26. Ellie #2
I thought about Crim asking me if I was running toward something or away from it. About Haley saying one makes you brave, the other makes you small.
About the yellow dress I’d stuffed in my closet because I didn’t want to remember what hope felt like when it got crushed.
But hope wasn’t the dress. Hope was standing in a treatment room at seven in the morning, holding a coffee cup that proved someone had been paying attention.
Hope was him writing in the margins that I wasn’t only a physical therapist who fixed things.
Hope required believing I was worth more than what I could do.
“I’m staying,” I said.
His shoulders dropped. He looked away fast, but not before I saw his eyes go bright. “Because of the protocol?”
“Because of me. Because this is what I want to build. My career. Research. My life.” I caught his hand. “You’re part of that. A big part. But you’re not the whole reason.”
“Good.” His voice came out rough. “That’s… That’s good.”
“I need to call Denver and tell them.”
“Right now?”
I pulled out my phone. “If I don’t do it now, I’ll chicken out.”
“You won’t.”
“I might.”
“You’re the bravest person I know.”
I kissed him quickly. “Hold that thought.”
“You’re not staying for me,” he said.
“I’m staying for both of us.” I smiled. “You’re the bonus.”
He just stared at me.
“Say something,” I said.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“That’s a first.”
A small smile tugged at his mouth. “You’re staying.”
“I’m staying.”
“Not for me.”
“Not only for you.”
The distinction mattered to both of us.
He sat down on the treatment table beside me. “The research protocol.”
“League-wide implementation.”
“You’ll be published.”
“If it goes well, my name will be on methodology used by every team.”
Pride flooded his face. “That’s fucking incredible, Ellie.”
“Dr. Lundrig when we’re working.”
“We’re not working right now.”
“Aren’t we?”
Heat flared between us. The table. Our table. Two nights ago we’d—
“So when you said you were very good at your job, that was the understatement of the century,” he said.
“I’m also very humble.”
“Obviously. That’s the first thing I noticed about you.” He shifted his weight. “Actually, the first thing I noticed about you was how amazing you looked in that yellow dress.”
“I stuffed it into the back of my closet.”
“I want to see you wear it again.” His voice dropped lower. “Then strip it off you.”
Heat pooled low in my belly.
Something had shifted between us. The power balance had equaled out. I wasn’t staying because I needed him. I was staying because I wanted him. And that changed everything.
“We need to talk about how this works,” I said. “You’re still my patient for another week.”
“Technically cleared but monitoring.”
“Exactly. Which means we can’t…you know what.”
His grin turned feral. “Say it.”
“No.”
“Ellie.”
“We can’t have sex in the treatment room again.”
“Why not?”
“Brashe.”
“I’m kidding. Mostly.”
I shook my head, refusing to let myself smile. “When you’re at work, I’m Dr. Lundrig.”
“Agreed.”
“No special treatment.”
“Define special treatment.”
“No cutting the line for appointments.”
“What if my hip actually hurts?”
“Then you’ll wait like everyone else.”
He pretended to scowl. “That’s harsh.”
“It’s professional.”
“What about after work? Can I still text you at 9:41?”
My stomach flipped. “You can text me whenever you want.”
“Even if it’s just to say goodnight?”
“Especially then.”
His expression turned serious. “I’m going to mess this up sometimes.”
“I will too.”
“I’m going to get scared and say the wrong thing.”
“I will too.”
We sat closer now. Not touching but almost.
“I don’t know how to be someone’s boyfriend,” he said.
“Lucky for you, I don’t know how to be someone’s girlfriend.”
“We’ll figure it out together.”
“That sounds good.”
A knock on the door made us leap off the treatment table and spring apart even though we hadn’t been touching.
“Ellie?” Patty called out. “Are you in the middle of something?”
“Come in,” I called out.
She pushed the door open, tablet in hand, but stopped when she saw our faces. Her gaze moved from Brashe to me, then down to the instruction sheets on the table.
“I can come back,” she said.
“No.” I stood straighter, smoothing my blazer even though it didn’t need smoothing. “Actually, I need to talk to you. I’m going to turn down Denver.”
Patty’s face went through about six emotions in two seconds. “You…really?”
“I want to work on the protocol with you. If the offer is still open.”
“Open? Ellie, I’ve been hoping you’d say yes since I first mentioned it.” She came further into the room. “Are you sure?”
“This is what I want.”
Patty’s eyes flicked to Brashe, then back to me. Understanding crossed her face. “And this is part of it?”
Heat rushed up into my face. “He’s part of it. But he’s not the reason.”
“Good.” Patty’s smile turned genuine. “Because if you were staying just for a boy, even a very large, very talented boy, I’d have to stage an intervention.”
“I resent being called a boy,” Brashe muttered.
“But you don’t resent being called talented?”
“That part’s accurate.”
“Denver’s a great opportunity,” Patty said.
“So is this. We could change how the entire league approaches rehabilitation. That’s not small.”
“No, it’s not.” Patty’s eyes sparkled. “Plus, you’ll be able to workshop protocols in real-time with actual patients. Denver can’t offer that.”
“Exactly.”
Patty’s attention turned to Brashe. “And the fact that a certain goalie is here has nothing to do with it.”
“I’m a bonus,” Brashe said.
“A very good one,” I said.
Patty laughed. “I’ll leave you two to work out the details then.”
The door clicked shut behind her.
“I like her,” he said.
“Me too.”
I grabbed a purple sticky note from the desk and wrote something without letting him see. I stuck it to his chest. “Read it later.”
“Why later?”
“Because I have patients today, and you’re one of them.”
“Dr. Lundrig mode?”
“Fully engaged.”
“Can I at least—”
“No.”
“You don’t know what I was going to ask.”
“Yes, I do. The answer is no.” My snort rang out. “I can’t believe you’re pouting.”
“I don’t pout.”
“You’re literally pouting right now.”
“This is my thoughtful face.”
“Sure it is.”
He strode to the door, but turned back. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I watched him go and allowed myself one moment to just feel it. The warmth in my chest. The certainty that I’d made the right choice.
After calling Denver, I got to work.