Chapter 31
When I walked into work the next morning, Tyler and Macey were chatting at the front desk. Tyler noticed me first, his face lighting up with a warm smile at the sight of me.
“Hey, Hope! How’s your eye?” he asked. His whole body shifted toward me, his eyes earnestly searching my face and landing on the little Band-Aid by my eye.
Macey echoed his concern. “Yeah, how are you feeling?”
I smiled, flushing slightly at their concern and feeling guilty that I’d failed to update her as I’d promised. “I’m doing okay. It’s much better now, thanks. I meant to text you both more, but my best friend Emily came into town unexpectedly, and things got a bit crazy.”
Macey reached out to hug me. “No worries. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“Hey, Macey, can you help me real quick? These X-rays aren’t loading,” Devin called, waving her over to his desk to check something on a patient’s chart. Macey gave me a quick wink before heading off to help him. Then it was just Tyler and me.
I nervously tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. The way we’d left things had been very open-ended. But since he’d admitted his interest in me and kissed my cheek, it felt like three weeks had passed, even though it had only been two days.
“I’m really sorry I didn’t text you more yesterday,” I said.
He waved my apology away. “It’s okay. I totally get it. I just wanted to make sure you’re alright.” He paused, pursing his lips as if he were a little nervous. “Are we still on for Friday night?”
My face brightened. “Of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” And I meant it. I was genuinely interested in his hobby and in him. Tyler was a little dose of normal in the midst of all the chaos around me, and I liked having him around.
His smile widened, and he reached out to gently touch my shoulder. “Great. Looking forward to it.”
He turned to head for the sterilization room, and I went to put my things away in the break room.
I twisted the combination lock on my locker and swung the door open—
I froze.
Inside, sitting neatly on the top shelf, was a poppy seed muffin and a small piece of paper tucked beneath it.
My heart stuttered, and it took me a few seconds to work up the courage to grab the muffin and unfurl the little note.
Take it slow today, Amapolita. Please.
- J
I stuffed the note into my scrub pocket, cheeks blazing. Why did I feel like I had to hide the evidence? It was just him telling me to take it easy, but somehow it felt so intimate. The little note. The poppy seed muffin.
I don’t know how much longer I can stay away from you.
The words flashed through my mind so brightly that I gripped the locker door and had to close my eyes to shove them away.
Having Emily come into town yesterday had helped distract me from everything that had happened. Still, if I weren’t careful to keep it all tucked away, I would start remembering how he’d lifted me onto the counter, the way his head had fallen to my shoulder, and the dream I’d had of kissing him.
I opened my eyes, sucked in a breath, and hurried out into the hallway. I needed to focus on work.
The rest of the day passed in a blurry haze.
I charted, I polished, I chatted with patients, and I pretended everything was normal.
Tyler checked in on me twice. Macey was her normal, chatty self.
And Jay didn’t mention the note or the muffin.
He came in for his exams, told me I did a good job, and left quickly afterward.
It seemed like a normal day. He didn’t even break stride when we passed in the hall.
By the time I clocked out, my mind and my body felt fried, and the little boxes in my head where I kept all my feelings were starting to shift around, becoming rearranged in ways I couldn’t control.
Pretending nothing was happening was getting harder by the day.
I couldn’t pursue Jay. I was building a life here, and I wasn’t going to jeopardize that now by dating my boss, who was seven years older than me, also my neighbor and a freaking dentist at that.
I just had to keep my head down.
It would get easier.
It had to.