RIVAL’S POV
Morning hit me like a hammer.
Every rib screamed when I tried to sit up, and the bruise across my side burned like someone had branded me in my sleep. For half a second, I considered pretending it didn’t hurt. Old habits. But then I saw Thomas standing in the doorway with two mugs in his hands and that smug look plastered across his face.
“You sound like an old man getting out of bed,” he said.
“Shut it,” I grunted, forcing myself upright anyway.
“Seriously. All that groaning? You’re like eighty.”
I snatched the mug out of his hand before he spilled it, glaring. “You trying to poison me?”
He shrugged. “Tea. Supposed to help. You’re welcome.”
I narrowed my eyes at him over the rim as I sipped. Bitter, too hot, but I drank it anyway. “Since when do you play nurse?”
“Sinc
