Page 139 of Lose You Twice

Then Lily calls, weak but furious, “Daisy says Kai brought her a dog, but I’m the one who has germs.”

Wren closes her eyes, leaning her forehead against the door. “Welcome to hell.”

“Oh, come on.” I step inside. “At least I brought food.”

“That may upgrade you to purgatory.”

We make our way into the house, and I place the bags on the kitchen counter before looking into the living room.

Lily is on the couch with pink cheeks and glassy eyes. You can tell she doesn’t feel very good. Daisy sits on the floor beside her.

“Hey, Kai. Did I hear you mention food?” Justin comes barreling into the kitchen, peering into the bag and finding his name on one of the wrapped sandwiches. He plops down and rips it open before nodding. “Italian. I respect it. Thanks, man.”

Holden appears behind him, eyes on the medicine bag first, then me. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

His gaze drops to the food. “You feeding an army?”

“I’ve met Justin.”

Justin, already halfway through his sandwich, points at me. “That’s fair.”

Wren moves around the kitchen like she’s trying to do six things at once. Plates, drinks, napkins, thermometer, medicine dosage, a text to her mom, a reminder for Justin to finish his homework, another for Daisy not to sit on Lily’s feet.

I turn toward the sink, which I find to be full of dishes. I roll up my sleeves, but Wren gives me a look.

“What?”

“You’re a guest.”

I give her a grin. “I’m a one-stop-shop assistant today.”

“You’re a hockey captain with cleaning issues.”

“Also true.”

Holden snorts from across the counter.

Wren glares at him. “Don’t encourage him.”

He shrugs, popping a chip into his mouth. “He brought food.”

“Traitor.”

Holden looks at me. “Is that a side of pickles?”

“Yeah, they’re for your sister.”

His eyebrow does the thing again, but this time it’s less judgment and more assessment. Like he’s fitting another piece into a picture he doesn’t fully understand yet. Am I back? Are we back? Is it serious or just a coincidence?

Dinner happens around the coffee table because Lily refuses to move from the couch, and Daisy refuses to leave her side. Wren tries to object, but Justin is already sitting cross-legged with his sandwich, and Holden joins the chaos quickly, grabbing a few extra napkins just in case.

So we eat there.

Lily takes three bites of grilled cheese, then curls into Wren’s side. Daisy narrates every bite of her own food and tells Lily all the first-grade “tea” she missed at school. Justin tells me about a kid in his class who thinks hockey players only fight because they get bored.

Wren sits on the couch with a blanket on her lap and looks more and more exhausted by the second.