Always Only You by Chloe Liese (z-lib.org).epub

He nods. Blinks, eyes wet with unshed tears. I try to lift my arms to wrap
around him, offer him comfort, but they’re too heavy.
My voice feels raw, but I clear my throat and croak out, “Come here,
Zenzero.”
A sound breaks from him as he leans closer, rests his head in the crook of my
neck. I turn my head and kiss his temple. His arms slip carefully between me and
the mattress. He sighs, slow and heavy. The sound of relief.
“Frankie.” It’s all he says, but I feel what he means, love and worry braided
with my name.
When he pulls back, he sits and drags the chair closer. After smoothing back
my hair, he slides the cannula back where it’s supposed to hook around my ear.
“How long have I been out?” I whisper.
He focuses on my hair, his fingers making gentle work of its tangles. I’m
sure I look like double-microwaved hell.
“Forty-eight hours.”
I lift my eyebrows. “Impressive.” Clearing my throat again, I grope for the
button to raise myself up a bit. “How’d the game go?”
Ren drops his hand from my hair, squeezes my hand. “We lost.”
“I’m sorry, Ren—”
“Good morning, sunshine!” Lorena stands, framed in the doorway, reading
my thoughts, seeing the frustration, the embarrassment.
The helplessness.
Crossing to the other side of the bed, she smacks her lips to my forehead. “I
won’t even ask. I can tell you feel like shit.”
Dropping to the foot of the bed, she starts massaging my legs. I groan
because it feels amazing, and I also hate that the people who love me know me
this well. I feel weak and needy.
“I heard you made quite the dramatic exit.” She gives me a saucy grin.
I glare at her. “Why are you here again?”
Ren swallows his smile, hiding it behind a fist and clearing his throat.
“Because you have double-lung pneumonia,” Lo says, “and you’re one of
mine. Because I love you, and when we’re healing, we need all the love we can
get.”
Ren brings my hand to his cheek, kisses my palm, then sets it against his
beard. Reflexively, I curl my fingers into the soft hairs, scrape my nails along his
scruff.
Lo sighs. “Well, I’ll leave you two lovebirds. I’m gonna go bug your nurse.
Boss somebody around.” Standing, she kisses me again on the forehead and pats
my leg. “Welcome back, baby.”