Chapter 6
Sebbie
I’d been hit on, cursed at, propositioned, and anything else you could think of over my years as an EMT and then nurse. When people were in a lot of pain, half conscious, or drugged up with pain meds, anything was possible.
I didn’t take it personally. I knew people weren’t themselves in those situations. Having a six-inch piece of wood sticking through your hand or your bone sticking out of your leg made people understandably off kilter.
Still, when Corbin called me beautiful, I couldn’t help my reaction. I knew he was just woozy from blood loss, but it actually threw me off my game for a moment. So of course I kicked into nurse mode, because Corbin was injured, and I was going to take care of him.
It didn’t take long for the wound to stop bleeding, and when I looked at it, it didn’t seem nearly as bad as I’d initially thought it was.
It had looked deep when I’d first seen it, and there had been a lot of blood on him.
I’d assumed he’d been walking for some time with the injury, but based on how shallow it appeared and how quickly it stopped bleeding, maybe it had happened near the house.
“Did you hurt anything else when you fell?” I asked, grabbing the supplies Jude and Toby had brought over to start cleaning the cut. Cuts, actually, because there was more than one.
“Fell?” Corbin asked.
His head was still leaning back, his eyes closed, and I had to force myself to focus back on my task of cleaning the wound. A man’s neck should not be so freaking sexy.
“Yes. You fell and cut yourself on some rocks. It looks like a few smaller wounds, but they’re in one area. Did you hurt anything else? Did you hit your head? Do you feel pain anywhere?” I asked.
Corbin opened his eyes, looking confused. I looked at his pupils, but they looked okay. I hoped he wasn’t going into shock or hiding a worse injury, but he only seemed slightly disoriented.
I went back to work on his arm, asking Jude and Toby for supplies as I needed them.
Jude had a surprising number of first aid supplies on hand, and it wasn’t long before the wounds were cleaned and bandaged.
I’d thought that stitches might be required, but when I suggested it, Jude had laughed and Corbin had huffed, so I figured that wasn’t going to happen.
Honestly, it really didn’t seem that bad, and if Corbin didn’t mind a scar, then I wasn’t going to drag him in for a few random stitches.
My initial assessment had been off, because I’d thought it was much worse than it was.
I guess I’d been distracted by the sexy man (who was injured, so it was kind of mortifying that I was thinking how hot he was).
By the time we were cleaning up and I was washing off, he was already looking better.
“Some food and water would be good. I don’t think he lost that much blood, because the cuts weren’t as deep as I thought, but it’ll definitely help,” I instructed Jude.
“I’m okay,” Corbin said.
I was standing in front of him again, and he was still sitting in the chair. He was staring at me, and I felt oddly tongue-tied. I always had something to say, but words completely left my brain at that moment.
“Alright, let’s go get you cleaned up, then we can all have brunch,” Jude chimed in.
I looked over at him, and he was smirking. Toby had been suspiciously quiet, but when I looked over, he was scribbling in a notebook. That figured.
Corbin stood up, and he was suddenly really close to me. I could almost feel the heat pouring off of him. I hoped he didn’t have a fever (What? You can’t just turn the healthcare worker off, you know), but then I was thinking that he was a beautifully sexy man.
He smiled at me, and then he stepped away. He seemed steady on his feet as he walked toward the hallway.
“You guys stay here. We’ll make some food in a minute,” Corbin said.
Jude followed behind him, adding, “Drink your coffee and chat while we get cleaned up.”
Then they were gone.
I sat down at the table, looking at the three mugs of coffee we’d pushed to the side.
Jude had poured them for us when we’d come over, insisting we stay and have a cup with him.
Coming over had been Toby’s idea, because of course he fully supported my crush on Corbin.
When I’d gotten to his house, he’d made up some research questions to ask, only Corbin hadn’t been here.
Jude had assured us he’d be right back, then the crows had started making a ruckus, and Corbin had been injured.
Toby finally finished taking whatever random notes he was working on and sat down next to me. “Well, that’s a pretty good meet-cute. Nurse helps bleeding man who calls him beautiful. They stare longingly at one another, and romance blossoms.”
I snorted, picking up my cup. “Meet-cute? First, we already met. Second, the two times we have met have been a disaster. Once we were in a crazy cult-lady’s basement, and the next time Corbin looked like he was bleeding out. He probably thinks I’m the worst luck ever.”
“You guys saw each other again when we all got together and had dinner. That wasn’t a disaster,” Toby said.
“Yeah, because we didn’t talk to each other. And, I’ll remind you, it was the same day as the cult house.”
I sighed. I really did have the worst dating luck in the world. It seemed like people were always dying, bleeding, or choking around me, and it wasn’t very conducive to romance.
Toby put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay, Seb. I promise, this crew isn’t scared off by a little blood or death. I think you and Corbin would be great together.”
There was a rustling and a creaking then, and I realized we must not have shut the back door all the way, because the large crow that came to visit me hopped into the room.
Toby and I just stared, and the crow tilted its head, fluffing its feathers.
When we didn’t move or shoo it away, it flew up onto the table.
It had something in its beak, and it dropped it in front of me and cawed softly.
“You seriously weren’t kidding about crows bringing you gifts?” Toby said, and then the notebook was back out. Well, there went any possibility of conversation with him.
The stone was light gray and brownish-red, and it looked layered. I’d seen plenty of stones like it before, but the reddish color was interesting. It was almost like something stained the stone.
“Thank you,” I told the crow, picking it up to look more closely at it.
“Crow, what are you doing?” I heard Corbin’s voice ask.
I closed my hand over the stone, gripping it and wincing a bit as it cut into my skin.
Oops. Apparently it was sharp. I looked over to see Corbin and Jude walking back into the room.
I’m not sure why I didn’t show them the stone—maybe they’d think it was silly?
But I slid it into my pocket, glancing at my palm. Just a little cut and barely any blood.
The crow cawed and flew off. I expected it to head for the door, so I was kinda shocked when it landed on Corbin’s shoulder. He reached over and casually scratched its head like it was no big deal at all.
“Breakfast?” Corbin asked casually, like he didn’t have a crow sitting on his shoulder.
“Um, sure? Is that crow, like, yours?” I asked.
Jude was over at the fridge pulling stuff out, but Corbin came over and sat across the table from me.
“Crow isn’t mine. I suppose, if anything, I’m hers.”
Toby looked up at that. “Wait. Hold on a sec. Are you telling me you named your crow ‘Crow’? Really, Corbin?”
Toby’s face was priceless. He looked utterly appalled. He put so much time and energy into naming his characters in his books—I often heard all about his research and listened to him debate names when he was writing. He was always calling for opinions.
I couldn’t help the little giggle that escaped me at Toby’s face. I felt bad, because I didn’t want Corbin to think I was laughing at him, but when I looked over, he was smiling.
“I was quite a bit younger when Crow came to me,” he answered.
“Um, crows don’t live that long, Corbin,” Toby said. “Is it a hellhound crow?”
Toby and his imagination. I almost snorted, but instead, I answered, “Actually, crows can live up to twenty years in zoos and stuff.”
Corbin couldn’t have been much older than in his thirties, so he could’ve domesticated the crow when he was younger. I bet it was a fascinating story.
Toby opened his mouth, probably to ask more questions, but Jude cut him off. “Corbin’s a witch.”
Toby and I both looked over at Jude, who was casually frying eggs. Corbin was scratching Crow’s neck again, and he didn’t look fazed by Jude’s pronouncement.
“Wait. Wait. What? A witch? What the fuck!?” Toby asked. He looked somewhere between pissed off (probably that no one had told him) and excited (because I’m sure he was already thinking up a book).
“Do you mean, like, Wiccan?” I asked, not wanting him to be offended by Toby. Not that I even knew if Wiccan was the right word.
Corbin didn’t look aggravated, though. He looked as calm and serene as ever, and he shrugged his shoulders. “Something like that.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to offend. I just don’t really know anything about witches. Or Wicca. Or whatever word you use,” I added.
“It’s okay. I don’t worry about titles. It’s my family line, and my mother didn’t really call herself anything. It just means we’re more connected to nature and the elements.”
“Cool,” I said. “That’s really cool.”
God, I was a dork. I had zero game. I looked at Toby, but he was writing stuff down again. Corbin had said I was beautiful, but that was before he actually heard me talk.
I could feel my chances with the sexy guy floating out the window. He did not seem like the type to be impressed by a pink hooded cloak and a bedazzled staff, and that was totally my vibe. He was, like, a cover model for underwear ads or something.
Jude came over with a plate full of eggs and sausage, and it was like some kind of beacon, because suddenly the front door was opening, and I heard voices call out. It sounded like Josh and Wilder, and maybe Aiden and his boyfriend.
There was a chorus of greetings as they all walked in.
Aiden’s boyfriend wasn’t there, though, just his big-ass dog.
Fluffy looked kind of ferocious, but he was a sweetie.
Jude put plates out for everyone, and Corbin got up to get silverware.
Toby finally put away his notebook, and everyone sat down to eat and chat.
It was nice. A bunch of other people being there kind of took the pressure off.
I got to occasionally stare at Corbin when he wasn’t looking.
Yeah, he had rugged good looks, beautiful long hair, and thick, sexy lips, but he also exuded this sort of natural calm.
I remembered it from the cult house. It was nice just being in his presence.
There was something calming about him. He made me feel settled and content, sort of like drinking tea on my porch with the sunrise.
His crow stayed on his shoulder the whole time, which was kind of adorable.
The group talked about stupid mundane stuff, and eventually Q, Liam, and Dexter came in to join us, which turned into Q finding things to complain about in the funniest way possible.
I laughed and joked and got over my self-consciousness, but I couldn’t help glancing at Corbin.
He didn’t talk a whole lot, but it seemed like once or twice maybe he was glancing at me, too, and he dished food onto my plate. Maybe it was stupid, but I thought it was kind of sweet. I didn’t wanna read too much into anything, but maybe he was sort of interested?
A guy could hope, anyway. Maybe I’d even get up the courage to ask him to meet for coffee or something.
I just needed to figure out how to see more of Corbin without death or bloodshed occurring. Nothing ruined a perfectly good date like having someone die at the next table.
Unfortunately, I knew that from experience.