Page 3 of Counting the Stars

“Mr. February’s getting a tetanus shot.” He rolls his eyes and walks away.

Mr. Feb—Ah! He’s talking about Alex! That’s been his unofficial nickname since he posed for a firefighter calendar last year. I run toward the crowd as I hear a yelp and a “That’s what you get,” from Hilda.

“Man, I didn’t get to see anything,” Rebecca, a nursing assistant, whines as she and the crowd disperse.

I pull back the curtain to see Alex rubbing his right butt cheek while Hilda disposes of the syringe and walks away with a scowl.

“Now you show up?” Alex looks at me with disappointment as he zips up his pants.

“I just got here and haven’t even started my shift yet. What in the world did you do to earn yourself a tetanus shot?”

“I was trying to save a kitten from a rusty drainpipe and got scratched.” He lifts up the sleeves of his T-shirt to show me his bandages. “I’m pretty sure she used sandpaper and lemon juice to clean my scrapes.”

“Oh,pobrecito.” I feign sadness as I walk up to him and place my arms around his waist. My hand rubs along the spot of his injection. “Does this feel better?”

“A little.” Alex dramatically pouts. He places his hands on my hips. “But I think the pain is traveling a little bit around to the front.” A mischievous smile plays on his lips, and I know he’s about to bring out those dimples of his that make me swoon.

“Not happening.” I playfully smack his chest. I usually don’t get this touchy-feely with Alex, but I didn’t like how there was an audience trying to get a glimpse of him with his pants down. My roommates and I see him in his underwear all the time, but somehow, that’s different.

“Fine.” His grasp on my waist gets tighter. “I know something else that will help me feel better.”

“I’m also not going out on a date with you.”

“That’s not what I was going to say.”

“No?” I raise a brow.

“Nope. I was going to say you should marry me.”

“Alex!” I groan. If he’s not asking me out on a date, he’s proposing. The man is incorrigible.

“What?” He pulls back to look at me. “Let’s just skip the whole dating thing and go straight to marriage. We can date each other once we are betrothed.”

“Betrothed?” I chuckle.

“It’s a good word.” He shrugs.

A voice clearing has both of our heads whipping around to meet the sound. My nurse manager, Gail, stands near the curtain. “When you’re done with whatever this is, Ms. Ramirez, I’d like to see you in my office.” Her gaze shifts from me to Alex for a minute, but she says nothing more before walking away.

“Oh God! That was my supervisor!” My eyes go wide. “I can’t lose my job!”

“Relax. You’re not going to lose your job for grabbing my ass. I know Gail. You’ll be fine,” Alex says matter-of-factly. I’m convinced he knows everyone who lives in Starboard Beach. As for me, I just moved here a little over a year ago and I’m not as gregarious as Alex. “Gail is a good one. Unlike Nurse Nightmare over there.” We step out of the room and walk down the hallway in comfortable silence until we reach Gail’s door.

“Want me to wait out here for you?” Alex leans against the wall.

“No, I don’t know how long I’ll be and I’m sure you have to get back to the firehouse.”

“Nah, I’m done for the day. I guess since you’re just starting your shift, I won’t see you later.”

“Nope, but Michelle told me if I saw you to let you know that she’s making some type of stir-fry tonight and pineapple upside down cake for dessert.”

My roommate, Michelle, is the youngest out of all of us on 3rd East. She’s in law school, but I have a feeling she’d rather focus on her culinary skills. She’s constantly trying new recipes and loves to feed all of us. On days when she’s too busy to cook, Aly or I pick up the slack. Aly was our roommate for a while, but she ended up marrying Jax, who lives across the hall. Thankfully, she didn’t have to move too far and our 3rd East crew is still tight-knit.

“Best neighbors ever!” Alex does a little happy dance. “But you know you’re still my favorite.”

“I know.” Secretly, he’s my favorite too. I give Alex a little wave as he walks down the hall. I turn toward Gail’s door, take a deep breath, and knock.

“Come in!” Gail says in a pleasant tone. Well, that’s a good sign, I hope. Still, I’m nervous as hell, wondering what she wants to talk about.

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