Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Evie
It wasn’t my first burn, but it was the worst one I’d ever had. The rack had caught in the oven, and I’d yanked it with all my strength without realizing how stupid of an idea it was. It fell forward, and I braced the hot metal with my forearm.
Which was why I now had an eight-inch burn searing my skin.
Matthew flipped on the faucet to the utility sink and held his hand under until he gave a nod. His touch was firm, but gentle as he guided my arm under the running water.
The pain was excruciating. I could barely think. I squeezed my eyes shut as he pulled me closer to him, keeping the cool water running over the wound. He was comforting. Everything about him was comforting.
“We might need to go to the hospital,” he said. “We’re gonna give this fifteen under the cool water. But if blisters start to form, we’re going to head over there. Okay?”
“I can’t leave,” I cried. “I can’t. I have too much to do.”
“Evie.” His deep brown eyes were soft and tender, but he still had that doctor tone.
It wasn’t an argument whether or not we’d go.
I wrinkled my nose at him, but listened as he spoke.
“We’re gonna give it a shot. But if I say we go, we need to go.
All the medical supplies are there. I need to take care of you. Will you let me?”
Ugh, today was not my day. Everything had been running behind. I’d had two batches of bread that over-proofed and I had to toss them. I’d barely slept. I was running on coffee and nothing else in my stomach.
Then Nick had shown up, along with the other two hottest men in my life, just to see me at my worst.
This was a disaster.
What the hell was Nick even doing in Whynot?
“Evie,” Matthew murmured, rubbing the back of my neck. “Let me help you. Okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered. I winced as pain shot through my arm again. Matthew lifted his other hand, thumbing away my tears. “I’m sorry.”
His brows pulled together. “What are you sorry for? This isn’t your fault.”
It was, though. If I’d been paying better attention, I would have been more careful pulling the rack out of the oven. I knew how dangerous it was to be back here when my head was all over the place.
Matthew slid his arm around me. “Lean into me. I’ve got you.”
My brain was going off the rails, but I didn’t have it in me to not lean into him.
I could hear Nick and Austin’s raised voices in the front, although I couldn’t make out what they were saying.
My heart was pounding so fast, I could hear my pulse.
The pain had ebbed just enough for me to breathe a little deeper now.
“Sorry. I know I’m taking your time,” I whispered.
“Stop apologizing to me. I’m glad I was here. I think those two were about to start a brawl over you.”
I laughed and found myself relaxing against him more and more. His arms were strong and his body hard. He smelled like juniper, pink pepper, and orange blossom. Whatever cologne he had on was light and airy and it made me want to curl up with him.
I glanced up at him again and couldn’t stop blushing. “Did you get a haircut?” I blurted out.
Matthew nodded. “Just last week, yep.”
Why did he always have to be so hot? The small tight coils faded down along the sides of his head, and his beard was short and thick. All the lines were sharp and clean. “You look great,” I squeaked.
He wiggled his brows at me, grinning. I’d had a crush on Matthew for a bit. Really, I had three crushes, which was why I was panicking so much. Austin, Matthew, and Nick. Well, Nick was complicated. God, so was Austin. Matthew was probably the least complicated of the three.
The universe had really decided to fuck with me today.
Meow, meow, meow.
I scowled. “Did I just hear a cat?”
“Yeah. Nick has one, he’s in a carrier.”
“Oh my god,” I whispered, straining to look back. “I love cats.”
Matthew chuckled. “I’m sure you can say hi later . . . Also, uh, Austin doesn’t seem to like Nick. What’s that about? Do those two have a history?”
“Are you trying to distract me by gossiping?”
“Maybe. Is it working?”
“A little.” I exhaled and stared at my arm, my eyes tearing up again. “I’m going to scar, aren’t I?”
“Yes.” He didn’t lie to me, and that was strangely comforting too. “It’s a bad burn. It’s probably going to blister, but we’ll see.”
“Okay. I trust your judgement, doctor.”
“Good,” he chuckled.
“To answer the Austin-Nick thing, no. They went to high school together and hated each other. I don’t know why.
I happened to run into Nick a couple months ago and we .
. .” had the best one-night stand of my life?
But then I’d snuck out on him at three in the morning without getting his number and hadn’t heard from him since because of that.
I’d convinced myself it was for the best, but now .
. . seeing him again? I wasn’t so sure. “We had a date.”
“Was it bad?”
“No. It was really good.” I was blushing now. Matthew wasn’t exactly the person I wanted to tell all those details too.
I’d mostly told Avery and June everything the next day. I’d only withheld the part about my hot one-night stand being with Nick.
What was he doing in Whynot? When we had our date, didn’t he tell me he was building something? But we’d been almost two hours away from Whynot, so I never thought he’d visit our little town.
“Does this mean my shot with you is gone?” Matthew asked earnestly.
My eyes widened. Was he being serious? “What? You want a shot with me?”
Matthew smiled and my stomach did a slow flip.
“I’ve only had a crush on you since I moved here,” he said.
“I didn’t know,” I whispered.
I couldn’t stop staring at him. Was he fucking with me right now? I mean, I’d felt the vibes a couple times, but he never hit on me, so I just assumed he wanted to be friends.
But then I remembered some of the things he’d brought me over the last year. My favorite flowers. Lunch.
Did I miss . . . all the signs that were obviously there?
“Why have we never gone on a date then? You know I’ve been dating.”
Matthew winced. “I am known to be a little too patient when it comes to dating. Plus, you and Austin . . .”
Me and Austin. I snorted and tore my gaze from him, looking back down at the burn.
“We can talk later,” he murmured. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring this up while you’re hurt—”
“No, it’s okay. It’s a good distraction. My arm feels like it’s cooking. I just wish . . .” I trailed off. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wished.
Matthew leaned forward and inspected the burn on my arm a little closer. He let out a deep hum, his glasses sliding forward on his nose. My pulse danced as I watched him.
Maybe it was because it’d worked for my two best friends, but for the last couple years, I’d formed this fantasy that I’d end up with three boyfriends.
It was ridiculous because I hadn’t had luck finding even one.
All the dates I’d gone on this year had been failures, except for the night with Nick, and then I’d left him. The sex had been too good.
Footsteps behind us had us both turning. Matthew didn’t let go of my burned arm, keeping it under the running water.
Nick flashed us a smile as he grabbed a tray of croissants.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice pitching.
“Filling the case. We sold out.”
“What?” I hissed. “Fuck—Matthew.”
He tightened his grip on me, not letting me leave the sink. “Nope. Not going anywhere.”
“What do you mean you sold out?” I growled at Nick.
He flashed his damn stupid painfully hot dimples. “Austin and I are competitively selling your goods right now. He thinks he’s going to win, but he’s not going to, because I am better than him at everything.”
Nick winked and carried the tray out to the front. I wriggled against Matthew, craning my head to try and see what the hell they were doing to my case.
“I’m going to commit murder,” I whispered. “Fuck. Fuck.”
“Evie, it’s fine. Let them have their dick-measuring contest. We have—” he checked the watch on his wrist, “about ten more minutes of this.”
Ten more minutes. Ten more minutes of being held by Dr. Sexy. I guess there were worse ways to deal with a burn.
Reluctantly, I leaned back into Matthew. My head thumped against his chest, and he surprised me by resting his chin on the top of my head. This was certainly not the time to get turned on, but it was hard not to.
“How’s the burn feeling?” he murmured.
“Not good.” The pain had subsided some, but I was still shaking. It was manageable, but possibly only because he was here to keep me together. “It’s not my first rodeo, but I think this is the worst one I’ve had.”
I sniffled and wiped my face. All I wanted at the moment was to go home, get in bed, and restart the day.
Matthew and I stayed like that for another ten minutes, and he didn’t try to make small talk. We just leaned into each other, and if I wouldn’t have felt like my arm was being gnawed off, I could have fallen asleep like that.
“All right,” he murmured. He leaned forward and turned off the faucet, looking over the long burn.
My fair skin was blotched red and blisters were starting to form, everything shiny.
But then there were a couple spots where my skin looked paper white.
“It’s second degree, but a couple spots look like third degree.
We should go. I need to clean it, we need to get some silver sulfadiazine, and I have a hunch you may need some IV fluids too if you’re dehydrated. ”
“Fuck,” I sighed. “How dare you call out my lack of drinking water at a time like this?”
Matthew’s gaze sharpened. “Do I need to be your water Dom, Evie?”
Despite the tears in my eyes, I laughed. “Honestly, maybe. I wouldn’t say no to that. I’ll text Avery and June so they can come close down the bakery.”
Matthew offered an apologetic look. “Sorry. I’ll drive you. Where’s your purse? I’ll get it and we’ll go.”
I pointed to the hooks on the wall in the corner.
Matthew grabbed my bag off the wall and slung it over his shoulder.
I pressed my fingers over my eyes, feeling the weight of stress press down on me even more.
I had too much to do and couldn’t afford to be injured, but I couldn’t work with this pain, and if my skin was blistering, I did need to go.
“Can’t you treat me here?” I mumbled.
“Nope. Try to keep the burn from touching your clothes. Come on.”
I glanced around the back room and found myself frozen in place. It was a mess. The oven door was still open, pastries on the floor, the rack stuck in place. Flour was everywhere. It looked like a tornado had torn through here.
“Evie.”
I swallowed down the tears. My cheeks were on fire as I followed Matthew out the front, avoiding eye contact with Austin and Nick. They were side by side, filling up boxes of baked goods for customers.
“We’re going,” Matthew told them both. “We’ll call June and Avery—”
“I already did,” Austin said. “Should I call your parents, Evie?”
“God no,” I breathed out. Loved my mom and dad so much, but they’d just stress me out.
“Okay. June and Avery will be over in five.” I could feel him looking at me, but if I looked back right now, I’d crack open like a dropped egg.
“We’ve got this,” Nick said. “Don’t worry, Evie.”
Matthew’s hand settled on my lower back and he guided me out of the bakery without another word. I sniffled as he opened the passenger door to his car and got in. He leaned in as more tears blurred my vision.
“I can buckle,” I cried. “I can do it.”
“It’s okay,” he murmured gently.
Another wave of pain hit me and I gave up, my head falling back against the headrest as he buckled me in. I squeezed my eyes shut as he slid into the driver’s seat.
“I’m so mad at myself,” I blurted out, wiping away hot tears.
“Accidents happen. You didn’t do this on purpose.”
“It shouldn’t have happened.” My head pounded as he pulled onto the street and floored it. I kept my arm carefully balanced in my lap, keeping the burn from touching anything. My bones felt like they were made of lava.
“The good news is that I’m a doctor,” he chuckled. “You’re in good hands.”
He was right. I was in good hands. Probably in the best hands in Whynot.
“We’ll get you all fixed up. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Yeah,” I snorted. “So long as those two don’t burn down my bakery.”