Page 120 of Here We Go Again

“Did you think I didn’t know how the NHL works?” I say into his hair. “If you’re sent somewhere else, we’ll figure it out. It might take some time—figuring out hospital contracts and working out details. But I’m a travel nurse. I’ve got a lot of experience moving from one hospital to another. The most important thing is that we’re together, so we’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen. The key word here is together. None of this I’m just going to fix it nonsense.”

He lets out a little chuckle, his grip on me tightening. “You would move with me?”

I lean back, hands moving to his shoulders. “Did you miss the part where I said I love you?”

“I love you too,” he says, and something in my chest loosens and settles. “I love you so much. But what about school? I don’t want to prevent you from⁠—”

“Stop,” I say, gently cutting him off. “Loving each other means fitting our dreams together. I love a plan as much as the next person…”

Theo lifts an eyebrow.

“I love a plan more than most people,” I amend. “But luckily, there’s one person who has always made me feel brave enough to leap into the unknown, with or without a plan.”

“Is it the same guy who convinced you to leave our senior awards ceremony and break into the country club pool for a swim?” he asks.

I grin. “That guy got me into so much trouble.”

He lifts his hands to my face and pulls my mouth to his, giving me an achingly tender kiss. He lingers, taking his time, moving his mouth over mine with so much careful attention, each brush of his lips feels like an apology and a promise at the same time.

“Thank you for coming to find me.” He presses his forehead to mine. “I don’t like that you had to, but I’m glad you did.” He hesitates for a beat before he adds, “I know it’s something I need to work on.”

“It’ll get easier,” I say. “Vulnerability works like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the better you get.”

“You sound like my therapist,” he says, “who, come to think of it, I should probably call this week.”

“Not a bad idea,” I say. “You’ve kinda had a lot going on.”

He chuckles. “Little bit.”

I shift off his lap so I’m sitting beside him, back against the foot of the bed. I thread my fingers through his and lean my head against his shoulder. “So, surgery, huh?”

“On Friday.”

“Oh wow. That’s soon. How are you feeling about it?”

“Frustrated. Annoyed. But mostly relieved. I don’t want to deal with this pain anymore.”

“Tendon adhesion?” I ask, and he nods.

“Plus some nerve entrapment in the scar tissue. They seem pretty optimistic, so I guess that’s good.”

My phone buzzes with an incoming text, and I glance at my watch to see Carter’s name. I scoot forward and grab my phone from where I left it on the floor, then return to my spot beside Theo.

I pull up the message.

Carter

Any update? I’m downstairs and would love to see him if I won’t be interrupting.

I show the message to Theo. “Your brother’s worried about you.”

He sighs. “Yeah. I guess he would be.”

“You should talk to him.” I reach over and run my hand over his thigh. “What if I go home and shower, then you come over later? After you guys have talked?”

He nods. “I can do that. Are you hungry? Can I bring food?”

“I love food,” I say.