And that, right there, was the start of Wyatt’s mild obsession with his captain. But unfortunately for him, Wyatt made a lot of mistakes, especially in those first few months. He suspected Dr. Donnelly hadn’t thought he was much of a doctor yet, given his rural hospital transfer.
Donnelly was a hardened inner-city doctor who saw gunshot wounds and stabbings as common occurrences, while prior to coming to this hospital, themost Wyatt had seen was the occasional farming accident that resulted in some sort of bodily injury.
Whatever Dr. John-handsome-as-hell-Donnelly thought of Wyatt, he never showed it, maintaining professionalism and respect regardless of opinion. In fact, he was the epitome of a great fucking teacher. Never once crossing those sacred lines.
But whenever Wyatt did do something right in front of his captain, and Dr. Donnelly’s firm grasp came down on his shoulder, followed by that half-hearted smile, it felt like all the blood in his body went straight to his cheeks, flushing at his praise.
Because he loved that man’s praise.
The thought had initially mortified Wyatt, but the longer he worked with his captain, the more he craved it. He melted like hot butter in a skillet every time he got it, even though Dr. Donnelly praised everyone all the time.
There was nothing special about Wyatt to Dr. Donnelly.
The club music, pulsing with heavy bass, cut to another song, and Wyatt was pulled from his thoughts, sighing and dragging a hand through his hair. His roommate and best friend, Jin, stood at the bar ordering them drinks. Wyatt had promised to go out after skipping the last two Friday nights, and he was trying hard not to think about how comfy his bed sounded right now.
His eyes slid over the overly crowded dance floor as he watched from the corner table they had managed to grab, when he noticed a tall dark-haired man with a beard swaying with a male couple. Their bodies were sliding off one another, joined in a tandem of rhythm and something else—something sensual and hot.
Wyatt frowned when the flash of the club lights illuminated the dark bearded man’s face, realizing he was young, mistaking the beard for age.
Jin appeared a moment later, his face pinched in suspicion as he handed Wyatt his milky green cocktail, tracking his line of sight. “Dude, you are a heat-seeking missile.”
“What?” Wyatt asked, pretending not to know what he was referring to.
“You somehow manage to find every bearded man within twenty yards of you.”
Wyatt rolled his eyes.
“It’s true!” Jin teased.
He sighed, “I just like…”
“Beards all of a sudden?”
“I’m allowed to have a type,” Wyatt replied, feeling oddly defensive.
“Yes, queen, you are,” Jin drawled. “But you’re looking a little too hard.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I think you're looking forhim.”
Wyatt’s heart flopped over, and he frowned hard into his cocktail, taking a sip of the minty green flavor Jin had ordered for him, cringing. He should’ve ordered for himself.
“I’m not stupid, you know,” Jin remarked. “I know when you’re crushing. And honey, you’re crushing hard for a certain doctor…”
Heat raced to his cheeks, and he attempted to cover it by turning away, casually slipping his hand into his front sweater pocket. “I don’t have a crush.”
“Oh, baby, yousodo. You talk about him constantly. I swear, if I hear Dr. Donnelly’s name one more time…” Jin’s eyes widened in sudden epiphany. “He’s got a beard, doesn’t he?”
Wyatt’s flush deepened, rising up his neck now.
Jin let out a hooting sound, whipped out his phone, and began speed typing into his phone. “I’m googling him.”
Alarmed, Wyatt reached for him.
Jin ducked out of the way.
“Dude—don’t!” Wyatt knew he couldn’t die from embarrassment, and yet he sort of wanted to.
