Page 31 of Revive Me

“You shouldn’t be in here by yourself. I’ll wait with you.”

My head snaps up, and nowI’mthe one frowning. “What? No, you don’t have to do that.”

“Fuck that. I’m not leaving you by yourself.”

It takes one glance at Roman to realize he’s made up his mind, and that nothing I can say is going to change it.

“Fine. But when I get bored and make you do more therapy, you only have yourself to blame.”

He huffs a laugh. “Noted.”

And just like that, it hits me that this means I’m about to be alone with Roman, for an undetermined amount of time, without physical therapy to keep us occupied.

Just two people alone in a room with time to kill.

Chewing on my lower lip, I look around the gym. “Should we…stay here? Or would the office be more comfortable?”

Roman glances toward the office, looking just as uncertain about it as I feel. Spending time together is one thing, but doing it completely outside of our usual environment feels…like a bigger deal.

“We should probably just stay out here, it’s more?—”

But he cuts off with a wince and reaches around to rub his lower back.

“Muscle or chair?” I ask.

“Chair,” he responds. “I spent more time in it than usual today.”

I look toward the break room. “Welp, I guess that answers our question about where we’re spending the next hour. Come on.”

I’m heading toward the break room before Roman can argue with me. I know he can see the giant couch from where he is, and that wince told me he’s uncomfortable enough to want the relief.

Sure enough, he’s made it into the room by the time I find the remote for the TV. Flopping down on one end of the couch, I ask, “So what should I put on?”

His uncertainty doesn’t fade as he transfers from the chair to the couch. He still looks uncomfortable as he turns his attention to the TV.

I thought his tenseness was because we’re in a weird situation, but if he’s actually in pain, then that changes things. It’s been a while since I’ve given a massage, but?—

“I’m not watching some stupid reality TV show,” Roman growls.

I roll my eyes to hide my relief as I turn on the TV. “If you think all reality TV shows are stupid, you haven’t been watching the right ones. And our hour is up, which means I’m no longer obligated to be nice to you. There’s the door.”

I hear his huffed laughter from the other end of the couch. “If our sessions are an indication of you being ‘nice,’ then I’d hate to see what mean looks like.”

Sending him a wink, I turn my attention back to the TV and the Netflix options that pop up. I’m scrolling through the Horror recommendations when Roman says, “Midsommarwas fantastic.”

My head whips toward him. “You’re a horror buff?”

He nods.

“Wow,” I breathe. “I think I like you way more now.” Ignoring the way Roman’s lip twitches, I add, “I normally lean toward the thriller side of things, but I’ll take a horror movie with a good mystery any day of the week.”

“I’ll write you a list,” Roman says with a chuckle.

I lift my eyebrows at him. “Bold of you to assume I haven’t already seen everything on your list.”

He tilts his head, smirking. “You sound pretty sure of yourself.”

Bringing one leg up on the couch, I get more comfortable. “Try me.”

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