Page 42 of Accidentally Fudging the Beast
I laugh, the sound raw and a little desperate. "I don't give a fuck. You could turn into a swamp monster, and I'd still love you, Dani. Hell, I'd probably still want to fuck you."
She snorts, then coughs, then winces. "I can't believe you bought me fudge."
I reach for the box, pop it open, and break off a chunk. "You tried to kill me with it. I figured I might as well try to cure you with it."
She snorts again, her eyes bright with something dangerously close to tears. She takes the fudge from me, nibbling at the edge, then hands it back to me.
"I had time to think while you were gone too," she whispers. "I thought you wouldn't come back, and it made me sad, Trent. Because I never told you…" She swallows. "I love you."
"Jesus."
"I panicked when you said you were fell in love with me, and then I regretted not saying it back." She blinks up at me, shy and sweet. "I'm glad you came back."
"I'll always come back to you, Sunshine.Always."
"If you tell anyone that you watched me throw up, I'll murder you."
"Noted," I say, grinning so hard my face hurts.
We eat soup and then share a tiny piece of fudge before curling up on the couch together.
I wrap my arms around her, tucking her under my chin. She clings to me, still feverish but feeling alittle less like death. Within minutes, she's asleep, drooling into my shirt and snoring like a baby.
It's perfect, the best Christmas I've ever had.
Chapter Eight
Dani
"Do not throw up,"I mumble to myself two days after Christmas, standing outside the PT suite. On the other side of the doors, it looks a little like Santa's elves went on a cocaine bender, then forgot to clean up.
The air is thick with the scent of Febreze, bleach, and half-melted Hershey's Kisses. There are three empty candy bowls. One, still half-full, glimmers with the orphan candies no one ever eats because they taste like sadness and regret. Tinsel still drapes the door in a way that's less festive and more crime scene, and a battered ornament blinks sporadically from under the fake tree in the corner.
Trent's confession still echoes in my head. The first time he said he fell in love with me, I panicked, certain he didn'tmean it the same way I did. But then he said it again, like it was the simplest truth in the world.
Every fear and worry I had just sort of…vanished.
If being with him costs me this job, so be it. There will be other jobs, but there won't be another Trent.
We've spent the last two days wrapped up in each other. I felt like death for most of Christmas, but yesterday I was functioning again. I was too much of a coward to come to work, though. Instead, I called out and stayed in bed with Trent.
I have no regrets.
I am nervous as hell, though. I am not, and never have been, subtle. The whole world is going to know about us sooner rather than later, probably because of something I say or do. And then things will get crazy.
I'll no longer be Trent Kirk's socially-awkward, anxiety-ridden physical therapist. I'll be the socially-awkward, anxiety-ridden physical therapist sleeping in his bed. I mean, I'm already that, but the rest of the world doesn't know it yet. They will soon.
My fantasies never covered that part of the equation. Things like reality didn't exist when he was only fucking me in my dreams. But it exists now.
I'm sure it'll be okay somehow, but my anxiety is loud.
Liz spots me from the far end of the PT suite and comes rushing in my direction. She has two band-aids on her knuckles and a lipstick shade so dark it's almost black, buther eyes are as bright as her smile. She's also double-fisting candy canes, because Liz is a goddamn champion.
"Merry Christmas, you little genius," she drawls, circling me like a cat. "I'm surprised you're walking straight today."
I want to crawl into the nearest supply closet and die, but I try for a neutral expression. "Merry Christmas. Why do you look like you mugged the Ghost of Christmas Future?"
She flicks a candy cane at me, making me giggle. "Worry about yourself, lady. I have questions."
