“Why?”
“Because it is.”
“Butwhy?”
“Because what I felt for him wasn’t healthy,” I shouted.Fuck. I winced again, this time at the lingering soreness in my throat. “The two can’t be compared.”
“They can, and they should be. But we’ll get to Dominic in a minute. First, what’s wrong with your voice?”
“Nothing. And I’m not talking about him.” I said sullenly, regretting how I’d forgotten this little detail about Xander. He was like a dog with a bone when it came to getting the truth.
Just like someone else I knew.
“Have you been sick?” Xander leaned towards me, ignoring the fact that I was trying to drive as he prodded and peered at my skin. “You have. You’re all pale, except for the end of your nose, which looks like a clown’s.”
“I’m fine,” I admitted. “I was sick, but I’m better now.”
Xander sat back in his chair with a tut. “You should’ve said. I would’ve taken a taxi.”
“I’m fine,” I repeated. “It was just the flu.”
“People die from the flu all the time.”
“Not healthy twenty-eight-year-olds.”
“Hang on,” Xander said suddenly. “You just said you’ve barely seen Kate in weeks…does that mean she didn’t look after you?”
I wanted to protest that I hadn’t needed to be looked after, but given what had happened, I couldn’t bring myself to do so. “No. She didn’t.”
“Did she know you were sick?”
I didn’t answer, but my silence did it for me.
Xander sighed. “I’m trying very hard not to judge here.”
“First time for everything.”
Xander didn’t laugh like I’d expected. “So you’ve just been sick in bed this whole time with no one taking care of you?”
“Not…exactly,” I said slowly. I fidgeted in my seat, wondering if I could hide this from him. If Ishouldhide it. But fuck, I needed someone to talk to. “Dominic was there.”
I didn’t need to look at Xander to know his eyebrows were hitting his hairline.
“Okaaay,” Xander said, “let me get this straight. Your fiancée knew you were sick, but instead of looking after you, she suggested taking a break from both sleeping together and seeing each other until the wedding.”
“Not quite like that, no.”
Xander waved a hand. “Semantics. I’ll take this moment to point out that part of your vows include ‘in sickness and in health.’ Kind of feels like she’s dropped the ball a bit.”
“We aren’t married yet. And I wasn’t dying—it was just the flu.”
“Were you able to get out of bed unaided? Make it to the toilet without help? Cook food? Do anything?”
I thumped my head against the headrest. “No, okay? I wasn’t. I needed help.”
“Which Dominic, your ex, provided.”
I grunted. “Wasn’t like I was in a fit state to tell him to jog on.”