’d rather be in front of you, but if you wanted that side of the bed, I’d lay behind you.” She pushed the chair to the right side of the bed. “Do you need help moving over?”
“No. I can get it. It will just take me a few minutes. Can you go grab me a bottle of water?”
“Sure.” Jordon headed for the kitchen. She couldn’t help but wonder if he was trying to get her out of the room.
Did he not want her to see him move from the chair to the bed?
She wondered ... not that she could do much about it.
In the kitchen she grabbed a couple of bottles then took them back into the bedroom where Spider had managed to get onto the bed.
He sat next to his wheelchair and reached for the bottle when she stepped into the room.
“Thank you. Can you grab that little blanket over there? He pointed to the far side of the room. She picked it up and found it to be kind of heavy, but oddly proportioned. It was two, maybe three feet wide and at least six feet long. Or maybe it was really wide but short? She didn’t know.
And she wasn’t asking. Instead she carried it as she went to the other side of the bed and sat.
Handing the odd blanket across the bed, she toed off her boots then swung her legs up on the bed and laid back.
She rolled onto her side so that she faced Spider and found him laying as well.
“I need something on my shoulders or I can’t sleep. It’s odd, I know. But even when it’s too hot for blankets, I can’t sleep without something like this over my shoulders. Want to try it? It’s plenty long.” He held up the end that had been piled between them.
“Why not?” she said. She might as well try it.
If things worked out the way she hoped, she’d need to get used to it anyway, because there was no way she’d let something as small as a blanket get between them.
Especially this one. She moved a little closer, so that the blanket could stretch across her shoulders. “This is heavy. Where’d you get it?”
“I had it made. Or more accurately, I had it modified. It’s a twin-size weighted blanket, but I took it to a seamstress and had her fold it in half length wise and stitch it that way, all the way around.
” He took a deep breath and let it out. Jordon could see his body relaxing.
His shoulders eased, his face softened. She could tell he was close to sleep.
Reaching out, she caught his hand where it lay on the bed between them.
She hooked his little finger with hers. She needed to touch him.
It didn’t need to be much, but she needed at least some physical contact with him.
His fingers flexed, pulling away from her finger, and her chest ached.
He was rejecting her. Then his hand moved.
He covered hers, folded his fingers around hers and squeezed for a moment before easing.
She looked at his face, but his eyes were still closed.
His breathing had eased and she knew he was asleep.
She wondered if he knew he was holding her hand.
She couldn’t help the sensation of warmth and contentment that spread through her as she closed her eyes.
****
Something smelled good. What was Mama cooking?
That didn’t smell like anything Mama had ever made before.
Wait. She wasn’t at home. Where Jordon was and why she’d lain down came back to her as she became more awake.
That was when she realized she wasn’t where she’d been when she fell asleep.
Either she’d rolled over or someone had gotten into the bed behind her.
because there was a long warm weight against her back and what felt like an arm wrapped around her waist and holding her tight.
The hand in front of her held hers and the two together rested between her breasts.
She blinked her eyes open. The instant she spotted the doorway she knew she’d rolled over.
She lay there enjoying the feeling of having Spider wrapped around her, wondering if she’d been the one to move into him or if he’d pulled her closer.
Not that it mattered. She liked it. She liked him.
She loved that he made her feel safe, and not just because she knew he would protect her but because she also knew he would never do anything to hurt her.
Her bladder told her she should get up and use the restroom, but she stayed where she was.
She wondered how long they’d been asleep, but she didn’t want to move and possibly wake him. Spider had clearly been tired. So had she, but that wasn’t the point. If he was that tired, she didn’t want to wake him before he woke on his own.
Footsteps in the hallway drew her attention. She looked that way and saw Fletch step into the doorway and pause, watching her.
Jordon moved very slowly, bringing one finger of her free hand to her lips.
Fletch smirked and propped one shoulder against the doorframe as he folded his arms across his chest.
“You do know he’s as awake are you are, right?”
“No, I didn’t,” she said before scooting a little away from Spider.
He released her hand as she sat up. “I need to use the restroom.” Twisting around, she leaned down and dropped a kiss on Spider’s cheek.
“Thank you for an amazing nap,” she said, her voice soft enough it wouldn’t carry to Fletch behind her.
She pushed herself up off the bed and slipped past Fletch on her way to the restroom down the hall, not caring that his friends, the people he called brothers, had seen them napping together.