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Thane stares down at the table, his brows wrinkled. He clears his throat, rubbing at his eyes. “Jesus, Maverick,” he says, giving me a wet snort. “You can’t just say that to a guy.”

“I can and I did,” I tell him with a little grin, throwing him a wink as well just to see him smile.

“Thank you. For saying all that and for taking care of me. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, Thane.” I stop myself from adding ‘any time’ to the end of my sentence. I have no idea where this is going but I’d be a fool to say it wasn’t going somewhere.

I have feelings for Thane, ones that run long and deep inside of me. I feel like a magnet being pulled in his direction, unable to stop the movement now that it’s in motion. All I can do is hold on for dear life and hope there’s a chance he feels the same way that I do.

“I’d love for you to stay all morning but I have to get to the hospital.”

“What? Are you okay?”

I can’t help but chuckle. “I’m fine, Thane. I have a shift.”

“Oh! Right. That makes sense.”

“I work at the medical center all week but I still have to pick up shifts at the hospital when they need me. Though, I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to do that. My tank feels like it’s running lower and lower with every passing week.”

“Have you talked to them about just taking on the medical center full time?”

“Not yet, but I will.”

“Good,” Thane says softly. “I think we could both use a little kick in the ass when it comes to not taking on too much.”

I stand up and take care of our dishes while Thane uses the bathroom. Once I’m in my scrubs and ready to go, Thane meets me by the door. I have to admit, I like having him in my house. He fits here. He fits here with me.

“Let me give you a ride back to the dorms.”

“You sure? I don’t mind walking.”

“Come on,” I say, taking his hand in my own and pulling him towards my car. He gives me a shy smile and tingles run up and down my arm at the simple touch.

The car ride to the dorms is quiet but it’s a comfortable silence, one that shows how comfortable we are just to be in each other’s presence. Thane gives me a soft smile, telling me how glad he was that I found him last night. He thanks me for the ride and then I’m watching him walk into his hall.

I rub at my face, wondering how the hell I’ve gotten myself into this situation before driving to the hospital for my shift.

Chapter Eight

Thane

The rest of my morning is spent in bed, sleeping off my hangover. I am never drinking that much again, thank you very much. No amount of whining and begging from any of my friends will work.

Once I’m awake, I spend some time going through some reading I have to have done before class tomorrow. Then I just lounge around until it’s time to head to work.

On the walk to work, I do my best not to think.

If I simply don’t think about Maverick, then I have nothing to freak out about, right? Right. Perfect plan.

The only problem is my brain apparently didn’t get the memo. As I walk to work, my mind spins with Maverick, Maverick, Maverick.

He was so handsome this morning in his scrubs. Today he’d worn a soft pink color that looked incredible on him. I wanted to grab his face and kiss him so badly it made my lips tingle.

I can’t stop thinking about our conversation. I try not to talk about what life was like growing up. People either didn’t understand or they pitied me. Maverick’s reaction wasn’t anything I'd expected. He said he was proud of me. He didn’t watch me with pity, instead, he looked at me like I was someone incredible and worthy of praise.

I’m big enough of a man to admit that the idea of Maverick praising me was doing things to my insides. I want to hear him praise me in other ways. I want to be good for him. I want to talk to him about everything and anything. I want him to hear about my fears and help me through them.

I want Maverick.