Read Before Ryan Was Mine (The Remembrance Trilogy - Prequel) for Free Online

she felt like hell, but I couldn’t help the small smile that came to my mouth as she walked toward me.
    “What are you smiling at? Don’t look at me,” Julia muttered, wiping her nose.
    I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and started walking toward the doors that would take us out to my car. “You look fine. For a sicky .” I gave her a squeeze and laughed softly, happier than hell at the prospect of spending the evening with her, despite the state of her health.
    Her little fist came out and punched me hard in the ribs, but my coat provided enough padding to keep it from hurting.
    “Is that all you got?”
    “No. I’m gonna breathe on you and spit in your mouth,” she teased miserably. “Just wait.”
    I laughed out loud and piled her into the waiting car to drive the short distance to the apartment Aaron and I shared. It was in an old turn of the century house that had been converted into four apartments. It was nice but not very big. I’d rushed around and picked the place up, but it still wasn’t as clean as I’d wanted for the first time Julia came over. She walked in ahead of me when I pushed the door open, slowly glancing around. There was an old couch and a large TV in the living room, with two mismatched chairs, and the kitchen was small; off to one side, the table, that looked left over from some fifties sitcom, was cluttered with books and legal pads.
    “I bought you Diet Coke, Cheetos and one of those veggie sandwiches you like from Ike’s,” I murmured, setting the bag, paper cups filled with pop, and the videos on one end of the counter. I pulled off my coat and hung it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs.
    “Thanks.” She wrapped her arms around herself, still clad in her coat. “What’d you get?”
    “Roast beef. I thought we could share, if you wanted.”
    “Yeah.” She nodded and went to sink down on the couch, setting her pillow down.
    “Do you have the chills? You look cold.”
    “A little.”
    I went to my room and pulled the comforter from my bed, and in less than a minute, I had her shoes and coat off and the covers tucked all around her as she lay on the couch. My hands shoved the covers under her legs and feet. Her green eyes locked onto mine.
    “You look like a cannoli.”
    “My throat hurts. Do you have ice cream?”
    I rolled my eyes. “It doesn’t matter. You can’t have it, anyway. It’ll make mucus and you’re already a snotty bitch.”
    Her laugh followed me to the kitchen as I went to retrieve the bag of food I’d gotten from the sandwich shop, the sodas, and the bag of cold medicine I’d picked up at Walgreens. Soon, it turned into a raspy coughing jag.
    “Dickhead,” she managed finally when she’d gotten it under control.
    My lips quirked in amusement at her jibe, even though I felt guilty for making her laugh in the first place. I unwrapped the food, set her sandwich on the coffee table in front of her alongside mine, and then flipped on the TV.
    Julia coughed again, covering her mouth with a tissue. “Ryan,” she said between coughs, “this is a bad idea. I never get sick, so this must be a bad bug. I seriously don’t want you to catch it.” She snuggled down deeper into the blanket, curling on her side, and closing her eyes. I could have taken the chair at the end of the couch, but I sat down next to her and lifted her legs so they rested across my lap. I grabbed the remote and half of my sandwich, my arm resting across her legs. I watched her face for her reaction, to see if I was overstepping the bounds of friendship, but she just sighed.
    “Not hungry right now?”
    She shook her head. “Maybe in a bit.” She breathed in, her eyes still closed. “This smells like you.”
    I flushed. Should I have gotten a clean blanket out of the closet instead? “Do you want a different one?” I started to take a bite.
    “No. I like it. It’s like you’re wrapped all around me. It feels good.”
    My heart stopped. I still didn’t know how