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Now she was crying on his shoulder, and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

“I wanted to see you get it,” she said.

“Haven’t won anything yet.”

“You know what I mean.” She pulled back far enough to look at him, cheeks wet. “Even if you don’t. I wanted to be there with you.”

“I know.”

When he wiped a tear away with his thumb, another one took its place. He loved this girl so damn much. He wanted to promise her something, anything that would make this better, but he couldn’t promise she’d be over this by tomorrow, and he couldn’t move the ceremony.

“I don’t want you worrying about this right now,” he said. “You need to rest. I’ll call about your ticket.”

Nicole nodded and took the tissue he handed her.

At least he’d paid for the refundable one. He’d only done it in case she told him no, and at the time, her saying she couldn’t miss class had seemed like the worst thing that could happen. His own ticket was the cheap one with all the restrictions, and changing it would cost money he didn’t have to throw around. Jed had filled Thursday with interviews the minute he heard Drew was coming in early, and the hotel was already paid for. Sticking around another day wouldn’t put her in any shape to fly anyway.

He still didn’t want to leave her. Not this morning, and for damn sure not tomorrow.

Nicole coughed into the tissue, a dry cough that started over every time she tried to breathe in. Drew held the water for her until it eased, and she sank back against the pillows.

“Jesus,” she whispered.

He stayed beside her, his hand on her leg over the covers. Some sun was coming through the blinds now and falling across the sheets and the soup he’d heated for her an hour ago. It wasn’t steaming anymore.

“Think you can eat a little?”

“In a minute.” She closed her eyes. “I’ll be fine, Drew. I just need to sleep.”

He stood up, then didn’t know what the fuck he’d stood up for. Leaving her here alone didn’t sit right.

“You want me to call somebody?”

“No. I’ll be okay.”

Yeah, fuck that. He was calling Ryan the second he got out of this room, and Ryan was getting Bailey’s ass over here. Last night Nicole had tried to tell him something was off with Bailey, and he’d been too busy watching Tariq hold that fucking trophy to hear her. Whatever was going on, Nicole was sick, and she needed her best friend.

“I’ll be back tonight.”

Nicole opened her eyes. “No, Drew.”

He bent and kissed her forehead. Her skin was still burning against his lips.

“I’ll be back tonight,” he said again. “And eat your soup.”

She shook her head and tried to answer through another coughing fit. He waited until she could talk.

“You cannot get sick. Please.”

“I’ve been here all night.”

“That doesn’t mean you should keep coming back.”

He looked at her, and she looked right back, her eyes tired and still wet.

“You can call me as much as you want,” she said. “But you can’t come back tonight. Promise me.”

They’d been together every day. If he was going to catch it, he probably already had. He almost said it, just so he’d have a reason to stay that she couldn’t argue with, but she was right. He couldn’t get sick this week. He’d worked too fucking hard for this, and if he ended up missing it, she’d blame herself for the rest of her life.