I smiled against his shirt. "What did she say?"
"She told me I should try being less terrible at it." His hand moved to my hair, playing with the dark ends. "Said you're good for my soul. That I smile more when you're around. That I should stop being such an idiot."
"Emma is very wise."
“She really is,” he whispered.
We lay there for a long time in a silence that felt surprisingly comfortable. His fingers continued to move through my hairwhile my hand remained over his heart. I had expected a wave of awkwardness or uncertainty to hit us, but this felt natural.
It felt right.
"Can I ask you something personal?" I whispered.
"Anything."
"When did you know?"
"Know what?"
"That you love me?"
He was quiet for a long moment, clearly searching his memories for the right answer. “Do you remember that difficult surgery with Jenna Price?”
“Yes, I remember every second of it.”
“You handed me that specific suture before I even had the chance to ask for it. The thread was perfect and already prepared because you knew exactly what I needed.” His voice turned softer as he continued. “I looked at you across that surgical table and realized this is what a partnership is supposed to feel like. I was working with someone who just knew my mind.”
My chest tightened. “That was the moment you knew?”
“That was the moment I started to understand,” he corrected. “I began noticing small things about you that I probably should’ve ignored.”
I smirked. “Like what?”
“I noticed how you tuck hair behind your ear when you're concentrating. How you bite your lower lip when you're worried about a patient. How your eyes have amber flecks that catch the light." He paused. "How you made my apartment feel less empty just by existing in it."
I lifted my head again to look at him properly. His dark hair was messy from my fingers, and his gray eyes were softer than I had ever seen them. His mouth looked slightly swollen from our kisses earlier, making him look more human. More approachable.
“Can I tell you something embarrassing?” I asked.
“Please do.” His lips curved.
“I thought you were incredibly handsome the very first day I started working at Obsidian.”
His eyebrows rose. "Did you?"
"Don't look so smug."
"I'm not smug. I'm intrigued."
“You were this brilliant, cold, and intimidating surgeon who never smiled at anyone. You never spoke unless it was absolutely necessary for the case.” I traced the line of his collar with my finger. “But you were also objectively attractive in a very scary, unapproachable way.”
“Scary?”
"Terrifying to the nursing staff."
"And you found that attractive?"
“Only for about five seconds,” I admitted with a grin. “Then you were mean to me during a surgery, and my crush disappeared very quickly.”
