Page 21 of Crash: Love in Scrubs
“Your mom’s a smart woman. You should listen to her more often.”
Samaj shot me a look. “Speaking of my mom...you like her, don’t you?”
I kept my expression neutral while I cleaned the equipment. “Your mom’s a good woman. Strong. Got her priorities straight. What’s not to like?”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Smart-ass kid. Wonder where he got that from.
“Your mom and I are focused on getting you better. That’s what matters right now.” He stared at me, still not appreciating my dodging his question. But I wanted him to ask me what he really wanted to know, man to man.
“But after I’m better...I’m saying if you do like her, I’m cool with it. Just so you know.”
“She’s gonna kill you for trying to play matchmaker.”
“Good. Now, can you go find her? She’s probably in the cafeteria stress-eating those cookies they got down there.”
“Yeah, I need to holler at her anyway. Good work today, Samaj for real.”
I left Samaj and found her exactly where Samaj said she’d be, sitting alone at a corner table with a strawberry smoothie in her hand, staring out the window while massaging her neck. You could tell her mind was somewhere else. Even with that distant look on her face, she was gorgeous, a sight to see. Every time Iwas around Sametra, I felt a warm sensation take over me. My heart beat a little faster, and my hands itched to touch, rub, and soothe.
“So, the rumors are true,” Moniece's voice cut through my thoughts as she stepped into my path, blocking my view of Sametra. If I wasn’t a gentleman, I would have pushed Moneice to the side by the head. She was getting on my damn nerves pressing me like I was her nigga or ever would be.
“She’s why you won’t give me the time of day, huh?”
I didn’t even look at her fully, my eyes already moving back to Sametra. The last thing I wanted was for Sametra to see her talking to me and think we were a thing. I had a feeling she already had thought I was sleeping with everything moving. Even though I wasn’t I didn’t want to add any fuel to her trust issues.
“Moniece, you hard of hearing?”
“I see how you look at her. You never looked at me like that.” There was something bitter in her tone that made me finally focus on her.
“Because it was never like that with us. You know that.” I kept my voice low, professional. “Excuse me.”
I stepped around her without another word, but I could feel her watching as I made my way to Sametra's table.
She looked up when I approached, and that smile I was starting to become infatuated with spread across her face, but it was as full as I’d seen it. I loved her brave front, but she didn’t need to do that with me. My entire existence was about meeting people at their lowest and encouraging them back to the top.
“Hey. How’d he do today?”
“See for yourself,” I said, sitting down across from her without being invited. “You avoiding me?”
“What? Why would I do that? How can I do that?” she rattled off, letting me know she was absolutely avoiding me. She’d beenfinding any way not to be around me since our phone call, and I wasn’t with it anymore. She’d drop Samaj off early and disappear before I came in. But she couldn’t avoid me today.
“When you’re lying your ass off, you start rambling. You don’t gotta avoid me or lie to me. What’s up?”
“It’s not you. It’s just...my mind is all over the place. I really want to go back to work, but I also got accepted into school. I haven’t even told Samaj yet. I don’t know if right now the right time is, but it feels like the right time, you know?” she massaged her neck and continued as I watched her perfect lips move at rapid speed. “I feel like I wanna get my life started right now. No more waiting. Maybe take some time off until I start school. Travel. Fall in love. I don’t know...bills, medical expenses, baseball camp.”
“LT, hey, thank you for sharing that with me, but you gotta chill, all you want is coming to you, and it will work out. You been massaging that neck since I sat down. You in pain?”
“Just uncomfortable sometimes, especially when it’s going to rain.” She stretched again and looked out the window. “I imagine it’ll feel like this forever, now.”
“C’mere,” I urged, standing to my feet. I extended my hand, and she reluctantly took it. I led Sametra down a hallway and into the chapel, which was the closest private space I could find. I didn’t want nosey ass people taking what I was about to do out of context.
“What are you doing?” she asked as I moved closer and placed my warm hands on the sides of her neck, running my palms up the sides. The room was dimly lit, but I could see the sparkle in her eyes and the gloss on her lips. God, she was so fucking beautiful to me.
“Shh, just trust me. Inhale.”
I knew the exact spots I needed to touch to give her some relief. The whiplash from the accident had left her with acutemuscle spasms in her cervical spine. I could feel the tension radiating from her suboccipital muscles down through her trapezius. These were the kinds of injuries that lingered, the ones that flared up with stress and lack of proper sleep.
