Yours Truly (Part of Your World, #2)(84)

We came back after eating and sat in the armchairs in front of the fire talking until we couldn’t keep our eyes open.

Amy always said the cabin was boring because there weren’t any bars within walking distance or enough rooms for friends to stay with us. When I told Briana that, she’d looked at me confused and said, “How could it be boring when you’re here?”

I loved every minute we spent together. Every single minute.

Briana and I were back at work today. We had dinner with her mom and brother at my parents’ house tonight after we got off.

I stood across the ER, by the door of a patient room, watching Briana at the nurses’ station. She was sitting with Jocelyn, charting. Zander came over and stood next to me. “What are you doing?”

“Watching Briana. I sent her flowers. I’m waiting for them to get here.”

“What’d you send her flowers for?”

I smiled. “She’s mad at me.”

“For what?”

“She asked if I’d eat her if she were a gummy bear. I said yes.”

He guffawed and Briana looked up from her computer and narrowed her eyes at me. She gave me a thumbs-down and I laughed.

Zander eyed me. “This thing is still fake, right?” he said, his voice low.

My smile fell the smallest bit. “Yes. It’s still fake.”

“Are you sure?”

I blew out a breath. “I asked her out a few weeks ago. She said no.”

“She said no?” He looked back at her. She glanced at me and shook her head, trying not to smile. “Well, are you gonna ask her again?”

“No. It’s not like my offer expired. If she changed her mind, she’d tell me. She doesn’t like me like that.”

He peered over at me. “Do you like her like that?”

I was quiet for a beat. “Yeah. I do.”

I saw the flowers drifting down the hall and backed up a little into the doorway. The moment Briana looked over and realized they were for her was my shot of serotonin for the day. Her beautiful face lit up and she took the card from the stick and opened the envelope. I watched her read it and laugh. The card said,

Dearest Briana,

My deepest apologies. I clearly did not understand the assignment.





—J




She looked up and searched the room for me and she beamed at me when she saw me, and my heart was full.

I would give her this every day. I’d spend the rest of my life looking for ways to make her smile at me like that. I lived for it.

When she came over, everyone was watching us, as usual. I knew she’d put on a show. We couldn’t touch too much at work. PDA wasn’t permitted. So what we did here was act like we wanted to touch, but the rules wouldn’t allow it. She’d stand extra close to me, looking up at me like if we just weren’t at work, she’d kiss me. I loved that the best. When she did that, it felt like she loved me back. I let myself pretend.

She stopped an inch shy from being able to hug me. “Zander,” she said, nodding at him. Then she crossed her arms and turned to me. “Thank you for the flowers, Dr. Maddox.”

“So you forgive me, then?” I grinned.

She shrugged playfully and looked away from me.

“How about if I buy you dinner Saturday?” I asked.

Her eyes slid back to mine. “I want Chinese food.”

“Okay.”

“I get to place the order and you have to go get it.”

“Sounds fair.”

She arched an eyebrow. “I’m going to order half the menu.”

“Of course.”

We were leaning into each other, smiling.

“Dios mío, get a room,” Hector said, walking up.

We laughed a little and moved apart, but we didn’t break eye contact. We were so good at this.

It was hard to believe one of us was in love and the other one was just good at pretending.

“Hey, you got a patient asking for you in room three,” Hector said to Briana.

Briana gave me one last flirty look. “Duty calls,” she said, jogging backward. “I’ll see you at lunch.”

I watched her, grinning like an idiot, until she disappeared beyond the sliding glass doors of room three.

“And you’re sure it’s fake…” Zander said.

My smile fell.

“I’m sure.” For her, anyway.

We were just friends. This would all end in a few weeks after the wedding. And my heart broke every single day thinking about it.

The wedding was in four weeks. Benny’s kidney transplant was in five. I figured we’d probably keep up appearances for a few weeks after that. Then that would be it.

That would be all.

I went back to work.

Hector came back over ten minutes later while I was reading a chart. “Hey, some pendejo’s making a move on your girl.”

I looked up. “What?”

“Yeah, he’s all over there like, ‘Give me your number, let’s catch up.’”

I stared at him. “Did she give him her number?”

“Yeah. Guess she knows him or something? I’m tellin’ you, you better get over there. That guy’s all over her and she’s into it. And he’s hot too. I mean, not as hot as you, but, like, pretty damn close.”