Chapter Fifteen Emily
Chapter Fifteen
Emily
“Bettie’s last week here,” Maya said as she approached me in the hallway of the rehab center where I was parked behind the portable computer station, inputting the info for each of my patients’ charts. “Sob.”
“Ugh. Girl, I know. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy she gets to go home. I’m sure she’s dying for some decent food and a bed much larger than the twin she has here, and her bougie bedding and pillows. But selfishly, I’m really going to miss her.”
A braid hung over my shoulder, and Maya pulled at the elastic and reworked each weave to tighten them. “She asked me first thing this morning if we’d finalized the plans for our night out together.”
I snorted. “Of course she did. The woman is a planner.” I put my hands on my hips. “What did you say to her?”
“She mentioned dinner and a hockey game. I told her that sounded perfect. I didn’t think you’d mind.” Every time Maya moved her hands through my hair, I got a strong whiff of antibacterial gel, our signature scent while we were at work.
“I don’t mind at all. I love both ideas.”
She finished the braid and showed me her phone. There was a text from Bettie with a screenshot of the Bears’ schedule. “While we were talking about the plans—or, her plans, I should say—she sent me this and told me to talk with you about which game would work best for us.”
“That lady.” I shook my head. “I can only hope to be as sharp as her at eighty-four.”
“Ditto.” She turned the screen toward her. “I’m forwarding you her text. Check out the games and pick a night you’re off. I don’t care if it’s a weekend or a weekday. I’m sure she doesn’t either. Although, knowing her, her social calendar is probably busier than ours.”
There was a vibration in my pocket that I assumed was Maya’s text.
I took out my phone and saw her notification on the screen, but that wasn’t the only one that had come in.
There was one from Instagram, too, a message request from an account I didn’t follow with a name that made it impossibly difficult not to smile.
Still holding my phone, I slowly glanced at her. “I’ll check my schedule during lunch, and I’ll let you know.”
She set her elbow on the corner of the computer stand. “What are you doing for lunch?”
I shrugged. “You know, I even went grocery shopping. Who forgets to pack something to eat when they have food in the fridge?”
Someone whose brain is solely focused on Gavin.
That was who.
“How about we run away for sushi? We can go to that restaurant that’s a few blocks from here and has incredible lunch specials.”
“I want that.”
She squeezed my shoulder, and as she was walking toward the opposite end of the hall, I noticed the color of her outfit. A super-pretty lavender I’d never seen her wear before. And I knew Maya’s wardrobe as well as I knew my own, since I raided hers at least once a week.
“Hey, are those new scrubs?”
She turned around and laughed. “I was waiting for you to notice. Jordan bought them for me.”
I grinned at my best friend. “Does he need a sister wife? Because I’m available.”
“We’re going to talk about Mike over lunch. Girl, don’t think I forgot.”
My chest tightened as she turned away. I didn’t know how I was going to get out of that, but instead of dwelling on it now, I opened my Instagram app and leaned against the wall while I read Gavin’s message.
Gavin: I found you.
Me: I hope you had to work hard to do that.
Just as I was putting my phone back into my pocket, it vibrated again.
Gavin: Can we upgrade to text? I’d say I earned your number.
Me: I don’t know . . . it took you a few days to reach out. I’d say that earned you a couple more days of Instagram DM torture.
Gavin: I was going to message you Friday night.
Me: And describe in detail how blue your balls were?
Gavin: You’re wicked.
Me: I told you, I needed beauty sleep.
Gavin: You still haven’t given me your number.
Me: You still haven’t earned it.
There was another vibration as I was putting my phone in my pocket, but I ignored it, smiling to myself as my hands returned to the keyboard to finish up the patient charting.
“Hey, will you be able to leave in about ten minutes?” Maya asked as she looked over the high bar top where I was sitting behind the computer at the nurses’ station, an oversize wall that separated our area from the hallway.
“Ten minutes is perfect.” I exited out of a chart and pulled up my email. “I just have to finish reading these notes from a doctor and then I’ll be ready.”
“I’m going to check on Bettie one last time. I’ll be back.”
While she took off for Bettie’s room, I skimmed the last few lines of the email the doctor had just sent me, double-checking the medications for our newest intake, and forwarded the scripts to our in-house pharmacy.
Once I exited my inbox, I took out my phone for the first time since this morning.
I knew there was a message from Gavin waiting for me.
I just didn’t realize a few of the other vibrations I’d felt over the last several hours had also been from him.
Gavin: You’re a tough one, Emily. I’d hate to be opposite you on the football field.
Gavin: Maybe that’s where I should take you. Or the ice since Ben taught you how to skate.
Gavin: How about you start with a yes, and I’ll surprise you.
Me: Are you asking me out?
Gavin: It sounds that way, doesn’t it?
Me: You know . . . it kinda does.
Gavin: But I need one thing first to make that happen.
Me: What’s that?
Gavin: Your number.
I laughed and messaged him the digits, knowing within a few seconds, there would be a text from him.
And there was.
Unknown: So much easier.
Me: How is it that you get everything you want? You have some serious luck on your side, Gavin.
Gavin: Luck? I’ve been messaging you for hours. This has been work.
Me: Ha!
Gavin: And I don’t get everything I want. If I did, you would have come home with me. Or invited me into your apartment. Instead, I got a door in my face.
Me: But I didn’t slam the door.
Gavin: You might as well have.
Me: Not true. I closed it with love. And look what it did, it inspired you to reach out to me. Which I’m honestly shocked about.
Me: So shocked that it has me thinking . . . this is you, isn’t it? An alien hasn’t taken over your body? Because for someone who only wants his needs taken care of, “working” and texting isn’t exactly your thing.
Gavin: It’s me.
Me: Oh, a new version of Gavin. It’s nice to meet you.
Gavin: How about we make that introduction in person?
“Ready?”
I jumped at the sound of Maya’s voice and shoved my phone into the pocket of my apricot-colored scrubs. “Yep. I’m starving.”
“Same.”
I stood from the desk and joined my best friend, our arms looped as we headed for the elevator. “How’s Bettie?”
“Great.” We broke apart as Maya stepped into the elevator first, hitting the button for the lobby, and I followed behind her. “She’s all excited because Gavin is supposed to come in sometime today.”
The mere mention of his name made my heart beat like a drum solo.
“Is he bringing Ben?” My question was purely innocent, something I would certainly ask, given that I had a history with Ben and I knew Maya would take it that way. “I’d love to see that little nugget.”
“She didn’t say anything about Ben coming, just Gavin. Ben’s probably at school.”
If he was coming solely for Bettie, he would bring Ben with him. Did that mean he was mostly coming to see me? I wasn’t going to focus on that too hard. He’d made the effort to reach out. He was texting me nonstop. He was even waiting for a response on his date invite.
Things were good. That didn’t mean I should start doing brain-cartwheels.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe I never asked you how things went when he gave you a ride home the other night.” She pulled a clip out of her pocket and used it to hold up her hair after she twisted her dark locks into a knot.
“There isn’t much to say about it. I rode with him to our building, and he dropped me off. It was pretty uneventful.”
If she only knew the way I was overheating in these clothes . . . or could feel my pulse.
Her eyes narrowed, a devilish grin spreading across her lips. “But you find him delicious, don’t you?”
I laughed. “Why would you say that?”
“It’s funny, when Jordan showed us Mike’s photo and I was saying he was your type, I realized the description I gave was basically Gavin’s description too.
The two guys look nothing alike, but the characteristics are almost exact.
Which means Gavin’s also your type, I just didn’t mention it—I figured I’d save us both the embarrassment. ”
I fanned my face, something I’d do regardless of who she was talking about. “Gavin is everyone’s type. The man is drop-dead sexy.”
“It’s too bad he’s such a player.” She groaned.
“Don’t get me wrong, so was Jordan before we met.
But Gavin isn’t going to bring just anyone around his son—Jordan told me that once.
So he’ll end up being this forever bachelor and never settle down.
Or he’ll at least wait until Ben is older and won’t get attached in the meantime. ”
I wondered what she’d think of the texts that were currently sitting on my phone. Would she still agree with her statement? Would Gavin’s effort soften her opinion?
It didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to show her my cell.
Still, I wanted to push this conversation a little further. “But you changed Jordan. You made him want to only be with you.”
She smiled. “I think he wanted to change. He was ready.”
“Gavin’s not?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.” The door opened, and she moved beside me while we exited.
“But what I do know is Mike is supposedly this awesome guy. He has an incredible career. I mean, he’s the head freaking coach of the Bears, Em.
” Her voice was growing more excited with each box she checked off.
“He’s good-looking. And Jordan says he’s super sweet.
I think you should let Jordan make the connection for you. ”
I stuck my hands in my pockets. The urge to pull out my phone and reply to Gavin was almost unbearable. “Jordan called him super sweet?”
“He might not have used those exact words.”
I gently hit her shoulder at the start of the crosswalk and laughed. “I didn’t think so.” I paused for a moment. “But I really want to think about this, okay?”
She looked at me, staring straight into my eyes. “Babe, why?”
I needed a reason. And I needed one quickly.
Because on paper, Mike was everything I wanted.
“Hockey’s a very long season. I can only imagine, as the head coach, he basically lives at the arena, and I know their travel schedule is bananas. Plus, he’s a dad and that takes precedence. There’s nowhere for me to fit in.”
I was impressed with myself, despite every word being the truth.
The only thing I hadn’t mentioned was that Mike wasn’t a man I was interested in.
Because bits of my heart already belonged to someone else.
“But he would become obsessed with you, and he’d fit you in.”
“I know I’m fabulous, but fitting me into a tiny window isn’t enough. I want more, Maya.” I let the emotion in so she could hear it. “I want all of it. Like you have.”
“And that’s what you deserve.” She put her arm around my shoulders as we approached the restaurant. “I’m going to drill Jordan tonight. Back to the drawing board we go.”
“I love you. More than anything and anyone in this world. But when the perfect guy for me comes along, it’s going to happen for all the right reasons, and when it does, I’ll be ready.”
She put her hand on top of my head, turning it until I looked at her. “You’re saying you don’t want me to play matchmaker, aren’t you?” She sighed when I nodded. “Womp, womp.” She opened the door to the restaurant.
Before I walked in, I said, “Don’t hate me.”
“Are you kidding, I could never.” She stood next to me in the entrance and hugged my arm. “I’m going to run to the ladies’ room. Will you grab us a table?”
“Of course.” As she headed for the back of the restaurant, the hostess nowhere in sight, I pulled out my phone to reply to Gavin’s last text.
Me: I heard that introduction might happen today at the rehab center.
Gavin: Look at Grandma blowing up all my surprises.
Me: She told Maya who told me. Blame Maya, I guess.
Gavin: Are you hungry? I was going to bring a late lunch.
Me: I’m at a sushi restaurant right now with Maya. So, yes, I am, but in about thirty minutes I’ll be stuffed and ready for a nap.
Gavin: She likes sushi . . . noted.
Me: I also like dessert.
Me: Don’t let your brain go there, I’m talking about the food kind.
Gavin: When it comes to you, my brain always goes there.