Page 40 of Enchanted to Meet You

“Grade eleven chem,” I said. “I have a lab tomorrow that I’m abysmally unprepared for.”

He shifted to get more comfortable on the couch and pulled the bag of peas over his eyes. “Don’t let me stop you.”

I laughed and shook my head, but got up to grab the bag. I could probably go home now, since clearly all he wanted from me was the ice, but I guess it was a better look as a fake girlfriend to hang around and nurse him back to health. He’d said Justin was out on a date with Kelcey right now, so they could easily come back at any moment and find us here, which would be the perfect cover.

Plus, though I’d never admit it to him, it was a little reassuring to sit here and see that he was okay.

For a while, we sat in something that felt, disarmingly, like comfortable silence—me working through problems by the light of my phone screen, him lying still with the bag of peas melting against his head.

“I’m bored,” he announced after twenty minutes, his voice flat. “Doing homework in front of an injured person is rude.”

“Honestly, you were so quiet, I thought you fell asleep,” I said, not stopping the scribbling of my pencil. “You’re supposed to be resting your brain. No screens, no stimulation.”

“The trainer said I didn’t have a concussion, Ainsley.” He reached blindly toward the floor, dragging a controller out from under the coffee table. “Put the TV on low. We’re playing Mario Kart.”

I laughed out loud. “You literally just said the light was making your eyes bleed.”

“I’ll wear sunglasses.”

“I also feel like the motion of the game is probably not great for your head either.”

He sighed dramatically. “Fine. Put on a movie and I’ll just listen to it.”

I snorted but caught the remote when he slid it my way. I had no idea what kinds of movies or shows he liked, so I just clicked on the first show that popped up—Grey’s Anatomy. It seemed fitting enough for the moment, and I knew I liked it. And based on the smile that came onto Rhys’s face—only for a moment, mind you, before he forced it away—I thought he liked my choice as well.

We got through an episode and a half (and boy did Rhys have much more commentary on the relationship drama in the show than I was expecting) before the front door opened again. I stiffened, waiting for Kelcey to walk in and make some sort of comment.

Instead, the person who rounded the corner was a man, still in blue scrubs with a faded hospital jacket unzipped over his chest. He looked like he’d been awake for thirty hours straight, dark circles carved deep under his eyes, but his entire face lit up the second he saw us.

“Well, well,” Rhys’ dad said, breezing into the room. “Would you look at this? Rhys, did you lure her here under false pretenses or did she come of her own free will?”

“She came to deliver ice, actually,” Rhys said, sitting up slowly and holding the bag of peas to his head. “I took a hit at practice.”

“Did you now?” His dad crossed the room, dropping his jacket over an armchair, and reached out to gently tilt Rhys’s head toward the light. He inspected the temple with quick, practiced fingers, gently pressing the skin around the slight swelling. “Pupils are even. No nausea?”

“I’m fine,” Rhys muttered, pulling back slightly. “Trainer checked me.”

“Good. Then stop looking like a tragic Victorian ghost,” his dad said with a faint grin, patting his shoulder before turning his full attention to me. His eyes were the exact same shade of green as Rhys’s, but bright and instantly welcoming. “I’m Marcus. And you must be Ainsley.”

I stood up to shake his hand, slightly thrown by how entirely un-intimidating he was. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Marcus said, pulling a takeout container out of a bag he’d brought in and putting it on the coffee table in front of us. “Rhys’s mysterious new girlfriend. Frankly, you’re the most popular topic of conversation in this house since the dishwasher broke.”

“Dad,” Rhys warned, shifting uncomfortably on the couch. “Drop it.”

“I’m just saying! It’s nice to put a face to the name.” Marcus handed me a plastic fork with a wink. “Especially since you’re currently nursing him through a bumped head. Anyone who can stomach his injury drama deserves a medal.”

“It was an elbow from a guy who weighs two hundred pounds,” Rhys defended himself, though there was zero heat in it.

“And you’ll be fine by tomorrow,” Marcus said fondly, leaning over to lightly mess up Rhys’s hair. Rhys swiped at his hand with a scowl, but a reluctant grin tugged at his mouth anyway. Marcus turned back to me, his tone warming. “Seriously, Ainsley, thanks for stopping by. I know he acts like a self-sufficient lone wolf, but he’s terrible at sitting still when he gets banged up.”

“It really wasn’t a big deal,” I said, watching the easy, effortless back-and-forth between them. Marcus was tired, clearly running on fumes after a long shift, but he was completely, undeniably here for his son. It was the same way Mum acted after her long shifts working as a nurse at the hospital, only to come home and greet us with smiles and hugs and stories like she wasn’t painfully exhausted from work.

“Well, eat some noodles,” Marcus insisted, gesturing to the takeout box. “I’m going to go shower off twelve hours of hospital bacteria. Ainsley, if he tries to complain too much, feel free to hit him with that chemistry book.”

“I definitely will,” I promised.

Marcus gave a bright laugh and headed for the stairs, taking them two at a time.