Chapter Eleven
Wulf
After the disaster of our conversation at the club, I wasn’t sure if I should even try to contact the omega. He’d left in quite a huff and I didn’t want to do anything to make him feel uncomfortable or stalked.
But I hadn’t had a chance to really explain my proposition or tell him how I felt, he’d left.
No matter how often I ran over our conversation in my mind, I could not make sense of what happened.
We were just talking and I suggested my clinic, only to be quickly shut down, and then he told me about his inability to shift, stared at me, and ran away.
Had he seen something in my face that repulsed him?
Had I seemed to judge him?
I hadn’t been. Rather, I’d immediately recognized how he’d had such a hard time healing. There was a lot we could do here at the clinic, but nothing could replace shifting to repair damage.
Sitting at my desk, I picked up the phone and typed, Come and meet with one of the physical therapists. I have a plan. Come anytime. He didn’t reply instantly, and my anxiety level started to rise. If he didn’t answer, I would have to let it go. Stop bothering him.
I had back-to-back patients to occupy my mind, and when I finally emerged from the treatment room and escorted the last patient through the empty waiting room to the locked door.
Once again, I’d managed to be the last therapist, the last employee in the building.
Yawning, I turned around to go in and turn off the rest of the lights, when a voice said,
“You told me to come anytime.”
I froze midstep before pivoting to see Striker sitting on one of the waiting-room chairs with a magazine older than the practice on his lap.
I never knew how those old magazines managed to show up in our office, especially considering most of the patients scrolled on their phone if they had to wait a few minutes.
“Hey, nice to see you. Yes, this is anytime. Want to come back into my office?” It seemed we were always finding a cozy place to talk. Maybe this was our “thing.”
“All right.” He set the magazine down on the table next to him. “I hear 2017 is going to be a big year for sit-coms.”
“What?”
“The magazine.” He chuckled a little nervously. “It’s from 2016.”
“I swear they just appear magically. But I did find a good recipe for pot roast in one once.” I held the door open and waved him to the chair across from my desk. “Have a seat.”
He perched on the edge of the chair as I walked around to mine. “You really think you can help me? I’ve been to a lot of specialists, and they say this is as good as it gets.”
“The other night at the club when I massaged it and got you to do some exercises, did you notice any improvement?”
“I got a better night’s sleep and woke up less stiff,” he said. “It was nice.”
“I’m glad to hear that. If that one mini treatment helped like that, imagine what a whole regimen could do for you. I have one laid out if you’d like to see it.” Lifting my tablet, I swiped the screen and brought up the file. “Here.”
He scanned it, swiping up, lips moving slightly. Finally, he looked up and set the tablet down. “That’s a lot. Do you really think it would help?”
“I do, but there’s a catch.”
“Which is?”
“Striker, I like you and I’d like to go out with you, but if I am your physical therapist, we can’t date.”
“I see.” He tapped the desk with one finger. “So, I have to choose between dating you and the way you think you can help me heal? That doesn’t sound fair.”
“By that I hope you mean you actually would like to go out with me?” I pulled the tablet over to me closed the screen.
“Yes, but I also would love to quit hurting. Honestly, I don’t think anyone would want to have a relationship with me like this. I tend to be grouchy.”
“What would you think of one of the other therapists in the office taking over your care. They would follow the plan I have laid out unless you and he together decide to change it. Then we can go out and have a nice dinner somewhere.”
“Can they make me feel as good as you did the other night?”
“Not sure if the connection my wolf sees helped with that, but everyone here is skilled and will be able to make you feel pretty great.
“I’ll try. I wish it could be you, though.”
So did I.