I cannot believe I went on the Ferris wheel. And after my fear of plummeting to a gruesome death had subsided a little, it was...fun. I’ll never admit this to Tank, of course, but I’m glad he convinced me to go. With him holding my hand, his strong body protecting mine, it wasn’t too bad.

But, that was yesterday. Today means a shift at the hospital again. Tank dropped me off this morning and informed me he would pick me up when I was done. I’m not entirely sure why he didn’t want me to drive myself, but I’m not protesting. This protective, nurturing side of him is completely new to me, but I don’t mind. He even packed me lunch, how freaking adorable is that? Who knew that prickly bear had such a soft heart underneath?

I’m still working internal medicine this month since they’re short on staff, but I don’t mind. When my eyes catch the name of my next patient, I frown.

“Mrs. Morris, what are you doing back so soon?” I say as I walk into her room. “Did you miss me so much?”

She turns her head toward me, her blue eyes sparkling despite the frailty of her body. “I told you to call me Nina. And yes, I discovered I couldn’t live without you.”

I grin and step farther into the room, only then noticing the cute guy sitting beside her bed. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. Didn’t realize you had a visitor.”

“Don’t be silly,” Nina says, hoisting herself up on the bed with effort. “You can interrupt at any time. Micah, I want you to meet my grandson Brayden. Brayden, this is Micah, the best damn nurse in this hospital.”

I smile as I take Brayden’s hand, my gaydar plinging like crazy. He’s damn cute, isn’t he? “Nurse assistant,” I correct Nina. “And it’s so nice to meet you.”

His hand is warm and firm, and he has his grandmother’s sparkling blue eyes, the laugh lines showing he knows how to have a good time. His perusal of me is slow and deliberate before he speaks. “Likewise. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Ah. Someone’s been playing matchmaker, huh? I can’t help but laugh. She’s a hoot, this one. “Did you let yourself get admitted so Brayden and I could meet, or did you have issues with your sugar level again?” I ask Nina.

She sighs. “I overdid it a little on a birthday party.”

“She had a huge slice of chocolate cake and made an error with her insulin,” Brayden explains, reaching out for Nina’s hand and giving it a kiss. “She had us worried there for a minute.”

“Brayden insisted I stay overnight,” Nina says. “He’s an EMT.”

My eyes widen in appreciation. A cute guy and he’s got a job like that? That’s double jeopardy. “That’s a tough job, man.”

He smiles. “So is yours.”

The way he says it makes me wonder if he’s recognized me from my other job, but there’s no judgment in his voice. More like a double meaning. If he does know I’m Brewer, he doesn’t have an issue with it.

“My job today is to get your lazy ass out of bed, woman, and take you for a walk,” I tell Nina.

“I took her up and down the hallway five times,” Brayden says.

“I already like you,” I joke. “You sure you had enough exercise for now, Nina?”

She nods. “Yeah. I think I want to take a little nap. You boys hang out or whatever.”

I gently shake my head. “Subtle you’re not, milady, but we’ll obey your orders. I’ll stop by later today to see how you’re doing, okay?”

In her defense, she does actually look tired, I note, before I walk out of the room with Brayden on my heels.

“Hanging out,” Brayden says. “Is that even an option considering you’re working?”

“I can take my half hour break right now,” I say. “Wanna grab coffee in the coffee shop downstairs?”

Conversations flows easily as we make our way downstairs to the coffee shop in the reception area of the hospital, after a quick stop for me in the employee fridge to pick up my lunch. Brayden is two years older than me, has worked as an EMT for three years now, and has a college degree in journalism that he’s not sure what to do with.

“Anyway,” he says after we’ve talked for a bit. “I’m not sure what the etiquette is here, but I just wanted you to know I recognized you as soon as you walked into that room.”

“I figured.”

He raises one eyebrow. “How? I thought I hid it well.”

“You did, but you’re a gay man in LA. There’s not a lot of out and proud men in this town that don’t know Ballsy Boys, and if they do, they know me. Simple deduction.”

He laughs. “True. Anyway, just thought I should mention it, so we both know where we stand.”

I’m glad it’s not an issue for him, and that he’s also not totally fan-boying over me. Both are equally annoying.

I open my lunch tote—the one Tank bought for me so he could pack me lunch when he wanted to. He’s made me an egg salad sandwich, but there’s also a little container with almonds in there, as well as fresh grapes and a bag of oven-roasted chips. I smile as I see it, since it’s so typically Tank.

Then Brayden’s words register with me and I frown. “Where we stand?” I ask.

“Well, yeah. You’re with Tank, and that’s not a dude I wanna mess with… Unless that whole relationship you two have is nothing but a publicity stunt, in which case I’ll gladly wait until it’s run its course to ask you out.”

It’s not until I hear those words that I realize what happened. Brayden is a cute, smart, gay man who gave every signal he’s interested in me...and I friend-zoned him from the moment we met. Sure, I recognized he was cute and that we had stuff in common, but the thought of hooking up with him let alone dating him never even occurred to me. How is that even possible?

Brayden’s eyes travel from my face to my lunch tote and back. “But it’s not, is it?” he says with a whiff of sadness.

“I’m sorry?” I ask, confused what he’s referring to.

“What you have with Tank. It’s the real deal.”

“How do you know?”

He gestures at my lunch. “My guess is you didn’t pack that for yourself, because when you opened it, you were clearly surprised. That means someone else did...Tank. Packing lunch for someone, that’s not hooking up. That’s not a publicity stunt. That’s the real thing, man. He’s in love with you.”

I slowly lower the sandwich I’ve been eating. “Love?” I say, swallowing. “You get all that from a packed lunch?”

Brayden smiles. “My parents have been married for thirty years now. My dad’s a school bus driver. Every day, for as long as I can remember, my mom would pack him a lunch so he wouldn’t eat fast food all the time. He has a job where he sits all day, you know, and she wants to make sure he stays healthy. That’s love. You don’t do that for someone you merely like. He’s taking care of you, which means he loves you.”

Peter loves me? Months ago, that idea would have been too preposterous to even entertain, but now, my heart flutters wildly at the thought. Could he? If he does, he probably doesn’t even realize it himself because he hasn’t said anything. Then again, neither have I, and I…

I freeze completely. Oh. My. God. How did I miss this?

I’ve fallen in love with Peter.

“Micah?” Brayden asks. “Are you okay?”

I refocus on him. “Yeah. No. I’m… I’m in love with him,” I blurt out.

It’s incredibly insensitive to say to a man who just confessed being interested in me, but my filter isn’t working right now. My mind is still reeling from this overwhelming realization that somehow, somewhere my hate for Tank changed into friendship and then into infinitely more.

“That’s a good thing, right? Then why are you looking like you could keel over any second?”

“It’s complicated,” I offer.

“Honey, love always is.”

I wouldn’t know, now would I? I’ve never been in love, never even had a real relationship with anyone. All I know is hooking up, having fun, and moving on. But with Peter, I don’t want to move on. Our last shoot is coming up, and I don’t want this to end.

I don’t know if Brayden is right that Peter is in love with me. And until I know for sure, I’m not gonna say anything. If he wants there to be an “us” as well, he’ll have to come out and say so.

I survived my parents not loving me, but it cost me a big chunk of my trust and self-confidence. Something tells me that if Peter rejects me, my heart will be permanently damaged.