“I love that,” Lyla tells him before turning to me. “Have you ever played before today?”
I nod as I wipe my hand on a napkin. “Last time was freshman year. I know for sure Brett, Beckett, Clay, and Grace were there. I can’t remember if Peyton was too or not.”
“You got my brother to play laser tag?” Cora asks.
“I didn’t. Grace did.”
“She’s good at convincing people to do things.” Kellan nods.
If anyone would know, it would be him since they were best friends before she got with Clay.
“We should do this more often,” Calvin adds.
“Count us in,” Lyla tells him.
Cora looks at Kellan, who nods.
“Fuck it, why not? Let’s make it a thing,” Cora says.
As Lyla finishes up her pizza, she looks at her watch.
“Time to head back?” I ask, already knowing her time with us is running short.
“Yeah, if that’s okay. If not, I can text Will and see if I can be a little late,” she says reluctantly.
“Nah, don’t do that. I bet he’s dead on his feet. Come on,” I say as I stand.
Lyla gets up and takes our paper plates to the trash can while I order us a ride.
“Do you want us to take you guys?” Kellan offers.
I shake my head. “Nah, I just ordered a ride. You guys have fun. I’ll see you at home later,” I tell them.
Lyla says bye to everyone, and we head outside. As we wait for the car to show up, she rests her head on my shoulder and sighs.
“I know this wasn’t what you had planned to do today, but I loved it. Thank you for bringing me.”
“Anytime,” I say as I press a kiss to her head without thinking about it.
Seriously, anytime. I’d do anything with her if it meant I got a few minutes of her time.
nineteen
“Awesome, everything looks good,” Nurse June says as she inspects my work before looking at the patient. “We will be back to check on you in a little while. If you need anything before then, just hit the call light, okay?”
“Sounds good. Thank you again,” the patient says.
As we walk out of the room, we take off our gloves and drop them in the trash can.
“You cleaned that wound well,” Nurse June says as we stop at the nurses’ station.
“Thank you,” I tell her as I coat my hands in hand sanitizer.
A nurse looks up and smiles when she sees me. “Lyla, it’s been a long time. How are you, sweetheart?”
My heart races as I stare at Kyle’s mom. When we were together, I adored the woman. She was never anything but nice to me. In fact, she’s the reason I wanted to do my shadow work atthis hospital. That was before Kyle and I split, though, and I have no idea what he’s told her.
“I’m good. How are you?”
