“Of course. I’m not a monster.” I glared at Lou. I was about to get in her face more when I heard the microwave door open. “Trick, wait. You’re going to heat it up all wrong and ruin it.” I dropped my arms and stalked into the kitchen.

“Do you hear yourself?” Lou said, following me. “He’s a grown man. He can use a microwave without supervision.”

I turned to argue with her some more but stopped when I saw her under the brighter light of the kitchen. Her skin was almost paper white, the fingers pushing her hair back had a fine tremor to them. She swayed a little when she stopped. Lou was about two seconds from collapsing.

“Stop arguing.” I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her into a chair. When she started to protest, I dipped down until I was at her eye level. “Stop it. This is getting to be a habit between us.” I put my wrist on her forehead. She wasn’t feverish, but her skin was clammy. I checked her eyes.

“What are you doing?” She batted my hand away. “I’m fine. Just a little overextended.”

“You’re dead on your feet,” I said, standing. I grabbed a bowl, scooped a large helping of mac and cheese into it, adding a splash of milk before putting it into the microwave. I preferred to reheat it in the oven, but Lou needed food now.

“Sorry about my phone, Dec.” Trick brought me a beer, setting it next to me before he settled in and drank his own. He squinted at Lou. “You really don’t look good.”

The microwave dinged. I pulled out the bowl, stirred it, and checked the temp before placing it in front of her. Once that was done, I warmed up a bowl for Trick.

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Lou mumbled, but as she was arguing she also shoveled food into her mouth, so I didn’t debate her. She could yell at me as much as she wanted as long as she was eating. She reminded me of a feral cat, growling at you while they ate the food you put out for them.

“No one is saying you aren’t,” Trick said calmly. “But this is how we work, Lou. Leaning on each other for support. It’s how your family functions, right?”

“Yeah, but he’s not family,” Lou grumbled into her food dish, hunched over it in exhaustion. I could tell the exact moment she realized what she said. She straightened, her eyes going wide as she looked at me. “Declan.”

My chest seized, and I turned away. I kept my gaze very focused on Trick’s bowl as it spun around. The silence in the kitchen was suffocating. I could almost feel the pressure of it as it grew. The microwave dinged and broke it. Trick sighed. Lou swore. I stirred the bowl and handed it off.

“She didn’t mean—” he started, his brown eyes pleading with me. I squeezed his shoulder, grabbing my beer with my free hand.