“Not long.”

“You’ve been unconscious since last night.”

“Really?”

He nodded as his mouth gaped open in a yawn. “Of course, I shouldn’t be surprised considering the amount of alcohol a lightweight like you had.”

“Whoa, wait a minute—I wasn’t drinking last night.”

“Oh yeah you were. That cough syrup Sutton gave you has a moonshine base.”

I widened my eyes. “You’re joking.”

“Sadly not.”

After sweeping a hand over my mouth, I muttered, “Oh God.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t paying better attention. If I’d seen Sutton offering you any of that garbage, I would have tossed it out the window, and maybe him along with it.”

I laughed. “It’s okay. I should have known better than to take unmarked ‘medicine’ from someone I don’t know.”

“When I talked to Dad last night, I insisted he find somewhere else for Sutton.”

“Was that really necessary? I mean, it wasn’t like he was plying me with alcohol to try to take advantage of me or something.”

Barrett gave an angry shake of his head. “He should’ve been more cautious. With your fever, your body could have gone into shock with the alcohol. It could’ve been a lot worse.”

While I didn’t think my condition would have been that serious, I decided it was best not

to argue with Barrett considering how adamant he was. After shifting in bed to see him better, my bladder demanded immediate relief, causing me to wince in pain. Barrett’s brows creased. “What’s wrong?”

“Um, I, uh…” God, this was mortifying. Sure, I’d shared close quarters with Barrett in hotel rooms and on the bus, but I’d always been able to be discreet about Mother Nature calling.

At my hesitation, Barrett rose out of his chair. “Are you in pain? Do you need the nurse?”

Refusing to look at him, I replied, “Actually, I need to pee.”

The concern in his face evaporated and amusement danced in his eyes. “You got that worked up over having to take a piss?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Ugh, do you have to say it like that?”

“Would you prefer me to say urinate?”

“While I prefer not hearing any of the names for it, at this moment I’m much more concerned with the act itself.”

“You have two choices: you can ring for the nurse to come help you and probably piss yourself before one makes it here, or you can let me help you.”

I sighed. Barrett had a point about it taking forever for a nurse come. “Okay. You can help me.”

After easing the bed up, I swung my feet over the edge. When I started to stand, my rubbery-feeling legs caused me to wobble. Before I could fall back in the bed, one of Barrett’s arms slid around my waist. “Easy there, Miss Independent. I’m here to help you, remember?”

“I thought you meant just guiding the IV pole.”

“I can do both.”

Since I was too weak to argue, I leaned against Barrett and let him steer me and the IV pole across the room. Silently, I lamented the draft I felt behind me where my hospital gown gaped open. When we got to the bathroom door, it was a tight squeeze for us to make it through. As I hovered beside the toilet seat, Barrett remained glued to my side.

“Um, a little privacy please.”

He shook his head. “With you so weak, I’m not taking a chance of you falling.”

Oh God. The situation grew more and more mortifying by the second. “Could you at least turn around once I’m sitting down?”

Even though I could tell he didn’t like the idea, he nodded. Once his back was facing me, I tugged at the hem of my gown and eased down on the toilet seat, groaning in ecstasy as a steady stream began to flow. When Barrett snickered at my response, I groaned again, but this time out of embarrassment.

“I can’t believe you have to see me like this.”

“Trust me, this is a cakewalk after what happened on the bus.”

“What are you talking about?”

Barrett’s shoulders tensed. “Nothing.”

“No, tell me what you meant.”

“Let’s just say the cough syrup coupled with your fever made you act out of your head.”

A reel of images from the previous night on the bus charged through my mind, causing me to shudder. “I sang, didn’t I?”

“Yep.” Oh—oh shit. I gave Barrett a lap dance. When I shrieked in horror, he whirled around at my reaction. “What? What’s wrong?”

I buried my head in my hands. “I just remembered coming on to you.”

Barrett sucked in a breath. “I was hoping you would have blacked all that out.”

“Why? Why do I have to remember? There are entire nights of partying I can’t recall from back when I was in college, but no, I have to have to the image of straddling your lap burned into my memory.”

He chuckled. “You were pretty disappointed I wouldn’t initiate you into the mile-high club.”

Peeking at him through my fingers, I said, “But we were on a bus.”

“Yes, I did explain that to you.”

“I didn’t try to come on to anyone else, did I?” The thought of me grinding against Pete or Ed was even more horrifying than Barrett.

“Thankfully, it was just me.” He winked at me. “Even in your inebriated state, you were true to me.”