Seriphina Joseph
“Sunshine?” The sound of his groggy sleep husky voice rings out from the bedroom.
Fuck. I guess there’s no point in trying to be quiet now. I don’t reply. I’m trying not to whine like a little girl. He doesn’t knock, pushing the door open to find me slumped over the sink, my hand pressed to my abdomen like I’m dealing with bad sushi.
“Hey, hey.” He crosses the room in a blink. “What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”
“I’m fine, Griffin. It’s just cramps.” I brush him off and reach for the glass beside the sink. Straightening up, I force my features to smooth out.
He snatches the glass before my fingers can graze it. His jaw tight as he fills it from the tap. It clinks when he sets it down. He unscrews the cap on the pills, shakes two into his palm but doesn't hand them over yet.
“Don’t,” his voice rough with sleep. “You aren’t fine. You’re white knucklin’ the goddamn counter.” He ushers me to the toilet before handing me both the medicine and the water. He crouches down in front of me. “How bad?”
“Normal first day period bad. Really. I always cramp this much at the beginning. I’ll lay back down after I take these.
I’ll be fine. You don’t have to kneel at my feet over this.
” I take the water and the pills and toss them back.
Then I grab the bottle and shake out two more, knowing the first two aren’t going to cut it.
He straightens, his expression darkening further when he clocks the second two. “What the hell do you mean this bad?” He looks over my body slowly before returning to my face, like he’s trying to figure out if I’m dying or not. “You get like this every month?”
“Have you really never been around someone with a period? Cramps happen. Most women go through this and worse. I had a friend in high school that would be in so much pain she threw up.” I stand up and pat his shoulder before moving around him to shuffle back to bed. “It will pass.”
He blocks my path, his hands framing my hips to keep me steady. “Don’t care what most women go through.” His thumbs brushing the waistband of the silk sleep shorts I’m wearing. “You’re mine. So you aren’t shruggin’ this off while I’m here to do somethin’ about it.”
Without another word, he lifts me clear off the floor. One arm under my knees, the other bracing my back and carrying me straight to bed. He tucks me in then presses a kiss to the spot between my brows. “Stay put.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Again with the carrying,” I say sarcastically. Then roll over with a groan, shoving a pillow under my stomach for counter pressure.
He sits on the edge of the bed and runs his hand soothingly across my back. “Humor me, yeah?”
“Yeah, alright,” I agree in an attempt to make him feel better. The way he’s acting, he’s obviously more bothered by this than I am.
He bends down, kisses the back of my neck, then his voice drops to that gravelly register that always makes my spine tingle. “Good girl.”
I want to snark at him about how it’s really shitty timing for that particular phrase but he’s already rattling cabinets like a man on a mission.
The sound of clinking ceramic and running water follows before he returns with two things ten minutes later—a steaming mug of herbal peppermint ginger tea and a heating pad.
He sets the tea down on the nightstand before getting on all fours and reaching behind the bed to plug in the heating pad.
He delicately pushes his hand under my stomach, lifting to slide it under me.
It’s all amazingly sweet and I come close to breaking my own rules and telling him I love him right there, until he does the expected thing and opens his mouth.
“Drink the tea. And if you even think about openin’ that store today. I’m tyin’ you to this bed.”
I grumble at him for ruining a moment. “I’ll be better by then. I’m not staying closed over this.”
His eyes narrow and he looks like he’s calculating exactly how many ways he can win this argument without pissing me off. Then he pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts typing.
“Jax.” He says the name like it’s both an explanation and a threat.
“Gonna have him watch the store cameras remotely. If you so much as limp toward that door before noon, I’m turnin’ the car around from wherever the hell I am and carryin’ your ass right back upstairs.
That’s a goddamn promise.” His thumb swipes across the screen one more time before putting it away, then he leans down to press a kiss to my temple. “Now drink your damn tea.”
If he was trying to come up with ways to resolve this without pissing me off, that wasn’t it. I sit up slowly and take the tea as he offers it to me. Now I’m in pain, grumpy, and irritated at him for being an overbearing asshole.
“You don’t get to tell me when I can and can’t open the store.
You don’t scare me, Griffin.” I take a sip of tea after blowing on it for a bit.
“And now that I’m on my period you can’t fuck me into submission either.
” I glare up at him. Throwing last night in his face even though I thoroughly enjoyed it.
His eyes flash dangerously before he places both hands on either side of my hips, caging me in as he leans down until his lips brush the shell of my ear.
“Watch me,” he growls. “You think I need to fuck you into listenin’?
Wildflower, I got a thousand other ways to make you mind me.
Startin’ with callin’ Helen and Darla to tell them their favorite shopkeeper’s bein’ a stubborn little brat who won’t stay in bed.
Bet they’d love to come check on you.” He leans back enough to see the horrified expression on my face.
His lips tip up in smug triumph. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. ”
“You play dirty,” I mumble, setting the mug down and rolling over to relax onto the heating pad again. The heat and pressure provides almost instant relief. I close my eyes.
He tugs the blanket over my shoulders. “Damn right,” he murmurs. “Now sleep. Store’s closed until I say otherwise.”
I’m achy, tired, and his fingers feel way too good running through my hair. Before I can argue any further, I’m out like a light.