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The doctor shakes his head and smiles kindly. “Musculoskeletal pain. We actually see it all the time. In your case,” he turns to Luis, “it’s a pulled muscle and, I suspect, some inflammation of the cartilage around your breastbone. We’re going to get you on a round of Prednisone to get the inflammation down and give you something to help manage the pain.”
“Are you serious?” Mateo asks, rubbing a hand down his face. “It really is just a pulled muscle?”
I run a hand over his forearm soothingly. “That’s a good thing,” I tell him quietly.
Luis chimes in with a smug, “I told you so.”
Mateo nods, relief and disbelief battling for control as he looks up at the ceiling. “So you did.”
The doctor grins at Luis. “They did the right thing making you come in. You’re going to need to take it easy for the next few days. No heavy lifting, no stress. You’re officially on vacation and I’m going to put your son in charge of making sure you schedule that follow up in a week or two.”
Luis is practically giddy as we leave the E.R. At any moment, he could bust into a song and dance routine and I wouldn’t be surprised. Mateo looks down at me as we walk outside.
“You got a ride here?” he asks, his dark eyes sweeping over my face as I nod.
“Yeah, I grabbed an Uber.”
“Come on, then.” He steers me toward his car, his hand on my lower back in that proprietary way of his.
Luis is muttering about involuntary vacations as we get to the car. He opens the door for me to climb into the passenger seat, but I give him a quick hug and climb into the back instead. I’m texting Lilah a quick update, but then something dawns on me.
“Where’s Javier?” I’d forgotten about him entirely. Mateo’s eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. There’s a dark tension in them as he frowns back at me.
“I texted him. He’s in San Francisco with an early flight back to New York. He wanted us to update him in the morning.”
Ah. Well, that’s about what I’d expect out of him. It also explains that tight expression on Mateo’s face. I’d bet just about anything that he complained to Mateo about travelling all the way out here for the wedding. Javier may be pretty, but he’s far from reliable.
I freeze inwardly as I realize that suddenly I’m seeing that as a big mark against him. When did I decide I wanted reliable? Maybe about the time I found myself waking up held tight in someone’s reliable and very sexy arms. I have to shake myself free of these thoughts. Mateo is not for me.
I scoot to the middle of the back and lean forward, resting my arm on the back of Mateo’s seat and giving him turn-by-turn directions to my house. He dutifully keeps his eyes on the road while he drives, and from my spot behind him, I pointedly try to ignore the hard line of his jaw and the stubble that’s grown in over the last few hours. I have to actively fight the urge to run my hand over his cheek just to see how rough it is.
Ripping my gaze away from Mateo’s face, I look straight ahead at the radio and car dashboard but find myself immediately distracted. He’s rolled his shirtsleeves up, exposing his thickly corded forearms. As he drives, the muscles flex, dancing in the shadows cast by oncoming headlights.
I am out of my damn mind and I wish I could blame tequila for the way I’m feeling right now, but I’m finally sober, verging on a little hungover. And despite being hungry, slightly nauseous, and exhausted, it’s impossible to ignore how fucking sexy Mateo is.
Or… maybe it’s because of all those things.
Maybe it’s like grocery shopping. You never do it when you’re hungry, right? Maybe I shouldn’t be allowed near a strong jaw when I haven’t been with a man for months on end.
I can just picture that broad hand of his pressing me back against a wall. Muscles flexing as his fingers skim down my body, gripping my hips—
“Jules?”
I jump, yanked back to the real world. Mateo’s eyes are on me in the rearview mirror, stormy and serious.
“Hm?”
“Which way?” he asks.
I clear my throat. “Sorry. Left.”
“You ok?” he asks as he makes the turn, eyes flicking up to mine in the mirror.
I have to look away, guilt washing over me as I nod. “Just tired.”
4
Mateo
