Marry Your Best Friend (How To Win At Love)

1. Chrissy

1

CHRISSY

I push the plate away because I just don’t have the stomach for it. It’s been a hell of a day, and I don’t see it getting any better. So far today, I’ve stitched up a woman that was beaten by her husband, and I’ve treated a kid and his dad that were in a car accident, three broken bones, one heart attack, and two people that came in after a bar fight.

“You okay? You going to make it?” Bethany, my friend who is also a nurse in the ER, asks me. Nothing that we’ve seen today has slowed her down. She’s eating her sandwich with gusto. Glancing around the hospital cafeteria, I'm relieved to see others who also appear tired. A few of my colleagues have the same look that I have, and it makes me feel a little better that I’m not alone .

“Four more hours to go.”

Bethany whistles and blows out a breath. “You’re about to jinx us. You never talk about how much time you have left. You know that, Chrissy.”

“Fine, yes, I’m going to make it. I’m just… I don’t know.”

She picks up a chip and points it at my plate. “You need to eat something.”

I pull my plate back toward me. I know she’s right. I’m exhausted, and whether or not I’m hungry, I know I need to keep my energy up. I take a bite of my turkey sandwich. “Happy?”

She smirks. “Ecstatic.”

We’re both quiet, and Bethany is the one to talk first. “Are you still thinking about changing departments?”

I shrug. I’ve been thinking about it for a few months, but my gut is telling me it’s time. I don’t have the love for my job that I once did. I’m not sure what it is, but I know I’m wanting to slow down. “Maybe. I’m still thinking about it.”

“Well, you know you can’t just leave me. You’re the only one I can talk about work with and you don’t get sick hearing it. My sister gags if I even talk about blood.”

I roll my eyes. Bethany is known for her graphic stories. “Maybe you shouldn’t go into such detail when you’re telling a story, Bethany. I swear I got sick when you talked about that amputation last week, and hell, I was in the room when it happened.”

She takes another bite of her sandwich, and as she’s chewing, she laughs. “Please, I just like to keep it interesting.” She chokes and swallows her mouthful. “Speaking of interesting… incoming.”

She nods her head toward the entrance of the cafeteria, and I suck in a breath. Gabriel Gray. My foster brother… my best friend… and the love of my life.

I avert my eyes from his because I don’t want him to see what I’m thinking. I try to appear uninterested, but I let my eyes travel down the length of him. His unruly hair is in a ponytail, and his dark blue T-shirt is tight across his broad shoulders and looks as if it might be cutting off the blood supply to his muscled arms. I let my gaze travel down, and he has on cargo pants that are tight in the thighs. The man is huge and a force to be reckoned with. Anywhere he goes, people gawk at him.

I look over at Bethany, and her mouth is hanging open as she watches him. I hate that jealousy surges inside me. I have no right to be jealous, but here I am, eaten up with it. “You might want to wipe your mouth. You’re drooling.”

She just smiles. “I mean, look at him. Of course, I’m drooling.”

“Hey, ladies.”

Gabe doesn’t wait to be invited. He pulls the chair out that is next to me, spins it around, and then straddles it. “How you doing, Bethany?”

She practically swoons and even giggles. “I’m doing good. How you doing, Mr. Hottie?”

I roll my eyes. “Really?”

She looks at me and then gestures to him. “What? It’s not like he doesn’t know.”

Gabe is watching me closely. “Know what?”

“Nothing,” I say.

Bethany laughs out loud like she’s enjoying this. “Right, well, if she’s not going to tell you, I will. Everyone calls you Mr. Hottie. You know because well, you’re a fireman and you’re hot.”

Gabe chuckles, and I swear the man blushes.

He’s staring at me. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

I look at Bethany and squirm at the curious way she’s looking at me. “I have not.”

Gabe reaches for me and brushes my hair off my face, tucking it behind my ear. I do my best not to let myself react to his touch. I wave his hand away. “I haven’t been avoiding you, I’ve been busy.”

I try to draw Bethany back into the conversation. “We’ve been busy in the ER, haven’t we?”

She nods at the clear look I give her. “What? Yes, I mean, yes, we’ve been busy.”

I avoid Gabe’s gaze. “Tell him about the broken leg today.”

She smiles real big. “Oh, you mean the man that broke his leg and the bone was sticking out of his skin this far?” She holds her hands around five inches apart and then whistles. “You want to talk about a bad break. I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life. Blood was spurting everywhere and…”

Bethany keeps talking, and the more she says, the greener Gabe gets. He’s never been able to stomach blood, and Bethany’s stories are full of it.

It’s when he starts to turn white that I interrupt her. “Okay, okay, that’s enough. If he passes out, I can’t lift him. Can you?”

He takes a drink of my water, chugging it. “Pass out? I’m not going to pass out.”

He drinks some more water and wipes his mouth and then gives me a worried look. “You look tired. You okay?”

This time, I look him right in the eye. “Tsk, tsk, Gabe. Really? If you were looking for a way to compliment me, you went the wrong direction.”

He gives me that smile of his. The one that makes my nipples hard and my body get hot all over. “Honey, you know I think you’re beautiful, but I’m worried you’re not taking care of yourself.”

Bethany chimes in, and I swear I forgot she was even sitting here. “She’s not. I’m forcing her to shove the sandwich in. She’s had a rough morning, and she’s only drank a half a bottle of water.”

I give Bethany the side eye. “Really? Stalker much? I think we need to talk about some boundaries.”

She shrugs her shoulder. “What? It’s the truth.” She points at Gabe. “And she’s not been sleeping well, but that’s more of an occupational hazard.” I give my friend a dirty look, but it doesn’t even faze her. “What? He’s your brother, it’s not like I’m giving away your secrets to a stranger or something.”

I can’t stop the frown from forming on my face. I can’t help it. Anytime someone refers to Gabriel Gray as my brother, I get an icky feeling inside. You call King, Holden, Ledger, or Dom my brothers, I’m fine with it. Heck, I call them my brothers. They are in fact all my foster brothers, but for some reason, I can’t do it with Gabe.

“He’s not my brother… he just likes to think he’s the boss of me.”

Gabe looks at me curiously, but at least he’s not giving me a wounded look or anything. I couldn’t handle that. He has been my best friend since I was eight years old and moved into the same foster home that he, King, Holden, Ledger, and Dom were living in.

Gabe is staring at me searchingly, and I start to fidget under his gaze.

I gesture to the cut on his arm that I noticed when he sat down. “That’s infected.”

He just shrugs. “Trust me, it will take more than a cut to take me out. You’re going to be stuck with me for a while.”

I start piling all my food on my tray. “Come on, I’ll clean it out before I get back to work.”

He puts his hand on mine to stop me. “Eat your food, then I’ll let you clean me up.”

“Let me?”

He chuckles. “You forget I know you, Chrissy Aiken. It will pain you not to take care of this cut. You will worry about me all day and night, wondering if I’m okay. So yeah, eat your food and then I’ll LET you clean me up.”

Reluctantly, I pick up the rest of my sandwich. “Fine. I’ll eat.”

I finish my lunch while Bethany and Gabe talk. She hangs on every word he says, but I can’t begrudge her for it because Gabe just has that thing about him. I take the last bite of my sandwich and wad up my napkin. As soon as I swallow, I smirk at him. “Happy?”

He grabs my water bottle and stands up. “I’ll fill this up for you.”

He grabs my tray as he goes, and I watch him walk away.

“Dammmmmnnnn,” Bethany whispers loudly.

Again, I forgot about her, but I don’t have to worry about being caught staring at Gabe because she’s doing the same thing. She whistles low. “Just one night. That’s it. I just need one night with that man and I would be content for life.”

“Will you stop?” I beg.

She gives me a look. “Foster brother or not, I’d be banging that.”

“What was that?” Gabe asks as he’s walking toward us .

Oh my God. “Nothing. Ready to go? See you later, Bethany.”

I don’t wait for her to answer. She waves at Gabe, and I pull him along with me.

I’m quiet as we walk through the halls of the hospital, and he elbows me. “If you don’t have time to do this, I’m fine.”

I stop in my tracks. “Really, Gabe? You said you’d do this, you can’t go back on your word now.”

He holds his hands up, palms out. “Okay, okay, I wasn’t trying to get out of anything. You just seem distracted—or mad—or I don’t know. Whatever. Whatever you want to do to me, I’m good, but can you just smile for me? I hate seeing you like this.”

I groan on the inside but don’t let him hear it. I want to scream as loud and as long as I can because I’m so frustrated. I’ve wanted Gabriel Gray for as long as I can remember, but he’s my best friend, and that’s all he’ll ever be. I force a smile to my face. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a little stressed, and I shouldn’t take it out on you. I’m sorry… okay?”

He grabs my hand and pulls it up between us. The difference is vast. I’m pale compared to his olive skin tone. My hand is a lot smaller than his, and where mine is soft, his is rough. But when he slides his fingers between mine, threading them together, they fit perfectly together. My breath halts as I stare at the way he’s holding on to me. “Hey,” he whispers.

I look up at him, and he searches my eyes, but I’m not sure what it is he’s looking for. I’ve had my feelings on lockdown, and I refuse to let him see how I truly feel about him. I may want a relationship, but I can’t risk our friendship. “Hey.” I smile up at him, feeling at ease for the first time since our argument two days ago.