“Excuse me?” a voice called over. I looked up to see two faces I knew from long ago.
“Brayden, right?” I looked past the girl that was right in front of me to her brother, who was walking up behind her. It was the most amazing sight for sore eyes ever. His face was clean shaven, which was a little bit of a disappointment—I was a beard fan for sure—but other than that he was even more handsome than I had remembered—likely at least partly because when we’d first met, he had been crying and was a complete wreck.
Brayden stood, scratching the back of his neck for a few seconds. I figured he didn’t remember me, but there he went surprising me again. “Karla?”
My face got hot as a goofy smile spread like wildfire. “You remembered.”
His face lit up as he turned to his sister. “How could I forget? Myla, this is one of your nurses from the ICU. She saved me the first night you were in there, took my number and made sure I had some shred of sanity through it.”
Myla shook my hand, saying it was nice to meet me, but that just didn’t seem like enough. I was way too thankful to see her looking so freaking amazing. I bolted out from behind the table and grabbed her into a huge hug. “You have no idea how amazing it is to meet you and see how amazing you’re doing.”
I pulled away from Myla, glancing over at Brayden.He’s so damn hot.I couldn’t even think straight with him so close to me. It had been years since I had felt like that about a guy. After the shit hit the fan with James, I took a very long guy hiatus. It was a nice little run, but it was turning into a dry spell. “What brings you two to the park today?” I asked.
Brayden rubbed the back of his neck. “We’re here to get Myla a puppy. Do you work for the ASPCA or something now?”
I dove into explaining that I was just a volunteer trying to help out when I could. Since I was finally not working vampire hours anymore, I was actually able to do things like a normal human could.
“So, how has it been going for you two? It’s been what, a few years now?” I asked, doing my best to keep a conversation going.
“Yeah, just about. We’re still getting back to normal, but we’re doing great for the most part. How’s everything at Flushing?” The way Brayden smiled as he watched Myla play with the puppy while we chatted was adorable.
I started to fill up the water bowl in the playpen since one of the pups had decided to flip it over instead of drink out of it. “Same shit, different day, I guess. I’m not working nights anymore, so that’s a plus.”
Brayden pulled out his phone and started to mess with it. “You know, I still have your number. Maybe I could call you sometime? Take you out for coffee or something. I never properly thanked you for saving me that night.”
Don’t let him know that you’re screaming YES inside. Keep your cool.“You don’t have anything to thank me for, but I would love to hang out with you sometime.” I was practically jumping for joy internally.
Myla started to jog back over to us with a puppy in her arms, completely elated. Before I knew it, they were filling out the paperwork and Brayden was paying the adoption fee. Myla had already named the husky Seven and they were ready to take their new dog home.
“All right, you guys are all set.” I smiled, folding the paperwork and putting it into an envelope for Brayden.
“Thank you, again.” He smiled. “For everything.”
Chapter 9
Brayden
Ifloppeddown onto my bed, trying to wrap my head around the night’s events. It had been one of the best and worst days of my life, and all I could think about was Karla. It had been what felt like forever since the day in the park when we adopted Seven, and I hadn’t worked up the nerve to text her.
I stared down at a blank text window, trying to think of the best way to get the ball rolling.Keep it simple.
Me: Hey you.
I watched as the text sent and kept staring at my phone as Myla’s voice came from the other side of the door. “I have frozen peas.” She giggled. “Are you decent?”
“Come on in,” I called back.
She tossed the cold bag and a dish towel at me. “Here you go, punk.”
“Thanks.” I patted the edge of the bed next to me. “So, tonight was interesting.”
Myla took a seat next to me as I put the much-needed cold pack onto my sore knee. “Yeah, interesting is one word for it.”
“You kissed the captain of my team.” I was still trying to process watching my little sister kiss the biggest douchebag I had ever had to tolerate.
“But, you have to admit, the way you and him beat up Jeff was pretty awesome. I think a kiss is a small price to pay for his chivalry.”
I laughed. “So, what do I get for mine?” Gavin Hayes and I had never really gotten along, but when my sister was in trouble right after our game ended, he’d jumped right in to help us. Maybe there was a little shred of a good person buried deep down under all the douchey layers after all.
