Page 39 of Stat: Love In Scrubs
“Thank you, Ms. Sinclair,” she responded.
I laughed, only because now it felt odd for her to call me Ms. Sinclair. But if it made her feel comfortable, I didn’t want to correct her.
“I have a question.” She finally said.
“I’m all ears.”
She had sat down with a few of her Barbies and handed me one, so I joined her on the floor.
“Do you like my daddy? I saw you kiss him, and Grandma said you love someone if you do that.”
I laughed. Kids were so innocent and wanted to understand everything around them. If only she knew that didn’t change when she got older. We were still trying to figure out what we felt or what we should do.
“I do. Is that okay with you? If we share him?” I asked.
She tilted her head to the side as if she was thinking about it. I held back my smile to feed into our serious question. I wanted Esa to know her feelings were valid.
“Yes, but only if we can hang out sometimes. Just me and you.” She added.
I gripped my chest. This moment brought me back to the first conversation I had with Maria. I was looking for any feminine or motherly interaction. My dad was and is everything to me, but I still wanted someone to do girl things with.
For the first time, losing my mother made sense. In a strange way, it gave me the emotional intelligence needed for many other kids. Not to mention, for this moment, with Esa.
“Deal,” I told her, then held my hand out for her to shake.
She shook my hand with a big grin.
“Oh, and do I still have to call you Ms. Sinclair?” she asked.
I laughed and shook my head.
“Nah, it’s a little too formal. Yara is fine, but at school, we have to stick with Ms. Sinclair. Cool?”
“Cool! Now let’s play Barbies! I am the princess in the tower, and you’re the best friend who’s lost in the forest.” She explained.
My eyes widened, and then I laughed. The things kids come up with. But I was going to be the best homegirl who was lost in the woods. We played with the Barbies for another hour before Doc knocked on the door, giving me the break I needed.
Doc ordered pizza and chicken wings. We ate, then went into the living room to watch a movie. The sun was going down, and all I wanted was a good nap. I could tell Esa and Doc were just as close to needing sleep as well. We cuddled up on the couch after Esa begged to watch Encanto. According to Doc, she ran this movie into the ground and still hadn’t let up on it yet.
Esa laid on the right side of her dad, while I laid on the left. While Esa and I played, Doc cleaned the mess I assumed Esa hadmade earlier. The peace and safety I felt in his arms was one I didn’t know I could experience outside of my father’s arms. For a long time, he had been the only person I felt truly safe with. But this man was breaking down every barrier I created with ease.
It wasn’t long before I drifted off to sleep. I don’t know how long I had been asleep, but it felt like hours later before I felt a light tap. I peeled my eyes open and looked up to see Doc holding Esa in one arm. He held his hand out to me, helping me into a standing position and then leading me up the stairs.
“Your bag is already in my room. It’s the last door at the end of the hall. I also pulled a towel and two rags for you. They’re on the bathroom counter, folded so that you can take a shower. I’ll be in in a moment,” he expressed, stopping in the center of the hallway.
I turned to walk in the direction he told me to go. I could feel his eyes burning into my back. A shiver ran up my spine, but I kept walking until I made it to his room. The moment I stepped inside, I had to stop and take everything in. The room was a mixture of black and grey, with a heavy dose of hunter green. His bed was elevated on a platform with a few steps to access it. It had to be a California king.
I glanced over to see my bag on his dresser, so I made a beeline for it, taking out the things I needed to take a shower and brush my teeth. I stepped into the bathroom in his room, and it was almost as large as a bedroom in my house. He had a double sink; the toilet had its own room, a large tub separate from the double walk-in shower, which was surrounded by glass.
As he mentioned, everything I needed was on the counter. I walked into the shower, turning the water on. Then stripped out of my clothes. I placed my hair into a bun on top of my head and stepped back into the shower.
The steam curled around me as I stood beneath the spray, allowing the hot water to work out the knots in my shoulders.My body was heavy from the day we had. Esa had dragged me through games, movies, and endless giggles until we collapsed on the couch right beside her father. I thought I’d be too tired for anything but sleep, but the second I heard the door open, a fresh pulse of energy stirred awake inside me.
“You mind some company?” his voice came low, roughened at the edges. When I turned, he was already stripping off his shirt, watching me like I was the only thing worth looking at. I should’ve told him no that I was too tired—but I didn’t. I only stepped back, giving him room beneath the spray.
The heat of the water blended with the heat of him when his hands found my waist. He started slow, kneading the tension out of my muscles as if his only mission was to ease me. But the longer his palms slid over slick skin, the more that patience burned into something else. He knew exactly how to touch me—like he could read the tiny catches in my breath, the way my thighs pressed together, the shiver that ran through me when his lips found the spot just beneath my ear. His hands moved lower, confident, deliberate, like every brush of his fingers was mapped out with precision.
“Relax,” he whispered against my neck, but it was impossible when every expert stroke of his hands had me coming alive again, trembling against him, desperate for more.
