Page 109 of Here We Go Again

I bite my lip to keep my expression neutral. “About four-and-a-half … blocks away.”

His gaze bolts to mine. “Four-and-a-half blocks?”

I finally let myself smile. “I signed another contract with Atlanta General. I’m here for the next twelve weeks.”

He huffs out a laugh, shaking his head. “Becca, I swear. Why did you do that to me?” He tugs me into his arms and buries his nose in my neck. “I was literally dying, trying to figure out what I did to make you want to leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I say. “Not yet. We were lucky that Atlanta General was willing to let us extend, but we’ll have to see how it goes trying to get new contracts after this one. We might have to try a different hospital or start hunting for a permanent position. But we’ve at least bought ourselves a little more time.”

Theo leans back. “Wait, we?”

“We as in me,” Mia says as she steps into the room. “Because I’m staying in Atlanta too.”

A few minutes later, after we’ve hugged and celebrated and talked about start dates and contract terms, I walk Theo to the door to say goodbye.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were even thinking about taking on another contract,” he says. “You’re sneaky.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” I say. “And honestly, we weren’t even sure it would work out. Though I would have just gone to a different hospital if it hadn’t. I already knew I wasn’t leaving Atlanta.”

“Is that so?” he asks. He reaches up and tugs on the strings of my hoodie. His hoodie, really. I stole it the last time we watched a movie at his place.

“Yeah, I hear the city has a really good hockey team.”

“Hmm. So you’re a hockey fan.”

“It’s okay,” I say with a casual shrug, and he grins.

“So, will you stay here? With Indigo?”

“Oh!” I say. “I forgot. That’s actually the best part. Since she’s not presently working, she thought roommates might make her financial situation a little easier, so she offered to let me and Mia both stay. I mean, obviously we’ll have to start paying rent, but she’s charging us way less than what we’d spend if we got our own place. So now I’ll be close to the hospital and close to you and close to the Vortex so I can come to all your games, and⁠—”

He cuts off my words with a kiss, and I chuckle against his mouth. But then he lifts his hands and takes my face, his fingers threading into my hair as he tilts me, tastes me, shifting the mood of our kiss from something playful into something fiery hot.

I’m not laughing now. I’m melting.

I suddenly wonder if it will always feel this way. If every time Theo kisses me, some part of my soul will climb out of my body and climb into his. Theo kisses me like he wants me, but this is more than desire. It’s belonging. Not just belonging together but belonging to each other. Which somehow feels so much more significant.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Theo says when he finally breaks the kiss.

“Working,” I say in response, my breathing shallow.

“What about Mia or Indigo? Will either of them be around?”

I huff out a laugh. “I have no idea. Why? What is this about?”

“If you’re staying here,” Theo says, “I’m borrowing my brother’s truck tomorrow, and I’m bringing you your bed.”

29

THEO

There’s something different about having Becca at a team dinner with me. I saw it happen with Carter. Everything shifted once Sarah was beside him. But observing from the outside is totally different than experiencing it myself.

Across the room, Becca is sitting on the floor with Sarah and her nieces, working their way through a stack of picture books. Olive stands and hands Becca a new book, then turns around and plops into her lap like they’ve known each other forever and didn’t just meet thirty minutes ago. Becca looks over and makes eye contact, mouthing the words, I love her as she snuggles Olive a little closer.

“Well, she fits right in,” Holly says as he steps up beside me. He motions toward Becca.

“Yeah, she does.”