Don't Hate the Player...Hate the Game(46)

“Really?”

“Sure.”

“Okay,” he said, and he grabbed the dollar out of my hand. “I haven’t gotten anything for a treatment in a long time.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Mommy and Daddy used to buy me a present for each treatment I had to do. But they can’t afford it now.”

“Why not?”

“Cause we don’t have a lot of money now cause my medicine and stuff costs so much.”

“Oh,” I murmured. Damn, not only did the Parker’s have to deal with the emotional pain of Josh’s illness, but they also had to get kicked when they were down with the financial part. It just wasn’t fair.

A panicked look entered Josh’s eyes. Before I could ask what was wrong, he jerked forward and puked all over me.

I sat in shock as my mind processed what had just happened. Part of me was utterly disgusted and wanted to race out the door and never look back. Then another part felt awful for Josh—especially after the expression of pure horror came over his face at the sight of me drenched in his vomit.

Maddie rushed back into the room. “Oh no!” she cried.

“I-I’m s-sorry, Noah,” Josh stammered.

My heart dropped at the sight of tears pooling in his big dark eyes along with his chin trembling.

“Hey, Little man, don’t cry. It’s okay.”

“N-No, it’s n-not,” he whimpered.

“Yes, it is. It’s totally fixable, okay? I promise.”

I stood up, which caused the vomit to slide down my shirt onto my jeans. Maddie rushed over to the couch. She yanked the blanket covering Josh and quickly started patting me down. When her hand dipped below my waist and brushed across my crotch, I gasped. Raising my gaze to the ceiling, I silently willed my dick not to get the wrong idea and spring into action.

Maddie flushed bright red from her cheeks all the way down to her neck while stumbling away from me. “Oh, um, I’m s-sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

She quickly turned her attention away from me and started patting Josh down. Luckily for him, he only had a little on the top of his Scooby Doo pajamas. The rest had managed to hit me and the blanket.

Once Josh was cleaned up, Maddie turned to me. “Why don’t I get you something to change into?”

“Okay.”

“Come on,” she said, motioning for me to follow her. We left Josh for a moment as we headed down the hall to her parent’s bedroom. She flicked on the light in the closet and started rifling through her father’s things. Pastor Dan was a big, muscular dude, so the clothes were gonna be a little awkward.

Maddie handed me a shirt. “I’ll find you some shorts, too,”

“Thanks,” I replied. Without thinking, I tore my puke- stained shirt off. Maddie momentarily stopped searching the racks to stare at me. Not just the way you’d look at somebody who happened to be undressing in front of you, but more like somebody you wanted to be undressing. I’d never seen that look in her eyes before, and I had to admit, I totally dug it. A whole reel of fantasy images flickered through my mind of her running her hands over my bare chest or kissing a wet trail down to my…FUCK! Get a grip, Pervert! Her sick brother just puked on you, and she’s just trying to help you, not screw you!

My sex-fiend thoughts were forgotten as Maddie’s face turned beet red when she finally realized she was openly ogling me. “S-Sorry.” She thrust a pair of gym shorts at me.

“Thanks.”

Because she looked so cute and sexy when she blushed, I brought my hands to the button of my jeans. Her eyes widened, and she flushed all the way down her neck. “I better go check on Josh,” she muttered and then quickly breezed past me. Inwardly I groaned as the delicious and dangerously sexy scent of her perfume invaded my nostrils. It was like a jumpstart to my groin each and every time.

She practically sprinted out in the hallway before I could say anything. I smiled as I changed into the shorts. When I got back to the living room, she’d already gotten Josh a change of pajamas and a new blanket was covering him.

“All better?” I asked.

“I think so.”

“So where’s your mom and dad?” I asked.

A funny look came over Maddie’s face. “They, uh, had to take care of some business—um, church business, so I told them I’d watch Josh.”

I could tell there was something she wasn’t telling me, but I let it go. I noticed Josh was peering up at me. “What is it, Little Man?”

“Maddie says you sing and play guitar.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Then will you sing for me?”

“What?” I asked in surprise.

“It’s just Daddy always sings to me after I have a treatment—you know so I can go to sleep and all.”

I glanced over at Maddie, and she smiled. “Well, I don’t know…”

“Please?”

Geez, what could I say? “No, Little man, I’m just not feeling it this afternoon?” Yeah, that would make me an unimaginable ass**le.

“Okay, I guess I could. What do you want me to sing?”

“Know any John Lennon?”

I raised my eyebrows. “Course I do—do you?”