Page 7 of Stat: Love In Scrubs
“My tummy hurts,” she repeated, a little more clearly.
“We can go to the nurse, and I’ll have the front office call someone to pick you up. Maybe your dad,” I suggested.
Esa groaned and whined a little, so I helped her from her seat to lead her out of the classroom. I pulled my walkie-talkie from my hip and instructed the front office to call her emergency contact. I sat with her while one of our nurses examined her.
I watched as she took her temperature, and nothing was off. The nurse went through a few other things before we finally turned to Esa to ask more questions.
“Esa, honey, we can’t seem to tell what’s going on. Did you eat your lunch?” I asked.
She shook her head. I glanced at the nurse and motioned for her to grab an apple. Esa needed something in her system. When I handed it over, she sank her teeth in like she hadn’t eaten in days.
“Esa, why didn’t you eat your lunch?” I asked softly.
Her lips parted, ready to answer—then the door to the nurse’s office swung open.
And there he was. A face I couldn’t forget even if I tried. God knew I’d tried—tried to bury it under work, under wine nights with Darby, under anything that would scrub the memory clean. But nothing stuck. That night was supposed to be reckless and harmless, a one-time thing. Instead, the sight of him standing in this room, inmyspace, had my pulse tripping like I was right back against that bathroom wall.
3 months prior
“Let’s get a drink,” Darby shouted over the music playing in the club.
I nodded, and she grabbed my hand to usher us through the crowd toward the bar. I continued to bob my head to the sounds of Summer Walker and sway my hips. I had been needing this breakaway from all things Little Angels Academy. I loved my babies, but damn, I felt more drained than usual.
Darby could tell almost immediately and suggested we visit this club here in Silverrun called Shadows. When she mentioned it to me for the first time, I just knew she was bringing me into some dark, dungeon-like kind of club, but it was the opposite. It was dark, don’t get me wrong, but it was more of a sultry vibe with a club aesthetic, which sounded crazy to the ear, but in reality, the shit just worked.
Darby ordered us drinks, so I turned to face the crowd of people who were now twerking and popping their asses to Chris Brown’s new song that had just dropped. The beat wasbeyond contagious as I followed suit, lip-synching the song in place.
His thick tone caught my attention first. “Chris Brown damn sure knows how to get a party going, don’t he?”
I glanced over my shoulder, and my breath caught in my throat. I had been around a few good-looking men, but this man was like a fudge brownie sundae with whipped cream on top. I devoured him from head to toe, unable to get my words together, so I nodded.
He smirked, giving me a glimpse of his vibrant white smile, which contrasted with his deep mahogany skin tone. It didn’t help that this man had a goatee. There was something about a man with a beard that symbolized a grown man to me. He wore a pair of khaki cargos with a simple shirt, but the way his arms were practically begging to be free from the sleeves had my mouth watering.
I held my hand out boldly to shake his, which he obliged.
“Liz.” I offered, giving him my middle name.
“Doc.”
I hiked up my brow in question, causing him to chuckle.
“Frat name, and it just stuck.”
I nodded with a smile. A frat man, and I bet I could tell just which one he had pledged because his marking showed just slightly beneath his sleeve.
“Can I guess which one?” I asked.
He ran his tongue across his lower lip in a smooth motion, then smirked.
“Long as you get it right, baby.”
The way baby slid off his tongue made a shiver run down my spine. I crossed my legs, hoping to calm the ever-present thumping between my thighs. If I didn’t know earlier, I damn sure knew now.
I giggled and looked away briefly before returning my attention to him. I got lost as his milky brown eyes bore into me while waiting for my response.
“Hmm, if I get it right, I think I need a demonstration. That is, if you’re up for a good time,” I said, shocking my damn self.
I had never been so bold in my life, but something about this stranger felt like he was safe, that he was mine in a sense, but that couldn’t and would not be the case. I had room for fun, but just this one night.
