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Me:I don’t have extra sheets. I know I should, but it’s just me. Thank you for everything. I’ll see you soon.
I felt sort of human after I took some ibuprofen and ate some soup. I settled in on the couch and nursed a mug of tea. Farrah had even left blankets and extra pillows on the couch with another note, instructing me to get comfortable in front of the TV if I couldn’t fall back asleep.
Of course, my thoughts were filled with her. I had missed her.Soooofucking much.
I knew I wanted more. I wantedallof it with her. Between Farrah pointedly clarifying her boundaries before I left for the fire and my encounter with Cindy, my feelings for Farrah had become startlingly clear.
I recalled my mother saying more than once in the time since Cindy and I had broken up that I wasn’t the kind of guy to be a bachelor forever. That I was loyal and steady. I knew she’d been right, but I’d simply thought I didn’t want to go through the mess of being vulnerable again, of loving someone again. Ihadloved Cindy in the way that I could before the battles of life had tempered me like steel. Now, I knew what it was like to fall in love after being hurt, after betrayal, after loss, and grief. This love ran deeper. This love was wiser.
I just wondered how to get Farrah to believe in it. To believe in us.
ChapterThirty-One
FARRAH
“Ouch!” I exclaimed. The box I’d been holding clattered to the floor, just as Tiffany walked into the supply room.
Her eyes bounced down to the box of sharps and back up to me. “Did you just stab yourself?”
I was sucking on the end of my fingertip. “No. Paper cut on the edge of the cardboard. I wasn’t paying attention.”
Tiffany walked toward me, leaning down to lift the box off the floor and set it on the table in the middle of the room. She headed over to the first-aid kit mounted on the wall. A moment later, she ordered me to rinse my finger in the sink.
“Paper cuts are the worst,” she said as she put a small bandage on the end of my finger.
“I know. They hurt like hell, and they bleed a lot.”
“Worst one I ever got was a bloody mess.” She shook her head. “I was on speakerphone for a conference call and bored out of my mind. You know those calendars that cover your desk?” At my nod, she continued, “I was trying to get a paper clip out from under it so I was dragging my finger along the edge. Somehow, I managed to cut my finger on like seven pieces of paper from that damn calendar.” She rolled her eyes.
“That must’ve hurt.”
She snorted. “It did. Blood was everywhere. For the rest of the year, that calendar had blood splotches on it because it went through every freaking page.” She stepped away to wash her hands in the sink. “Have you heard from your patient?” she asked over her shoulder.
“He texted. He’s awake and halfway okay.” I took a quick breath. “I cannot believe he just crashed in his bed. He had no food or water for like a day and a half.”
“He was sick. I just hope you don’t get whatever he has.”
“I feel fine,” I replied.
“You’re going home to check on him at lunch?” she prompted.
I nodded. I’d been feeling out of sorts since I found Cooper yesterday. Or, rather, since I’d realized I was in love with him. I’d needed to put some distance between us. Then he’d gotten sick, and now I didn’t know how to fix my feelings.
“Are you okay?” Tiffany stepped closer, her concerned gaze skating over my face.
I opened my mouth to insist I was perfectly okay. Instead, I hiccuped and tears stung my eyes before splashing onto my cheeks. “I’m fine,” I croaked.
“Uh, clearly, you’re not fine,” Tiffany pointed out, her tone gentle. She guided me across the hallway to sit down in the break room. “What’s going on?”
Alice appeared because it was lunchtime, and we had an actual lunch break here when we closed the office. Next thing I knew, I was telling my friends everything. Cooper and I had been foolish. I’d thought I could play it cool like I always did, but I was the opposite of cool and had gone and fallen in love with him. I didn’t want to get into everything with my stepfather, so I left that messy bit alone and told them I’d always promised myself I would never fall for anyone.
“It’s never been a problem. Until Cooper. He just has to go and be so nice,” I explained at the end.
“Have you thought about talking to him about how you feel?” Alice asked gently.
I swiped at my tears and blew my nose with a tissue that Tiffany had handed me moments earlier. “I told him we needed space. Right before—” I waved my hand vaguely in the air. “They all went out on that trip for the fire. I missed him the whole time, and now he’s sick, and I can’t stop worrying about him. Ugh.”
“I think you should tell him how you feel. Because no matter what, you feel what you feel. Either you put this out there, or—” Alice shrugged. “You don’t. Cooper is not some jerk who will screw you over. He’s a really nice guy.”
