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“There, was that so hard?”
“Yes,” I muttered.
“I’ll hold onto your waist and we’ll rock you back and forth until you’re standing. I’ll pull, you push.”
Caleb’s car was a newish sedan and low to the ground. As much as I hated that he had to help me, it was a good thing he did because I would have faceplanted trying to do it alone.
Big, hot hands circled my waist. A zing of awareness moved up my spine. I jerked out of his grip.
“You okay? Did I get your bruise?”
“Yeah,” I lied.
“Sorry.” He pressed his hands against my hips this time. “It would be easier if you were wearing a belt or pants with any sort of structure. Yanking on scrubs will get you a wedgie and not much else.”
I huffed out a laugh and tried to relax. “Really don’t need one of those on top of everything else.”
“Those tiny shorts would disappear up in there.”
His tone was light, but the mention of my work clothes sent all my defenses back up. Of course Caleb would be the one to see me oiled up and covered in body glitter.
“Now start moving with me,” he said, all business.
Feeling foolish, I did as he said. He managed to get me upright with no extra strain on my body.
“There, was that so hard?” He tugged me close enough our chests brushed, then closed the car door behind me.
Our faces were inches apart. The heat from his body seeped into mine and soothed me from the inside.
I jerked away and stepped back. My damn knee buckled again. They’d given me a brace at the hospital, but it didn’t do much to stop the oiled-hinge effect when I put pressure on it.
Caleb caught me and leaned me against the car in a fluid, practiced motion. “You can’t get the bi cooties from me, so relax. I’m not hitting on you. I’m trying to keep you vertical.”
“Do bi cooties cancel out gay ones?” I asked drowsily.
Not letting go, he reared his head back and looked at me. “Is this a rhetorical question, or are you coming out to me?”
“Just returning the favor since you came out to me first.”
“Does your dad know you’re gay?”
I snorted. “Not a chance. Last time I saw him he kept going on about all the chicks I’m banging and how I’m living the life he should have.”
“And you didn’t correct him?” He wrapped his arm around my waist to keep me steady as we slowly walked.
“Why would I give him another reason to be disappointed in me? Does he know about you?”
Caleb made a sound that was half snort, half cough. “Yeah, but it wasn’t intentional.”
“What do you mean?”
He pushed open the door directly in front of the car.
“I told my mom, but since she can’t keep a secret to save her life, she told him. That was a fun family dinner. Nothing like listening to my stepfather go on about how I needed to get over the gay shit and focus on women. Because god forbid a male nurse also be LGBT.” He tugged me into the house.
I looked around the small space. The entire area was open and everything from the dark hardwood floors to the marble countertops gleamed. Directly in front of us was a staircase. To the right was a small modern kitchen. Just beyond that was a dining nook with a four-person table, and at the far end of the space was a living room with a couch and a large TV mounted on the wall next to the front entrance.
“What?” He kicked the door closed behind us.
