Chapter 10
Bennett
I roll over, reaching out to grab Presley to pull her next to me. My arm finds the bed empty and I open my eyes, seeing that the side of the bed is in fact empty. "Gorgeous," I call for her, pushing up on my elbow. I look around the room, seeing that her stuff is nowhere to be found. I listen for any noise anywhere. Maybe she just got up and is in the bathroom getting dressed, but there is no noise anywhere except for my breathing. "That woman," I huff, pissed at myself for not hearing her sneak out. But in my defense, we were up at five when she wiggled her ass over my cock. It took less than thirty seconds for me to slide into her. I lie back down on my pillow, turning and grabbing my phone from the side table. Pressing the side button, I see that it's just a little after seven thirty. I swipe up, opening the phone app, clicking on recent and finding her at the top of the list.
I tap her name and then the little phone icon, putting it on speakerphone on the pillow beside me and close my eyes. It rings three times before she answers. "Hello," she groans out and my eyes shoot open as soon as I hear her voice.
"Gorgeous," I say, my heart starting to speed up as I grab the phone. "What's wrong?”
"I think the shrimp didn't agree with me." Her voice comes out as she huffs out, "I have to let," she says, and then I hear the phone drop to the floor. "Oh my God" is the last thing I hear before she throws up.
I throw the phone to the side and fly out of bed. Running to the walk-in closet and grabbing a pair of boxers and basketball shorts. Pulling a white T-shirt off one of the hangers and rushing down the steps while trying to put it on; only to run back up the stairs to get my phone that I forgot. "Shit," I mumble to myself. I grab a baseball hat from the front closet, while I slide my feet into my sneakers from last night and my car keys on the way out. I put the hat backward as I jog to the car getting in. I connect the Bluetooth, while putting my seat belt on. Starting the car I press the voice button. "Call Travis," I say and look at the clock, seeing if maybe it's too early to call, but by the time I think this, it's already two rings in and he's answering the phone.
"What do I owe the privilege of having you call me this fine morning?" he says and I can hear Charlotte in the background calling Mama.
"Oh, good, you’re up," I huff as I make my way down the street. "I was afraid I would wake you."
Travis laughs out. "It's eight," he says. "It's almost lunchtime for us." I look over at the center console seeing his name and not even understanding what he means.
"I have no idea what that means," I say, my finger tapping the steering wheel.
"I have a child who is almost one; she gets up at the ass crack of dawn," he says. "You'll know when it's your turn."
"Who is on the phone?" I hear Harlow ask him.
"Bennett thought he was waking us up." He laughs and I hear him put me on speakerphone.
"I wish," Harlow says. "The question is, why are you up?"
"I need help," I say. "Presley is throwing up and I think she has food poisoning or something like that."
"She doesn't have food poisoning," Harlow shares. "It's called morning sickness."
"Okay, let's call it morning sickness." I turn and head toward the supermarket, making a mental note to search morning sickness. "What should I do?"
"Run," Travis deadpans, without skipping a beat and I hear Harlow smack his arm. "Ouch."
"She needs to eat saltines and ginger stuff," Harlow says, her voice coming close to the phone. "Anything ginger settles the stomach."
"Okay." I pull into the parking lot of the grocery store. "So ginger ale, ginger tea, gingersnaps."
"How sick is she?" Harlow asks me, worry in her voice.
"I have no idea," I answer honestly. "I called her and she told me that the shrimp didn't agree with her and then hung up on me to go vomit."
"She doesn't know you are going to see her?" Travis asks as I disconnect the phone and get out of the car. I put the phone to my ear as I walk into the grocery store and grab a hand cart.
"What kind of question is that?" I ask Travis as I walk through the produce toward the aisles.
"Listen, I think that you should go over there," Travis says. "But knowing Presley, she's going to kick you in the balls in the middle of throwing up."
"No, she isn't." I laugh and think he might be wrong but it is what it is. I grab two boxes of saltines before rushing over to get some gingersnaps.
"No, she isn't.” Harlow takes my side. "She likes him enough to have sex with him."
"Eww," Travis says. "That's my sister and I'm trying very hard not to think of her doing anything with him."
I laugh now. "We are having a child together."
"Don't remind me," Travis replies. "I'm not over the fact that you broke bro code."
"What?" I ask him, chuckling as I make my way through the grocery store.
"You slept with my sister," he says and I hear Harlow laugh. "How would you like it if I slept with your sister?”
"I don't have a sister," I remind him.
He doesn't have time to answer me because Harlow kicks in her two cents. "Why would you sleep with his sister? Do you want to sleep with someone else?"
"As your attorney, I'm going to advise you not to answer that," I say. "But now that you answered my question, I'm going to let you go."
"Stay away from my sister," he growls into the phone and I hang up laughing. I don't even know what I'm throwing into the hand cart but it weighs a ton. I thank the Lord that I have Apple Pay on my phone because in my rush to get out of the house, I forgot my wallet.
I get into the car, putting the three white grocery bags on the seat beside me, the whole time my stomach is in knots thinking about her sick and alone. When I pull up to her house, I call her to let her know that I'm here but she doesn't pick up the phone. I shake my head, walking up the step to her front door. I think about ringing the bell, but if she's in bed, I don't want her getting up, so I put in the code to the door. I turn the knob of the front door and push open the door. The house is still in darkness. "Gorgeous," I say softly as I walk through the house to the kitchen. The house has a little bit more lighting in the kitchen thanks to the big windows and the drapes that are open. I put the bags on the counter and then turn to see that she isn't on the couch. "Gorgeous," I say again softly as I make my way toward her bedroom. The room is still in darkness thanks to her curtains. I walk into her room seeing her in the middle of the bed, the throw pillows are tossed at the edge of the bed on top of her furry blanket. "Hey," I say softly and she opens her eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
"What are you doing here?" she asks me as I sit down on her king-size bed.
"You didn't think I wouldn't come." I lean down and kiss her cheek. "I called Travis."
"Congratulations," she says, sighing and bringing the covers to her neck tighter.
"Harlow thinks you have morning sickness and not food poisoning." My hand comes up to rub her cheek.
"Harlow isn't a doctor." She looks at me, and she looks so pale. "I mean, she's a doctor but for animals."
I laugh at her. "Okay, well, just in case, I bought you some things," I say softly. "How is your stomach now?"
"There is a war going on in there." She turns on her back. "And I don't know who is winning and who is losing but either way they both want me miserable." I bend to kiss her lips softly.
"I'm sorry," I say to her. "I didn't hear you leave." I look into her eyes. "If I would have heard you sneaking out."
"I didn't sneak out." She avoids my eyes as she looks at the doorway. "I got up and left." I raise my eyebrows. "Quietly as to not wake you."
I can't help but laugh at her. "Okay, well, you need to stop doing that," I scold. "What if you got sick while driving?"
"Then that would have been a me problem and not a you problem." She folds her arms over her chest. "I'm fine," she says, and as soon as the words leave her mouth, she pushes away from me and jumps out of bed. "Don't come in here," she warns, slamming the door behind her and then I hear her getting sick. I hang my head, the need to rush in there bigger than me, but I know that if I do that, she is really going to kick me out.
"How are you doing in there?" I ask after a minute of not hearing anything. The toilet flushes and I hear the water from the sink turn on.
"Peachy keen," she mumbles and I hear her rinse her mouth out. It takes a minute more before she comes back out of the bathroom. She's wearing one of my T-shirts I left here that fits her like a dress.
She walks back to the bed, sliding in. "I brought you ginger ale and ginger tea," I tell her softly and get up. "I'm going to go and get you some with some saltines."
"Fine," she huffs and turns on her side. "I could do some ginger ale." I nod at her, knowing this is her way of accepting the help. Which makes me know that she really doesn't feel well. If she would be in tip-top shape, she would have told me to fuck off and she's fine.
"I'll go get you some." I kiss her forehead and walk out of the room. I open some of the blinds getting some more light in, after I start the kettle. I prepare a tray for her with a plate of saltines and gingersnaps. I also bring her ginger ale with ice and without ice and I make her a ginger tea.
When I walk back into the room, she is sitting up with her head on the pillow. The minute she feels me in the room, she opens her eyes. "Oh my goodness," she says when I place the tray on the bed in the middle of us. Her hand goes straight for the ginger ale with ice. "This looks so good," she says, grabbing it and bringing it to her lips. "I just got suddenly really hot." She takes one of her legs out of the covers.
"How are you feeling now?" I ask her, trying not to freak out that she's sick and maybe she should go to the hospital.
"Fine," she huffs and opens her eyes to look at me. I glare at her. "Fine, my stomach is going like this." She picks up her hand and does the wave with it. I get up and walk into her bathroom turning on the cold water in the sink and turning to grab a hand towel. I wet it and squeeze it out, returning to her bedside. The ginger ale has been finished and she has her head back and her eyes closed.
"Here." I hold out the rag to her. "Why don't you put this on the back of your neck?”
"I don't know how that is going to help," she replies, grabbing the rag from me but she puts it on the back of her neck. "But if it will get you off my back." I can't help but laugh as I walk around the bed and kick off my shoes. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to sit by your side until you feel better." I sit down on the bed beside her with my back to the headboard. I grab the remote control, turning on the television. "You didn't think I'd leave you." I can't help but shake my head and laugh at the same time. "Why don't you rest your eyes, gorgeous.” I turn to look at her but find her glaring at me, and I can't help but lean in and kiss her lips. "And save your energy instead of fighting with me."