I urged her forward with a hand on her lower back. “Probably not. I don’t think there’s anyone left on the transplant list after this week. You cleared it.”
She didn’t bother turning on the lights in her office, instead grabbing her bag and coat from inside a small closet. I helped her into the coat when she kept missing the arm, taking advantage of the dark and smoothing my hands over her shoulders and along the curve of her waist. With one hand still settled low on her back, I unclipped her ID badge and dropped it into her bag. “I’m taking you home now.”
In a remarkable turn of events, Whit didn’t argue with me. Didn’t make any noises about sleeping in on-call rooms or on the sofa in her office. She allowed me to lead her to the elevator and out of the hospital without a word.
I knew she was tired when she didn’t have it in her to remind me of all the reasons we couldn’t be together like this yet.
“Wasn’t there a softball game tonight?”
I nodded. “There was.”
“You didn’t go.”
I shifted her bag to my other hand. “Nope.”
“Why not?”
I watched her for a moment because I couldn’t believe she was asking this again. If I didn’t know Whit better, I’d think it was some kind of pick-me act, but that wasn’t her style and she was in no state for playing those kinds of games. “You really don’t get it, do you?”
She was too tired to keep her reactions in check, and her sour, scowly face had me choking back a laugh. “Get what, Hazlette?”
“That I like you, you gorgeous grump, and I like being with you. I’ll skip every softball game in the world if it means I get to see you.”
“But you like softball.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not more than you.”
“Seems unlikely.”
“I mean, it’s your fault. You’re the one who seduced me this summer.”
“I didnotseduce you,” she said. “You’re the one who seduced me. You worked hard on that dance floor, my friend.”
“To be fair, I believe the dessert table seduced you first.”
She snorted. It was fucking adorable. I mean, come the fuck on. How was I supposed to do anything other than fall for this girl? As if there was any other option.
“That’s true. It was an excellent dessert table. I hope next summer’s weddings go hard with the dessert tables.”
“A lot of weddings on your calendar?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
We were about five minutes from her place when the exhaustion overtook her and she started wobbling like she was six margaritas deep. “If you think I won’t throw you over my shoulder and carry you the rest of the way, you are mistaken.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” she said, and shesoundedlike she was six margaritas deep. “It’s not like I’m a light package.”
“First of all, I’d dare. You know I would.” I tried to meet her eyes, but she was barely awake. This was as close to sleepwalking as it came. “And second, you’re just right for me. Don’t forget I used to carry huge guys in full mountain gear to rescue transport.” I ran a gaze over her knee-length coat, blue scrubs, and navy clogs. I wrapped an arm around her waist. For safety purposes. “Just right.”
I had to dig through her bag to find the keys because she was dead on her feet. Once we were inside, I locked my hands on her hips and guided her up the stairs. I didn’t trust her to make it on her own.
Also, I fucking loved her hips. I had very fond memories of holding her exactly like this.
“Brie should be asleep,” Whit said when we reached the landing. I couldn’t bring myself to let go of her. Again, safety purposes. “That doesn’t mean she will be.”
“Understood.” I held her close as I opened the door, her head on my chest. The house was dark and still, with no sign of Brie. “Looks like she’s in bed.”
“Small miracles.”
