Next to Me

by AnnaLisa Grant

  Landon pulls open the drawer and unknowingly takes out one of my dad’s t-shirts. When he turns around I’m sitting up holding my scrubs in front my bare chest. We lock eyes and I feel my chest rise and fall with heavy breathing. At that moment I will myself to be 100% better by Saturday night. Nothing is going to keep me from following through on my plans to take my relationship with Landon to the next level.

  “Thank you,” I say softly as Landon hands me the shirt and turns around. He doesn’t say anything. I think he’s trying to calm his own hormones down, too. “Ok, you can turn back around now,” I tell him after getting settled.

  “Nice shirt.” Landon smiles at my vintage Dr. Pepper shirt.

  “It was my dad’s,” I tell him, feeling the worn material in my hands.

  “That’s nice.” Landon moves to the bed and moves the sheets and blanket so he can pull them over me. Once I’m settled he pulls his shirt off and I think I release an audible gasp. “I’m sorry. Do you want me to leave this on?”

  “No,” I say quickly. “I mean, I’m sure you’ll be more comfortable without it on.” My heart is beating fast as I get my first view of Landon’s body. We’ve been together for a month now, but have been very cautious after our first date when I attacked him on my couch. He’s toned and cut and looks like he belongs on the cover of Men’s Health. It’s also my first full view of his tattoo. It’s a symbol that I’ve never seen before, and it is just as sexy as I knew it would be. He starts to unbuckle his belt and I panic just slightly. “What are you doing?”

  “I can’t sleep in my jeans, Jenna,” he says matter-of-factly. “I’m going to sleep in here on the floor. Are there extra blankets in the hall closet?” I suppose I should be relieved that he’s going to sleep on the floor, but I’m actually a little disappointed.

  “You can sleep up here, with me, if you want,” I say. He tilts his head and gives me a suspicious look. “It’s fine. With my injury it’s not like anything is going to happen. It’ll all be very PG…13.” I smirk and flap over the covers to my left.

  “If you’re sure,” he says quietly.

  “I’m sure.”

  Landon finishes unbuckling his belt and his jeans are on the floor in a matter of seconds.

  Boxer briefs.

  Oh, dear God, help me.

  He slides into bed and pulls the covers over him before he turns on his side to face me. He’s got his arm crooked under his head and his tattooed left arm is now blanketing my stomach. I could lie like this forever.

  “Tell me about this tattoo of yours. It’s the only one you have so I’m guess it means something.” I trace my fingers around the symbol that looks slightly Celtic, but isn’t. It’s clearly an original design. It’s a circle with an intricate design woven within it. It’s beautiful.

  “How do you know this is my only tattoo?” he smirks.

  “Any guy that has a tattoo that can be completely covered by his underwear is clearly not capable of making good choices.”

  “Ouch!” we laugh. “No, you’re right. This is the only one I have. My buddies and I got them after our first tour in Iraq. Andrew, Dave, Kyle and I met in boot camp and were brothers right from the beginning. All our last names start with S, so Kyle started calling us S Squad. One day he came up with this design. There are four S’s, one hidden in each quadrant of the circle. Andrew suggested we get tattoos, so we did. I wanted to get the Superman symbol and call it the family crest, but that idea got shot down.”

  “Kyle is quite the artist,” I say, hunting for each S on Landon’s arm.

  “He was. He, along with Dave and Andrew were killed in the explosion I told you about.”

  “Oh, Landon. I’m so sorry.” I pull his arm closer to me and hug it.

  “It’s ok. It was a long time ago. I was the most hesitant about getting the tattoos in the first place, but, I’m glad we did it. Those guys will always be with me.”

  “You know, when I was in nursing school, I saw my fair share of tattoos,” I begin. Landon is looking sad and that makes my heart hurt. I know he treasures those guys and to have lost them the way he did is tragic. I just can’t stand him feeling that agony.

  “I bet you did!” he says, turning his sad, introspective expression into something happier.

  “You want to hear some stories?” I say with a yawn, my eyelids becoming heavy.

  “Why don’t you tell me tomorrow? I think your pain meds are really kicking in,” Landon says, brushing his thumb over my cheek.

  “No, I’m good. I can…” Another yawn escapes me and my eyes now feel like they’re glued closed. I try to open them…try to speak again, but it’s futile. I feel my body move and Landon’s voice say something about making me more comfortable. He brushes my hair from my face and I feel his arm blanket me again. And, just as I’m about to be fully unconscious, I can almost swear I hear Landon whisper, “I think I love you, Jenna.”

  Chapter 8

  I wake up to the smell of coffee. Landon must still be here because Spring can’t make coffee to save her life. I move and stretch my stiff body. A hard night’s med-induced sleep has left me feeling weighted and heavy. The clock reads 11:30 am when I’m finally able to turn my head and open my eyes. Oh, well maybe Landon isn’t still here. He had a lot going on today and tomorrow with work. I’m sure he didn’t mean that he was going to stay all day and that he’s got coffee and breakfast waiting for me.

  I manage to gather enough strength to shimmy myself to a sitting position without too much strain on my leg. I can move it. It’s sore, but nothing like last night. I think if I stay off it as much as possible today and tomorrow, then I should be ok to cover in the ER tomorrow night. Dr. Culpepper will be there and I know he won’t let me do more than I should.

  I scan my room for a note from Landon, but don’t see one. Then I check my cell to see if he texted me. Nothing there either. Maybe he left it near the coffee pot. I look for my crutches but don’t find them. They must still be in the living room where we left them last night.

  Last night.

  I sigh and can’t hold back the smile as I remember how insistent Landon was about staying to take care of me. My smile gets bigger and I bite my bottom lip to keep it from spreading from ear to ear. A shirtless Landon flashes across my memory and I close my eyes to keep him there just a moment longer. I wrap my arms around my waist, feeling the warmth Landon’s arm created there.

  “You’re up and all smiles! That’s a good sign!” Landon’s voice rings in my room as he enters with a tray of food. He’s shirtless, wearing his jeans without a belt so they’re hanging a little low on his hips. It is by far the sexiest thing I have ever seen in person. Ever.

  “You’re still here!” I say with shock.

  “Of course I’m still here. What kind of a guy would I be if I left my girl in her time of need?” He smiles and sets the tray down on my dresser.

  He called me his girl. Wow. I had no idea two words coming out of Landon’s mouth could cause such a stir of emotions in me. And am I remembering right in thinking I heard him tell me he loves me last night? I am not asking him that, that’s for sure! If he did say it, he knew I was headed into a deep sleep, so he probably didn’t mean for me to hear him. Not yet at least. And I’m not even sure if I can define how I feel about him as the same…can I?

  Am I falling in love with Landon?

  “Oh, well…I thought you had a ton of work stuff today. But, I’m glad you stayed.” I smile as Landon leans down and kisses my forehead sweetly. “Can I have my crutches, please?”

  “They’re out in the living room. I’ll help you,” Landon says as he moves to take my hand and help me up.

  “Um…I have to use the bathroom.”

  “I can help you with that, Jenna,” he says matter-of-factly.

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “No. I’m really happy with how things are going between us. I’m not ready for whatever image you have of me to be totally shattered by helping me get on and
off the toilet. Now can you please get my crutches?” I ask with sugary sweetness. I won’t say it out loud, but that is not the image I had in my head of the first time Landon takes my panties off.

  “As you wish.” Landon gives me his smoldering smirk and I’m glad I’m on the bed. It melts me every time he does it. It has the same effect on everyone, though. On one of our “adventure dates” as Landon calls them, we crashed a convention at McCormick Place. We must have sat in on at least three panels on how to have a more profitable direct sales business before someone caught on that we were not part of the group. It was when we tried to sneak in to the lunch they were serving when the shit hit the fan. Lucky for me, my guy has the best smolder on the planet and used it to his full advantage in getting us out of hot water that day.

  “How’s your leg feeling?” he asks, returning to my room with the crutches. “It looked the same in the night when I woke you for your meds at 5:00 am.”

  “You woke me up?”

  “Yeah. You were still pretty out of it, but I wanted to make sure to keep the pain meds in you. In fact, you’re overdue for the 11:00 am dose.” Landon moves to the side of the bed where he slept to retrieve my pain medication.

  “I’m feeling good, actually. I can take some Ibuprofen and that’ll be just as good now that I’m on the other side of the trauma. I don’t want to be all drugged up and sleepy while you’re here with me,” I tell him.

  Landon sighs heavily as he considers my refusal to take the pain medication.

  “I’m a nurse, remember? I kinda know what I’m talking about,” I smirk.

  He looks at me warily, but finally concedes. “Alright. But if you even so much as wince, I’m going to pick you up and put you back in this bed. I’m also making you take the medication. Got it?”

  “Got it. Thank you, Landon. It’s nice being taken care of,” I tell him with a soft smile. I’m a little overcome with emotion that I think I could cry if I let myself.

  “I like taking care of you, Jenna.” We look at each other for a long moment, both realizing that even though we’ve only been seeing each other for a month that what we have here is deeper than we thought it could become. For the first time since before I left DC, before I left Veronica Matthews behind, I feel really excited about the future.

  Landon lets me pee in private and then insists on helping me out to couch to rest. I’m still wearing only my dad’s t-shirt, so at least it’s long enough to cover me, but it lifts up when I raise my arms for stability at Landon’s side. I get situated on the couch and examine my stitches as I change the bandage.

  “How’s it looking?” he asks, bringing the tray of food he had taken to the bedroom out to the living room. He’s put his shirt back on which is really disappointing.

  “It looks good. Definitely not infected, thanks to that shot of antibiotics, and seems to be healing well. The cut wasn’t as deep as I thought it had been. I’ll rest it today and try walking on it later this evening,” I tell him.

  “Will Spring be here later? I was able to move my day appointments, but I’ve got appointments tonight and tomorrow night that I can’t move.” Worry paints Landon’s face.

  “She’ll be home around six. If you have to leave before then I can call Demi or Jack. Mercy is working tonight.” It’s so sweet how concerned he is. As a nurse I know that this type of injury heals well if attended to quickly. As my guy, he’s probably still reeling a bit from the whole incident. I know I’d be totally freaked out if anything ever happened to Landon.

  “Ok, good. Now, you need to eat.” Landon hands me a plate of food. It smells divine and I decide that I should keep him around for his cooking skills alone.

  “Is this your famous ham and cheese omelet? Where did you get these berries?” I take a bite of the omelet and lay my head back on the cushion. “Oh, my God! This is amazing!”

  “I told you you were going to love it. I ran downstairs this morning before you woke up and picked up a few things. Is it ok that I kind of stocked your fridge with stuff?”

  “Sure. Well…what kind of stuff?” He’s eyeing me nervously and I think I know what he’s going to say.

  “Um…I kind of put some food I like in there. And my favorite beer.” Landon raises his eyebrows, asking me if it’s ok that he’s done this.

  “So does this mean you’re going to be spending more time here?” I ask

  hopefully.

  “I’d like to. I mean, I’m not asking to move in, but, I’d certainly rather be here in any down time I have than at a hotel. And I wouldn’t want to be here without you, so Spring doesn’t need to worry that she’s going to walk in one day and find me hanging out on the couch in my underwear.”

  “But I get to find you hanging out on my couch in your underwear, right?” I tease. I know I can’t do much with Landon right now because of my leg, but I have this almost uncontrollable urge to kiss him. He’s standing above me so I pull on the bottom of his shirt, forcing him to kneel on the floor next to me. My right leg is to the back of the couch so as Landon leans over me I don’t feel anything but warm and tingly. “You know you haven’t even kissed me since you’ve been here?”

  “Well I guess I need to remedy that,” he says, his lips brushing against mine.

  I run my fingers through his hair, pulling him closer to me. Our mouths crush against each other and the passion is immediate. Our lips open and close, moving together as we explore each other. I hold his face in my hands and feel the roughness of his stubbled chin. Landon’s hand moves up my leg and inside my thigh. He traces his fingers at the edge of my panties before lifting my shirt and running his hand across my stomach to my back. His hand is warm and just rough enough to make my skin feel every pass.

  I grab the front of Landon’s shirt and pull him even closer, but I decide that he’s still not close enough so I pull his shirt off of him over his head. In that moment between the shirt coming off and resuming our increasingly intense make-out session, he stops and holds my face with his hand, running his thumb across my cheek.

  “Jenna…I…” he begins. I don’t know if he’s trying to tell me he loves me or that he at least feels like he’s falling for me. All I know is that I feel the exact same way about him.

  “Yeah…me, too,” I tell him with a breathy smile. He smiles and takes my

  face in his hands as he kisses me deeper than he ever has before. It’s the kiss that seems to solidify the relationship. The one that says you both feel the same way about each other and have the same hopes for where you’re going. For me, it says, yeah, I am definitely falling in love with Landon Scott.

  At some point I realize Landon is probably really uncomfortable kneeling on the floor and leaning awkwardly over me so he doesn’t hurt my leg. He’s kissing my neck when I place my palms on his bare chest. The moan that escapes his mouth tells me he likes it when I touch him there, so I let him continue kissing me and allow myself a few more moments of feeling his strong body over mine. I almost don’t say anything at all and see how far we can take this, but I can’t stand the idea of Landon uncomfortably hunching over for much longer. I can’t have his back hurting on Saturday night when my leg is better and we redo all the first-time moments we had from last night as well as continue on where we’ll be leaving off tonight.

  “I’m fine, really,” Landon says, pushing his face back into my neck. He kisses and bites along my jawline, sending goose bumps rising like mountains across my body.

  “I know you’re fine, but…” I lose my voice when he covers my mouth with his, kissing and exploring me with such intensity. “I have plans for us on Saturday night and I can’t have you injured, too!” I say quickly when Landon begins to trail kisses down my throat to my chest.

  “Plans?” Landon pops his head up and spreads a huge grin across his face.

  “Yes. Plans. I’m doing my part to have my leg all better, so you have to do your part and not stay hunched over here so that your back is, well, so that you have full use of every inch of you
r body.” Oh, my God! Did I just say that…out loud?

  “Best. Girlfriend. Ever.” Landon’s smile is even bigger now, and I can feel my face spread with a huge grin, too.

  “Wow. I knew I had to be in the top five at least, but best? And I graduated from your girl to your girlfriend. This has been a tremendous 17 hours!” Landon stands and stretches his back before helping me shift into more of a sitting position.

  “Is that ok? I mean, I wasn’t sure if the whole boyfriend/girlfriend title was appropriate once you left your teens,” he asks.

  “It’s totally ok, Landon. We’ve been seeing each other pretty consistently for a month now. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m pretty sure you aren’t either. It seems like a natural move to better define us,” I tell him.

  “Awesome,” he smiles.

  “I need to get up and move around. Can you help me up?” I move my body so my legs are off the couch. The muscle in my right leg only hurts a little, but I can definitely feel the burn. Landon bends down and puts his arm around my waist while I use him as a human crutch. “I should get dressed, too.”

  We move to the bedroom, with me not putting any pressure on my leg. I’m a stickler for following doctor’s orders, so it’ll be after midnight before I attempt hobbling around without a crutch of any kind. I’ll have to determine then if I can work my cover shift in the ER tomorrow night. I hate to leave them hanging, so I’m sure I’ll go in and be everyone’s paperwork lackey so I can sit the whole time.

  Landon gets me settled on the bed before approaching my dresser. “What do you want to wear? You should probably put on some shorts, right?”

  “You know what? I want to take a shower first. Can you…” I begin, but Landon cuts me off.

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “No. I’m here to help you with anything you need…but that.” Landon sighs, collecting his thoughts for a moment and sitting next to me on the bed. “Jenna, the first time I see your naked body, I want it to be part of an incredible experience between us. Last night we had to alter some first-time experiences. Please don’t take this as me not wanting to help. I just don’t want to alter that first time. It’s too important to me. Also, if I help you take a shower, I’m not going to be able to control myself, and you’re in no condition for what I have planned for us.”