Yeah, dude. See ya then.
Smiling, I pocket my phone and glance up but then stop in my tracks. Standing in the hallway is the most beautiful woman I know. Shock takes over for seeing Avery here. She’s dressed in green scrubs and hasn’t seen me yet, busy talking with another nurse. Did she get an internship at the same hospital as me? Last I heard, she was having a hard time finding one, but here? What are the chances?
I raise my phone and snap a picture of her. There’s no way I can’t address this. There’s no way I can ignore the fast beat of my heart, the way my blood pumps and thumps the inside of my veins.
I glance back up at her and swallow thickly. She laughs at something the other nurse said, but I know her real laugh, and that isn’t it.
Gathering the picture into a text message, I send it, along with:
Stunning.
From where I stand, I can hear her phone beep. She picks it up off the counter next to her and opens it up. Her eyes go wide before she starts swiveling around, looking for me. And when she finds me, we just stand there, staring. The nurse beside her starts engaging in a conversation with someone on the other side of the desk, but that doesn’t stop Avery from holding my gaze.
God, she’s beautiful. Maybe a little tired looking, maybe a little thinner, but she’s just as gorgeous as I remember. I can practically smell her unique scent from here, practically hear her silky voice.
I start to walk toward her, my feet moving of their own accord. For a moment, she doesn’t move, but then she blinks and bolts. Walking quickly, she heads down the hall, but I’m hot on her heels. I may have given her space, but she’s here, and I…I just need to hear her voice. I just need a conversation with her. Anything. I’ll take anything.
She practically rips open a door and steps inside. I know what that room is. It’s a storage room, and I frown as I approach it. Without thinking, I open the door and step inside. That unique scent swirls around me, and when my eyes land on hers, a weight is lifted off my shoulders.
Tears are streaming down her face before she covers them with shaky fingers and backs up into a stack of totes that come to my waist.
“Avery,” I whisper, standing still but wanting to move toward her.
“Don’t,” she whispers back.
I stand there with her, listening to her sob into her fingers, but I can’t stand there long. I’d do anything for this girl, and if she needs comforting, that’s exactly what I’m going to give.
Taking the last few steps toward her, I gently grab her wrists and pull them away from her face. Thankfully, she doesn’t fight me. Her cheeks are red and shiny from her tears, and her eyelashes are wet.
“Avery, look at me.”
“I can’t,” she groans.
“Why did you run?” I ask after a second.
She shakes her head. “If I would have known you got an internship here, I wouldn’t have taken it.”
I flex my jaw, her words stinging a bit. “Why?”
“Because!” She throws up her hands, and they slap back at her thighs. “Being around you in last semester’s Spanish was torture, Reid. And now you’re here…”
“And so are you,” I whisper.
“We can’t do this.”
“We can have this conversation, Avery. Weneedto have this conversation. It’s long overdue.”
She closes her eyes tight. “I’ll quit. I’ll tell them I’m not a good fit and try to make something else work. Maybe another program-”
“You’re not quitting,” I say firmly.
Her eyes snap open. “I can’t, Reid. I can’t be around you and…”
“And what?” I press quietly.
“And…not touch you. Breathe you in. Share space with you. I can’t…I just can’t.” She sobs once, and fresh tears fall. “You have no idea how hard this is.”
“Oh, trust me, I know how hard this is.”
