If he wasn’t going to worry about not using the bathroom regularly, I guess I didn’t need to either. “There’s chicken in the soup, but that’s all the chicken I have right now,” I told him, watching his features closely.
The Defender stared at me as he whispered, “Steak,” the one word sounding brittle.
Was that his version of compromising?
“It’s frozen. I left the first day after you got here, but I haven’t gone shopping again since then because I didn’t want to leave you alone. How about slices of turkey breast?”
How he managed to tell me to fuck off with my turkey breast without actually moving his lips, almost impressed me.
If it wasn’t so startling, it might have been irritating too, honestly. Beggars can’t be choosers, and there had to be millions of people who would kill for this experience. To nurse a member of the Trinity back to health. To be so up close and personal with one. It was like coming across a unicorn. The thing was…
I just wasn’t one of those people. Maybe at a different time. In a different life.
“That’s all I’ve got, I’m sorry,” I explained as mildly as I could, even though he was kind of being difficult. Wasn’t he? I hadn’t been over to that many people’s houses in my life, but I’d always eaten whatever it was they gave me to be polite.
What I got in response was a pissy expression on the most perfect face on the planet.
But no matter how symmetrical his features were or how nice his skin was or who the hell he was and what he was capable of, I pressed my lips together to keep from making a face back at him.
Good thing I was used to keeping control of my expressions when my grandma would ask me to do something I didn’t want to or say something I didn’t want to hear.
He’s in pain. He’s probably used to people bending over backward to do his bidding. I couldn’t handle a migraine without getting grouchy, and I didn’t even have people around to deal with my bullshit.
I’d thought about it, and short of pawning him off on someone despite his request, it wasn’t like I could call emergency services to come pick him up. That would raise too many red flags and bring way too much attention on me. Mostly though, he had asked. Even if he didn’t remember, I did.
I had to suck this shit up and do it. It was the least I could do after everything he’d done. And if he wanted chicken, I’d get him chicken. He wanted steak? I’d give him steak. Just not this instant. I wasn’t his maid. “I can see about picking some up tomorrow,” I tried to compromise too.
From his expression, that wasn’t soon enough, but the nearest store still open was an hour and a half away.
He might be The Defender, and he might deserve the world for the things he’d done, but driving that far at night?
No.
“The store is closed already.”
I’d always thought my grandma’s glares could say a million words, but from the look of it, she wasn’t the only one with that power.
Unfortunately for him, I thought he was amazing but not amazing enough to drive in the darkness to go buy groceries.
“Unless your body is totally different than mine, which I don’t think it is since you didn’t throw up when I fed you blended-up vegetables with airplane noises”—Oh boy, I hadn’t meant to tell him that—“I have soup, or I can make you a sandwich with the sliced turkey. I can put some avocado in it too,” I offered carefully, calmly. “That’s all I have. I was scared to leave you alone for too long. So…” I’d closed and locked the gate to stop people from crossing the property just to be safe—at least from other humans.
His eyes glowed for about a second before going back to normal. To plain beautiful, not unreal. I gulped.
Was that a yes then?
I’d take it. While he was responsive, though I knew I shouldn’t ask him anything, I couldn’t help myself. This was important. “Do you remember? What happened?”
His incredible glare gave me nothing at all.
Moving on then. Okay. There were a couple other things I could ask that weren’t too personal, one of them being the thing that had been sitting on my chest from the moment he’d first passed out. “Is there anything I can do right now? To help?” Please tell me to call someone. Please tell me to drive you somewhere so that somebody else can help you.
My prayers went unanswered when he gruffly said, “For now… nothing.”
For now. I didn’t miss that part. I tried my best to keep my face blank so he wouldn’t see how badly I didn’t want him here. “Are you sure there’s no one you want me to call?” I tried again.
His gaze flicked to the wall behind me again as he said in a crab-ass voice that sounded oddly resigned, “No.”
All righty then. I could do this. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d taken care of someone.
It wouldn’t exactly be hard to look at his face a while longer. I’d probably never get to see bone structure so perfect again in my life. Might as well appreciate it now.
His gaze moved around the kitchen and beyond. I knew what he was looking at. The worn table to his left was covered by an embroidered tablecloth that my grandma had made before I’d been born. It hid the dings and marks on it that had already been there when I’d moved in with just my suitcases and a few boxes. There was an old cat clock with a swishing tail on the wall behind me that I was pretty positive was what he kept focusing on.
The kitchen was small with Formica counters and cabinets that were a shade of tan that had been popular in the ‘80s. I’d never bothered replacing the checkered valance curtains above the one small window in the kitchen or the ones above the back door. Their faded Eiffel Tower pattern had grown on me.
Beyond the kitchen and the breakfast area was what could be called a minimalist living room but was mostly just me not having a lot of stuff. The couch was small and floral patterned. It had already lived a full life before I’d ever sat on it. The same could be said about the rest of the furniture in the house. Most of it was from the old owner, but a couple things I’d picked up at the nearest thrift store that benefited the local SPCA. It was mismatched and in decent shape, for the most part. Back when we’d moved around every semester, I’d slept on a blow-up mattress for years.
You didn’t buy expensive things that might have to be left behind if you had to take off on a moment’s notice. It was why I had four plates, two bowls, four glasses, and two coffee cups total. There was no point in having more.
Pushing aside the loneliness that suddenly rose in my chest as he continued looking around, like the walls didn’t matter—and maybe they didn’t—I focused back on what we had been talking about. “I fed you while you were asleep. I’m trying not to move you around, even though I’m pretty sure you need to have someone take a look at you. Do you think something’s broken?”
The Defender shifted his gaze back to me, the movement slow, almost too slow.
Fuck me then. “All right. Or you’ll be totally fine on your own. What do I know?” I trailed off with a side-eye.
He didn’t say a word.
A feeling of dread filled my throat, and my stomach went weird. Weren’t superior beings supposed to be wise and well-balanced? Nice? If not happy, at least at peace with themselves and the world? I’d always thought they would be likable. Kind. Maybe serious because of all that pressure on them to save the world. I thought they would be charismatic.