In Your Wildest Dreams (Wildcat Hockey, #4)(17)

When he tries to hand her back the book of Sudoku puzzles, she shakes her head. “Keep it. I have a stack of them.”

We say our goodbyes and Ash and I head out.

He doesn’t say anything until we get on the elevator.

“Is she going to be okay?” he asks.

“Yeah.” I nod. “She’s a brittle diabetic, which means her blood glucose is harder to control. She’s had to stay in the hospital quite a bit since her diagnosis.”

He nods thoughtfully as he leans back against the elevator wall.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m all right.”

“Liar. Your head hurts, doesn’t it? You keep clenching your jaw.”

A small smile tugs up one side of his mouth. “It kills.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dragged you down here.”

“No,” he says quickly. “I’m glad you did. Liza was cool and I got to learn more about you. A tennis player, huh?”

“I was, yeah. I quit the team last year.”

“I’d love to watch you play sometime.”

“You want to watch a college tennis match?”

“I want to watch you play.”

I don’t even try to resist rolling my eyes at him.

“I play a little. My uncle owns a country club. I spent every summer working there until I graduated college. I could take you to dinner and then we could hit the ball back and forth a bit.”

The doors open on the orthopedic floor and we step out and slowly walk back toward his room.

“With one arm?” I ask.

He flashes a cocky smile. “I’m wildly talented with the right incentive.”

Yeah, I’ll bet he is.

“And my nurse will be there in case I need anything.”

I can’t help but laugh. “I’m not dating right now.”

“Right. Because you’re busy.”

“I am,” I insist, voice on the verge of a screech. “I have a lot going on.”

When we get to his room, he walks right in and climbs into bed. He rests his head back on the pillow and waits for me to continue.

“I work all night, go to school all day. Any spare minutes I find, I’m usually studying or figuring out what I’m going to feed myself. Seriously, who knew the worst part of being an adult would be deciding on and cooking dinner? I haven’t read a book for fun or watched TV or gone to the tennis court in so long, I basically have no hobbies.”

Something in the way he looks at me, half-amused and wholly focused, pushes me to keep going. “And today I found out that I’m going to have to move from my rental, so that’ll take days or weeks of searching for something close to campus that I can afford. See? I definitely don’t have time to date.”

“I happen to be great at deciding what to eat for dinner. I’d be happy to help. Two birds, one stone.” He looks so proud of himself. “How’s tomorrow?”

I imagine that for a moment, what it would be like to go to dinner with Ash. He’d be charming and attentive, and I’d have fun for a few hours. But I’m not ready to get involved with anyone right now. Definitely not a hot hockey player who is a notorious serial dater. “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” His voice climbs with lighthearted outrage and his eyes twinkle. “You can’t be too busy to eat.”

“Maybe I just don’t want to go out with you.”

“I did consider that, but then I remembered you checking me out earlier when I had my shirt off.”

“I was doing my job.”

“Ogling my body is the job, huh?”

My face heats with the accusation. He isn’t wrong, I was checking him out, but some of it was for professional reasons.

“I’m not going out with you.”

“Is it because of the jerk ex-boyfriend? Are you still in love with him?”

“No,” I say too quickly. The only emotions I feel when I think of Gabe are anger and shame. Anger that he turned out to be such an asshole and shame for not realizing it sooner.

“Good. He didn’t deserve you. I’m glad you broke up with him. You should date someone that treats you a hell of a lot better than he did that night. Even if it’s not me, though I think it should be me.”

I wish he’d forgotten about that night outside of the bar. “How do you know he didn’t break up with me?”

He scoffs. “Nobody is that stupid.”

I’m at a loss for words again and distract myself by checking the time. I need to get back to the desk and relieve Hannah.

“I should go check on my other patients, and you need sleep.”

He nods. “I am starting to get a little tired. Don’t know how much sleep my shoulder is going to let me get though.”

“Is the pain okay?”

“It’s better now that I’m lying down. What time do you get off?” he asks.

“Seven.”

“Will you come see me again before you leave?”

“Only if you promise to stay in bed and rest until then.”

He laughs. “If I do, will you have breakfast with me?”

“You just don’t give up.”

“Never.”