He looks at her, all signs of joking gone from his face. “Hope, you’re an honorary Summers. It would be remiss of us not to make sure you weren't blissfully happy like the rest of us.”
Bam! Heart melted. Jesus freaking Christ, these Summers boys are lethal. Sweet, kind, and caring, not to mention smoking hot, they are the whole package, and now I want Hope to have the same thing. But I will need to involve Holden in my matchmaking schemes this time; he knows my new friend better and should be able to help me.
I change the subject to lift the light tension in the room. There’s a story there, but now is not the time. “So what are you doing here?” I ask my heavily tattooed honey as he tries once more to steal food off my plate. Rolling my eyes, I give in and hand him the rest, receiving a kiss on my cheek in trade.
“Thanks, you're the best. I wanted to be here when the PT and doctor came. I don’t trust Holden to be honest because he’s had enough of wearing the sling.”
“Yes, I had the same thought,” I tell him, going over to where I’d stored my backpack and pulling out my laptop. Now that I’ve finished eating, I might as well get started on my license and test.
Hope’s phone beeps with a message, and when she looks at the screen, she groans. “Well, that was short and sweet. I’ve got to go. The PR department is having drama and needs me to weigh in on something.” She stands up, taking her plate with her. “Can one of you let me know what they say about Holden?” Our cooperation assured, she takes her leave.
“And then there were two.” Oliver wiggles his eyebrows at me. “Shall we do that aforementioned ravishing now?” he asks, grinning at me with delight.
“Fuck, you’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” I roll my eyes at him as my laptop loads the right page.
“Probably not,” he agrees. “I would be negligent in my role of boyfriend if I wasn't making sure your needs were met.”
“Well, keep it in your pants. I've got to do this, and I’m sure the doctor will be here soon.”
I forget about him sitting there as my fingers fly across the keyboard, taking care of my application for the California vet license and shooting off some more applications for intern positions. I’m happy here with my new family, so I might as well try to find myself a job. If anything is successful, then I’ll know staying will be the right decision.
When I look up at one stage, I find Oliver has stretched himself out along the couch, and his eyes are closed, face relaxed in sleep. It has been a stressful few weeks for us all, and sleep hasn't been our friend. Oliver especially has been showing signs of strain because of what happened to Holden. I don’t want him to be stressed out, but I’m so pleased for them that they're back on track and openly showing the depth of their feelings for one another. And once their relationship is firmly back on the sexy train, I’d love to climb aboard. Or in the middle. Or watch it leave the station. Fuck, I just want to be involved somehow.
Another half an hour goes by before I’m finished, and I’m just leaning back in the chair when his office door opens. Holden walks in followed by two people wearing medical scrubs. One is a male, wearing blue scrubs, and he’s looking at Holden like he’d like to jump him instead of checking over his wounds. The other one is a woman with a friendly smile on her face and green scrubs, featuring a logo on the left hand side of her chest. I can’t make it out from here.
All three of them stop suddenly when they take me in. The nurse’s eyes narrow as he spies me, but Holden’s face lights up in a grin. “Oh hey, babe, is this where you got to?”
I hold a finger up to my mouth to shush him, but movement on the couch tells me that Oliver is already awake. I smile, one that matches Holden’s, as we watch him sit up and rub his eyes, his now pale blue hair sticking up at all angles. He blinks owlishly before standing up and stretching. His top rides up, exposing the washboard stomach covered in tattoos, and I just about swallow my tongue.
“Babe… Babe… Harlow!” Holden’s chuckling as I startle when he calls my name. “You’ve got a bit of drool there.” He points to my mouth, and I totally buy into it, wiping the back of my hand across it before I realize he’s joking. Oliver chuckles too, the smug asshole, and they both receive the pleasure of being flipped off.
“Okay, where shall we do this?” Holden claps his hands and looks at the two medical professionals for input.
“Well, did you want to do this in private?” the male asks, raising an eyebrow, but Holden shakes his head.
“Nope, I’ve got nothing to hide. They’ve both been playing nursemaid, so they’ve already seen everything I’ve got going on.” I didn't think anyone could purse their lips enough to make it look like a cat’s asshole, but this guy manages to do that while conveying all his disdain at the same time.
Is this the nurse who flirted so blatantly with Holden the day he was released from the hospital? Oliver had told me about throwing his card out the window. From the annoyed look on Oliver’s face, I would say it is.
Oliver narrows his eyes at the nurse, and I can see the cogs practically spinning in his head. I need to jump in before he says something.
“Hi, I’m Harlow,” I say to the two newcomers, “and that’s Oliver. Are you the doctor?”
The woman in the scrubs steps forward, a friendly smile on her face. “Hi, I’m Kelly. I’m Holden's physical therapist, and this is Sam. He’s the nurse who’s come to look at Holden's wound to make sure it’s healing up nicely so we can start working on the rest.”
“So what happened? I thought a doctor was coming out to look at him,” Oliver blurts out, unable to just be quiet.
“Well, our doctors are quite busy and really don't have time to be making house calls,” Sam says shortly to him, and Kelly’s eyes just about bulge out of her head. I don't blame her. I don't think there are many people who would call out the Summers family for requesting a house or office call.
Kelly jumps in for damage control. “Doctor Evans sends his apologies. He was all ready to come, but they had an emergency, and he wasn't able to leave. He said that it should be healing well and that Sam would be able to check over it for you. As long as there’s no sign of infection, I think we will be good.”
“Okay, let’s just set up over there and get this done, shall we? We’ve got places to be tonight, and I don't want to hold you two up if we can avoid it.” Holden’s blatant dig at Sam is well hidden behind a friendly smile, but from the look on Kelly’s face, she doesn't miss it at all.
The session is awkward for all involved since Sam blatantly flirts with Holden through the whole thing. I had to hold Oliver back a couple of times, but like I whispered in his ear, the sooner they’re done, the sooner they can leave.
Holden’s wound has healed well, with no signs of infection, so Sam gives the okay for him to leave the dressings off now. Then Kelly goes over some exercise to help him get full mobility back into his shoulder and gives him permission to leave the sling off too.
We have a very happy Holden once they finish up, and he ushers them out of the room with a polite thank you. When he closes the door behind them, I hear the lock click. He grins at Oliver and me with a gleam in his eye, drinking in the way I’m snuggled into our boyfriend’s lap. I can feel him stiffen beneath me as Holden stalks across the room to us, flexing the hand of his newly freed arm. I shift to stand up and move away, but Oliver’s grip tightens, causing my heartrate to speed up as the thrill of excitement flows through me. What are they up to now?
