I think he gets back from his away games today…or maybe last night? So hopefully I can see him soon. It’s been nearly impossible to meet up on the days I work, but maybe that will change soon when I give him his present.
My half-eaten turkey sandwich is midway to my mouth when a commotion at the other end of the cafeteria catches my attention. I pause my eating and scan the small crowd that’s gathered there to see what the fuss is about.
I feel a swoop in my belly when my eyes land on a familiar black baseball hat resting on a tall figure. Is Matt at the hospital? Do I have magical manifesting powers? I put my sandwich down and watch as, yes,theMatt Anderson politely engages with his growing entourage, all the while discreetly peering around.
His eyes eventually land on mine and stop. The swoop turns into full-fledged butterflies. He’s criminally handsome.
And he’s at my hospital.
Looking at me.
I wonder what he’s here for. Maybe some publicity thing? That’s probably it, as much as eleven-year-old me believed in having magical powers. It is almost nine p.m. though, which is past normal visiting hours, professional or otherwise.
Matt’s still chatting with the staff as I gather my leftovers and trash. I check my watch and calculate I have eighteen minutes left on my break. Perfect. I thank my lucky stars the ER is having a slow night, otherwise I wouldn’t have been on a break at all. And bless Maggie, our charge nurse, for encouraging us to take them. I probably would’ve eaten my sandwich at the nurses’ station like I normally do otherwise.
I give Matt a quick, secret smile across the room when I see his eyes still on me and casually walk my way past him down the hallway that leads to the ER. I look over at him once before letting myself into a private exam room on my right. I shut the door behind me and wait.
In the movies, he would instantly understand the assignment, give people an excuse, and follow me in here, but in real life I’m not sure if I was obvious enough. He might just think I went back to work.Shit. He might not even know what kind of room I walked into. Oh god, he might think I went to the freaking bathroom. Maybe I should peek my head out to give him?—
“Hey.” Matt’s voice startles me out of my spiral. I turn around to face him and, like a mirror image, I watch his smile stretch across his face at the exact same pace as mine until we’re both cheesing at each other like idiots. Matt pockets his phone and then backs up a step to shut the door behind him with his body, looking down quickly to flip the lock before facing me again. Cheesy smile still in place.
Criminallyhandsome.
“Hi,” I say back to him through my own smile, fighting the surge of shyness that just washed over me. How is someone this good-looking smiling at me likethat?
“C’mere.” Matt gives a little head jerk.
I walk over until I’m right in front of him, looking up at that perfect face. Matt grabs my wrists and puts them up and over his shoulders before bending slightly and wrapping his arms tightly around me. His big frame envelops mine as he buries his face in my neck and takes a deep breath, lifting me so I’m resting on my toes. I push up as far as I can to hug him tighter and hopefully lessen any strain on his back.
“I missed you,” he breathes against my neck.
I think I might legitimately swoon if it weren’t for Matt’s arms holding me snug against him. I inhale his scent and close my eyes, content to stay like this for…as long as I can. Maybe longer.
There’s something about the way he smells that simultaneously puts me at easeandexcites me. It’s an addictive combination. Is this what the hard drugs feel like? Because if so, I get it. I would huff Matt’s scent all day if I could without looking like a freak. I’d like to be high on this feeling twenty-four seven.
“You saw me like a week ago,” I tease, as if I haven’t missed him too. “And we talked on the phone. How was the road?”
Matt drops a kiss on my neck before pulling back to look at me. “It was fine. Long,” he says. I feel his shrug under my arms that are still looped around his neck. His eyes are bouncing around my face, cataloging who knows what.
“Why are you at the hospital?”
“I had the day off, so I was just doing some visits to the kids over in oncology. They let me come past visiting hours to avoid making more of a scene. And selfishly, I was hoping I’d get to see you. I feel like my eyes have a slight strain from constantlylooking for you everywhere I went,” he adds with a smile and barely visible blush tinting his cheeks. “Had to fake a phone call to follow you in here.”
“You just came here on your day off?” I ask him, mouth ajar.
He nods.
“To visit sick kids?”
Another nod. Redder cheeks.
Matt Anderson is visiting tiny humans with cancer. On his day off. Voluntarily. It’s not even some contractually obligated publicity thing.
That is so…I don’t even know. An act like that is kryptonite to us healthcare workers. Something almost painful squeezes the heart in my chest. Something new.
I swallow the lump in my throat and push the scary feelings away for now. We’ve only known each other for a little over a month. Time to distract myself with something else—something I’ve been wanting to do with Matt, but haven’t mustered the nerve for. I kiss him quickly on the lips and then unhook my hands behind his neck and drop down to my knees.
“What are you doing?” he asks me with…alarm?
