I CLEANED UP the kitchen and then changed out of my sweats and into a pair of jeans in record time. I didn’t want to keep Bryce waiting in the car too long. Something told me I had some explaining to do.
Sam was letting himself out to return next door to his mom’s house. He’d be staying there for a little while until he found a place of his own.
“Text me the when and where,” he called out as he left.
“Yup.” I dragged a sheer gloss over my lips, grabbed my purse, and jetted out a few seconds after that.
I shouldn’t have felt obligated to justify my relationship with Sam—my best friend of almost twenty years—to Bryce—a man I just met—but the impending dread of getting in that car weighed heavily on me. I hated confrontation. Not that I expected one, but I sensed Bryce was uncomfortable witnessing what he walked in on. Of course, it was all in innocent fun. Bryce also didn’t need to know that in a moment of weakness back there I vaguely remember eye-fucking Sam, but that was neither here nor there.
I wasn’t even sure if Bryce and I were exclusive. We weren’t even sleeping together. Hell, two nights ago he left me high and dry and told me I wasn’t ready for him. Even still, I felt as if I owed him some clarity. He had nothing to worry about with Sam, if he was worried in the first place.
Opening the passenger door, I scooted inside and released a pent up breath of apprehension. “About what just happened—” I started and then paused to gauge his mood. I could have avoided the topic altogether, waited for him to bring it up, but I was a pull-the-Band-Aid-right-off kind of gal. I needed to do this and get it over with.
Bryce gripped the steering wheel with no more force than usual. His jaw tensed beneath his clean shaven skin, but it was a habitual tick I’d noticed he did often. Still, he stared forward through the windshield, not making eye contact. His silence worried me. I felt like I was in trouble. I didn’t like it.
Immediately on the defensive, I huffed loudly and sank into the comfortable leather seat. “Listen, Bryce. Sam is my best friend. I haven’t seen him in over a year and we were just . . . you have nothing to worry about with him, so don’t get your doctor’s scrubs in a bunch, okay?”
I could hear the subtle release of air through his nose, a slight laugh. I wasn’t sure if he was amused or annoyed. I craned my neck to look at him, ready to pull whatever he was thinking out of him. Or better yet, if he was going to act like this I would tell him to fuck off and forget about the hospital, lunch, and anything else he thought I wasn’t ready for. But before I could open my mouth and brace myself for whatever the hell would fly out of it, Bryce broke the silence, his eyes seeking mine, penetrating them in that way that calmed me.
“I’m not worried about Sam, or any other man, for that matter.” His emphasis on other man made me certain he was talking about Hunter. But his tone was not threatening nor harsh. No, it was comforting.
What are you thinking, Doctor Love?
Leaning over the center console, Bryce cupped my cheek, his thumb caressing the sensitive skin in a slow back and forth motion. He smiled, staring at my lips, then dragged his gaze back up to my eyes. “I’ve never seen you so carefree, so happy, as when Sam was tickling you back there.”
So, he was annoyed. Maybe even jealous. I can’t say the jealously wasn’t a teensy bit of a turn on, but . . . we were talking about Sam here!
“Bryce.” I placed my hand over his and licked my dry lips before speaking. “It’s just something we do. He’s like . . . he’s like another brother to me. Actually, he’s even more of a brother to me than my real blood brother is, but that’s not the point. I didn’t think it was necessary, but maybe I should’ve explained the kind of friendship Sam and I have.” I hated to have to do this, break it apart piece by piece, label the ins and outs of the special bond Sam and I shared, but . . . something about the way Bryce was looking at me, touching me, encouraged me to do so. “It was completely innocent. I’m sure it didn’t look that way when you walked in on us, but I’m telling you, you have nothing to worry about.”
He tilted his head and nodded before closing his eyes. When he opened them, there was that gleam of excitement, of lust, that I was starting to fall for. He wasn’t mad. He was curious. Hell, if I had walked in on some hot nurse tickling Bryce I probably would have reacted a lot worse than he was right now. “I told you, beautiful, I’m not worried.”
“Then why do you seem so . . . mad?” The last word was a faint whisper.
“Mad?” He chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m not mad at all. Sad, maybe. But not mad.”
“Sad?” This was starting to sound like some preschool rhyming game. What was he getting at?
“Yes, because I’ve yet to put that kind of happiness on your face. It made me . . . I don’t know. It’ll probably sound ridiculous, but . . . I want to make you that kind of happy. I like you a lot, London, and if this goes where I want it to . . . I hope one day you’ll look at me as your best friend.”
Okay, well, that about melted my insides. Smiling, I bounced in my seat. Doctor Love needed a dose of ego boosting. I had no problem with that. “Bryce, you have been the silver lining to many of my most miserable days. You know that, right?”
He shrugged. It was adorable. It was crazy that this intelligent, sometimes domineering, always intriguing man had no idea just how happy he could make me. How happy he had made me just by being there when no one else was.
“I promise, once you get to know Sam, you’ll understand. In fact, I’m glad we’re doing lunch with him today. I have a feeling you guys will really like each other. He’s the best.”
“Oh, he is, is he?”
“Yes, he’s probably the funniest guy I know and he doesn’t shut the hell up. You’ll be lucky to get a word in edgewise once he gets going about his year abroad. But he has this way of making you feel like you were there, too. You’ll see.”
“You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Beaming. He must be very special to you, and you to him.”
“Yes, he is.” I didn’t have to think about that before saying it. Maybe it was even a little defiance on my part. Sam was not going anywhere. Bryce needed to know that now, in case our relationship turned into a long-term one.
“Good. I’m glad,” he finally said, letting his hand fall from my face and returning it to the gear shift. “But just so you know . . .” He put the car in drive and pressed on the gas, signaling a right turn out of the driveway. “Once you’re mine, you’ll be beaming because of me. You’ll beam so bright the fucking sun will be jealous.”
For the rest of the morning, the tune to “Brighter Than the Sun” by Colbie Caillat swam in and out of my head, giving me a giddy sway to my stride.
Bryce had rounds but he made sure Mom and I were settled nicely and then rushed off, leaving me with a soft kiss on the cheek.
“Oh, that boy has got the hots for you something fierce,” Mom cooed.
“Ma! The hots? He’s just a nice guy, that’s all.”
“Nice guy, my ass. He looks at you like you’re something to eat.”
“Mother!” We were not having this conversation. Nope. Not now, not ever. I quickly changed the subject before she could shed anymore unwanted wisdom on exactly what she thought Bryce wanted to do to her daughter. “In other news, Sam is home.”
“Oh, yeah? When did he get in? I’ve been stuck in here these last few days and I feel like I’m missing everything.”
“You haven’t missed a thing. He’s coming by today. And you’ll be home soon, so stop worrying and start getting better. You know how much I hate an empty house.”
“Yes, yes. I know, baby.”
That reminded me. “Your little meddling stunt almost put me into cardiac arrest, by the way.”
Mom startled upright, concern awash on her sallow face. “What are you talking about?”
“Coy, young lady, real coy.”
“I’m serious, London. What are you talking about?”
“I’m fine.” I huffed, rolling my eyes. I should have mentioned it yesterday during our quick visit, but she seemed so out of it I didn’t want to irritate her. Today, however, she looked ten times better. Today, I would get on her case all I wanted, business as usual. “The next time you’re worried about me you don’t have to send Bryce over for a house call. I would have made it through the night. I’m a big girl.”
“I didn’t send him over.”
“Are you losing it, old lady?” I joked.
“I’m not losing anything. I may have told him you didn’t like being home alone and that I was worried for you, but that’s it. By the time he was done here for the night, it was after ten o’clock. I assumed you’d be sleeping or at least settled in for the night. You needed rest, not a gentleman caller.”
Gentleman caller? “Ma, you’re hanging out with Henry too much. That hot geezer is aging you. Gentleman caller, ha!” The antiquated terminology and my mother’s feigned innocence made me laugh. I was about to give her more sass when my phone pinged with an incoming text from Sam, immediately followed by another from Bryce.
Shit, I thought in amusement. These two really were in competition without even realizing it.
“Everything okay?” Mom asked, noticing how I was glued to the phone.
Bryce was sweetly throwing out suggestions for lunch and Sam was sending inappropriate doctor GIFs. Jerk. God, I’d missed him.
“Yes, I’m fine. I’m just excited that Sam’s home, and a little frazzled by—”
“All that attention from Doctor Hot Stuff.” She giggled.
Really? Could anyone call the guy by his actual name? “Yeah, that’s it, hornball. I hope Henry’s coming by soon.”
Mom’s melodious laughter filled the drab hospital room. “He was here last night, if you must know.” She waggled her eyebrows, sending me out of my seat as if it were on fire.
“And that’s my cue. I’m gonna go grab a coffee and text these two clowns back. Want anything?”
“Nope, I’m good.”
Good. It was better than fine, worse than perfect. All things considered, I’d take good with a smile right now.