“God, I hope so too. So much for our fun weekend.”

Drake walked towards me and stopped inches away. I could feel the heat from his body as he reached up to run his fingers through my hair, gently rubbing my scalp. “You. Me. No school. No work. No practice. Oh, we’ll have fun all right, just as soon as you feel up to it. Count on it.”

I stepped closer, filling the small amount of space he had left between us. My body molded to his, I relaxed into him and rested my head on his shoulder. “You better deliver on that promise.”

He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly. “I won’t ever make a promise to you that I won’t deliver on. You can take that to the bank, baby. Feel up to heading downstairs and resting on the couch? We can watch a movie. I brought some snacks.”

“Drake, go have dinner with your family. I’ll be fine.”

He swept my legs out from under me in a smooth motion and carried me towards the door. “Already said no. It’s nice to see my family, but this weekend was more about time for us than them. I’m not leaving you while you’re sick to go have dinner. Drop it, Alexa.”

“Put me down. It was just a headache. I’m not really sick, and I’m certainly not an invalid. I can walk downstairs by myself.”

“And give up my chance to show you how big and strong I am? Settle down and hold on tight before I drop you,” he teased.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as he carried me down the stairs. Instead of putting me down once there, he crossed over to the couch and sat down with me on his lap. He reached around me to grab extra pillows and propped my feet onto them. Once he had us settle to his satisfaction, he turned on the television. “Anything you really want to see?”

“Pick whatever you want.” I snuggled into his hold, getting comfortable.

Drake turned on an older action movie I had seen before. I enjoyed cuddling with him on the couch and could barely to keep my eyes open as the movie played. About halfway through, there as a knock on the door right before it opened.  Drake’s mom, Ginny, peeked through the opening and saw us on the couch. “Oh, good. You’re awake,” she said as she walked inside.

“Hey, Mom,” Drake greeted. I wiggled, trying to get free from his hold so I could move away while talking to her. It was awkward to be sprawled on Drake’s lap while talking to his mom. His arms tightened around me, making it clear that he didn’t want me to move.

His mom saw the struggle and laughed. She lifted a picnic basket up so we could see it. “Don’t get up on my account. I just brought over some dinner so you guys don’t starve tonight.”

“Thank you, Ginny. I’m so sorry I ruined your plans for today,” I apologized.

“Don’t be silly. You didn’t ruin anything. I still got to see my son, didn’t I? As long as you guys made it here safe and sound, I’m happy. I just hope your headache is better. Do you need anything for it?”

“No, thanks. I had some medicine with me. I’m feeling much better and should be back to normal tomorrow morning.”

Drake piped into the conversation. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ve got it covered. Alexa has me here taking care of her.”

She patted Drake on the head and smiled down at me. “I’m sure you’re doing a fine job of it, too. But I’m a mom. That means I can’t help but worry over you kids.”

His mom was so sweet. She reminded me of Aubrey’s mom in many ways. I watched her as she pulled several containers out of the basket and put them in the fridge. “You didn’t have to go to so much effort. I would have been fine with sandwiches. I’m usually not that hungry after a bad headache anyway. In fact, I was trying to convince your son to join you all at the house for dinner without me.”

Her eyes twinkled in response as she shook her head. “And I’m sure that suggestion went over like a lead balloon. Drake made it very clear earlier that he wasn’t excited about having dinner with our guests. He’s always been a little uncomfortable around dear Sasha. Your headache gave him the perfect excuse to bow out of tonight. It wouldn’t be right for him to leave you alone here feeling unwell while we all had dinner together.”

Drake smirked at me. “See, Alexa. My mom says I should stay here, too. Told you so.”

She shook her head at him. “Don’t give her a hard time, Drake. This is your chance to show her what a great, supportive boyfriend you can be.”

I grinned up at him. “Yeah, Drake. Be a good boy and cater to my every whim since I don’t feel good.”