by JA Low
Reluctantly, I walk back out into the club, the deafening thumps of the club track throb in my ears as I find my seat back in the VIP section beside the redhead, who gives me a what the fuck look over with her eyes. She hands me a drink, and I throw it back in one large gulp.
“Something happen?” she asks curiously, arching a manicured brow in my direction before her eyes drift over to where Nell is sitting and chatting with the DJ. His arm slung around her shoulders as if she were his. She’s not. She will always be mine. It’s going to take time I understand it, because we are both not ready, but there will come a time in the future when the stars align and that will be it.
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
18
Nell
“Let’s party!” Dior screams as we enter the club. Dior is a new friend to our group. I met her on a photoshoot a couple of months ago, she’s this gorgeous blonde bombshell who absolutely kills it in a bikini. We met on a shoot in the Bahamas and just became fast friends, she’s also a total party animal. She’s wild. Dior has dragged us to the opening of some new club that she knows the owners of, and they have asked her to bring some influencers to the opening to create a buzz. My girls and I are always up for a good time, so we are happy to party for free for some photos.
“This place is amazing,” I declare in surprise. It’s as if we have stepped into a tropical rainforest in the middle of downtown. They filled the walls with vertical gardens. The sound of water trickling is in stark contrast to the thundering beats of the DJ, but the club feels serene nonetheless. We follow Dior toward the VIP section. She speaks to the bouncer to tick off our names and lets us enter through the velvet rope. Dior squeals when she sees her friends and air kisses them. She pulls us toward the group of extremely good-looking guys, introducing them to us all. Tonight is going to be fun.
“Tequila for the table!” Dior screams into the darkness, and moments later bottle girls arrive with tequila and they begin pouring shots out for us all.
Bottoms up.
Okay, I now realize tequila, high heels, and dancing on tables do not mix. Nothing is going to end well for anyone who tries this, and when I say anyone, I mean me. I’m currently splayed out on the floor of the club in a twisted mess as I laugh, and cry at the pain radiating through my leg. This is not good.
“Shit, Nell. Are you okay?” Audrey asks, alarmed by my current predicament.
“Um, no not really,” I say through clenched teeth. “I think I might need to go to the emergency room. Something doesn’t feel right.”
“You can say that again your ankle has blown up double the size,” Rainn adds anxiously.
Moments later, security rushes over to me and glares down at me.
“Think it might be best that you girls leave now. You’ve had enough for tonight,” one of the large security guards grumbles at me. I’m mortified.
“She kind of can’t move, otherwise we would be out of here,” Rainn answers angrily, almost standing toe to toe to him. The security guy looks down at my ballooned ankle and his jaw ticks. Then he bends down and picks me up from the floor as if I weigh nothing and storms out of the VIP section.
“Nellie, what the hell?” Dior squeals when I pass her.
“I’m okay, just off to hospital, I’ll be fine,” I tell my friend, reassuring her.
“Right, okay. Well, I’ll call you tomorrow. Look after yourself,” she tells me before joining her friends back in her booth. Rainn’s eyes narrow on my friend, but I’m not in the mood to worry about Dior. The guard continues storming through the crowd until we are outside, where he unceremoniously dumps me on the street.
“Hey, watch it, dickhead,” Rainn sneers at him.
“Don’t come back,” he growls before shutting the club’s door in our faces.
“Wow, that was excessive,” I say through gritted teeth. Thank goodness the tequila is still in my system, otherwise this would hurt like a bitch.
“I can’t believe they kicked us out,” Audrey exclaims, bewildered.
“It was a sucky club, anyway,” Rainn answers, rolling her eyes.
Moments later, a taxi pulls up, and I hobble inside. Rainn gives the driver directions to the nearest hospital, but I interrupt and ask to be taken to the one uptown instead.
“That’s going to take us ages to get there,” Rainn questions me.
“I know, but Miles works there, and he should be on call at that hospital,” I explain to her.
“Are you flipping serious, Nell?” Rainn yells, irritated by my logic.
“How do you know he works there tonight?” Audrey asks.
“I just know his schedule, all right,” I answer irritably.
Rainn shakes her head at me.
It’s a long silent journey to Miles’s hospital, but we finally make it. Audrey helps me from the taxi while Rainn pays the driver. I awkwardly hop into the emergency waiting room and take a seat while my friends check me in. I look around and see the other poor souls who’re stuck in an emergency waiting room at two in the morning. There are some grizzly kids with sleep-deprived adults, a frat boy with what looks to be a nasty gash to his head, a homeless man asleep on a bench, and me.
“They said the wait shouldn’t be long,” Audrey explains to me as she takes a seat beside me, her eyes falling on the interesting group of people settled in around us. We distract ourselves with our phones and an hour later, I’m being wheeled into a room where the doctor will see me. So many scenarios run through my mind about what Miles will do when he sees me. Will he stare up at me from my foot before our eyes meet and he declares he has always had a crush on me, and fuck it, he wants to take me out on a date? Is this my meet-cute moment?
“Nell Garcia, hi, I’m Dr. Olga Renner. Let me have a look at this foot.” An older woman greets me.
“Oh, I thought Dr. Hartford would be here tonight?” I ask her. She stills and looks up at me through thick, dark lashes, her ice-blue eyes narrow on me. “Our dads are best friends. I’ve known him since I was born. Just thought it would be nice to see a friendly face.” I stammer, “I mean, not like you’re not friendly, just that…”
“Stop talking,” Rainn whispers into my ear, and I shut my mouth immediately.
The doctor gives me a questioning look before looking back at my ankle. “I swapped shifts with Dr. Hartford, otherwise he would have been here,” she states while moving my foot around, which is causing pain. “He’s quite popular in our hospital, so you wouldn’t have been the first ladies to come in hoping to see him.”
“Oh no, Miles is like a brother to me. Ew,” I add quickly. My face feels like it’s on fire with embarrassment.
“You have a badly twisted ankle. Judging by these heels, I understand why.” The doctor gives me a smile.
“Probably the fall off the table added to it too,” Rainn adds unhelpfully.
The doctor looks up at my friends and smiles. “Yes, that would be a problem too. I’ll get one of my students to come in and wrap your ankle up. Take some Advil and keep off it for forty-eight hours. If you feel like it’s not getting better, pop back in or give Dr. Hartford a call,” she suggests dryly.
Well, that was embarrassing.
“All is not lost, Nell. You can still call Miles and ask him to do home visits,” Rainn teases.
19
Nell
Not being able to walk sucks. But thankfully I’m all set up in bed. I have my phone, TV, and snacks, thanks to our housekeeper, Rhonda. Since I’ve graduated, Mom has moved up to the farm full time, leaving me on my own in our Manhattan apartment. Portia’s at college, but she’s decided to live with her friends instead of sharing an apartment with me. Which is fine. I like the solitude, and it’s not like I’m home all the time anyway. It’s somewhere for me to sleep and get my clothes washed.
There’s a knock on my door, and a couple of moments later, Rhonda is popping her head through.
“You have a visitor, miss,” she tells me. Must be the girls. I tell her to send them
through.
“Please tell me it’s not true. That you fell off a table and twisted your ankle?” Miles asks playfully.
Wait, Miles Hartford is walking into my bedroom like he owns the space.
Miles freaking Hartford is in my bedroom.
Am I having another dirty dream?
“What are you doing in here?” I question him, not that I’m complaining.
“Your mom called my mom and asked me to check on you,” he explains. He takes a seat at the end of my bed, a wide smile falling on his face. Thanks Mom, a warning would have been great. I have no make-up on, and I’m dressed in a thin T-shirt, no bra, and booty shorts.
“You didn’t have to do that. I’m fine,” I tell him.
“I know, but my mom would have killed me if I hadn’t. You know what they’re like,” he explains. “Plus, I ran into Olga yesterday at shift change, and she told me all about a very cute friend of mine that came in after falling off a table. I thought she was having a laugh, then Mom called, and all the pieces fell together.”
I want to die of embarrassment as I bury my face in my hands.
“Hey,” Miles says, pulling my hands from my face while chuckling. “I’ve done some pretty stupid shit in my days, too. I remember a time in college when I was at some frat party. I knocked myself out after doing a keg stand. I’m going to blame my friends for that one, they didn’t hold me properly. Then I woke up with a cock and balls drawn on my face, but I did not know all night and didn’t understand why people were looking at me funny. Until a girl eventually took pity on me and took me to the bathroom and rubbed it off.” I raise my brow at this story. It sounded dirty, and I bet that’s not all she did. “I didn’t mean for that to sound the way it did,” Miles explains, laughing at his innuendo.
“I’m sure she still thought you were cute with the drawing on your face, anyway,” I tell him, rolling my eyes with a smile.
“Well, yeah, we dated for a couple of months after, so I guess there’s a happy ending to that story.” We both stare at each other and burst out laughing at his use of happy ending. “Would you stop it? Why is everything sounding wrong coming out of my mouth?” he says, shaking his head smiling.
This is exactly what I needed to pick me up today. “I sure hope this isn’t your normal bedside manner, Dr. Hartford,” I joke with him.
“Depends on the person in bed,” he states seriously. Those familiar green eyes stare at me intensely. Is he flirting with me? No. It must be the painkillers because there is no way in hell Miles Hartford is flirting with me. “Anyway, let’s have a look at this foot,” he says quickly, changing the subject and breaking the tension between us. His hand touches my skin and instantly goosebumps run up my leg and I’m thankful that Miles says nothing. I know my cheeks are probably a bright shade of pink as I feel the heat pump through my veins as his soft fingers touch my ankle, moving it around, assessing it thoroughly.
“It’s a nasty sprain but nothing a couple of days’ bed rest can’t fix,” Miles tells me happily.
“Thanks.”
We then both sit there in awkward silence for a couple of moments. “You’re more than welcome to stay. I’m just going to watch a movie and chill. Not that I can go anywhere,” I say, shrugging my shoulders.
“You’d want to hang out with an oldie like me?” he asks, teasing me.
“You’re not old,” I say, rolling my eyes at him. Yes, he is eight years older than me, but I don’t notice it. “When was the last time you sat and did nothing? I can’t imagine you’ve ever done that.”
“Don’t think I have. Not in a long time. Usually, it’s about catching as much shut-eye as I can before I do a double shift,” he explains.
“That’s sad, Miles. It does wonders for the soul sitting and doing nothing. Plus, Rhonda is an amazing chef so she can whip us up some nachos or something.”
“Okay, now I’m sold. You said nachos I’m in,” he says, giving me a grin. Then he looks around the room and grabs one of my armchairs and pulls it up to the side of the bed.
“That will not be comfortable for someone your size. Look, I can move over,” I tell him, shuffling over in my bed. He gives the bed a strange look, and I can see he is having a slight freak out. “Miles, we’re practically family. It’s not weird,” I reassure him. All lies because I’ve dreamed of the moment Miles Hartford was in my bed. Did I think it was to watch a movie? No, but I’ll take the start of my dirty fantasies anyway they come. He hesitates for a moment before kicking off his shoes and sliding in beside me, over the covers, of course. “Now, shall I text Rhonda to make us her famous nachos?”
“Yes, please. I’m starved,” he says, rubbing his taut stomach, the action drawing my attention to a region I shouldn’t be looking at.
“Right, um. I’ll get her to grab us some sodas unless you want something stronger?” I ask.
“No, soda is fine,” he tells me. The woodsy smell of his aftershave hits my nose, and my lady bits tingle. Easy girl, he’s like a wild horse he could bolt at any moment. Forget that he is there until he relaxes and whatever you do, stop thinking about jumping him. It will not end well.
We settle into an action movie of his choice, and I’m surprised at how well the conversation flows between us. Because of our age difference, we’ve never really spoken one-on-one much and this is nice.
“Did you see Remi’s billboard in Times Square?” Miles asks.
I choke on my drink as the surprise conversation turn. “Um, no,” I splutter.
“Let me show you,” he says eagerly, pulling out his phone and scrolling through to the photos. “So fricken proud of him.”
I stare at the half-naked image of Remi in his underwear, his large package fully on display as well as his tanned and well defined six-pack, that flirtatious grin plastered on his face, and I hate that my body reacts to seeing him like that.
Yes, he is gorgeous.
Yes, his body is to die for.
Yes, he knows how to use that large package.
But he still broke my heart.
“Good on him,” I say, handing Miles back his phone. He gives me a curious frown and I can tell he wants to ask me more but doesn’t.
“Have you spoken to him recently? I know you guys were close,” he asks.
“Nope, it’s been months. He’s pretty busy,” I add.
“He shouldn’t be too busy for friends though?” Miles questions.
“We’ve grown apart. Plus, he’s more Dom’s friend than mine,” I explain to him, hoping the Remi questions will stop because if I’m honest, all I want to do is lean over and kiss those perfect lips and I will not let Remi cockblock me.
“Fair enough, shall we watch another movie?” Miles asks, changing the subject to my relief.
“Oh, wow. I’m sorry to interrupt.” Rainn’s voice echoes through my consciousness.
Why am I dreaming of Rainn? Especially when I feel nice and warm.
“Shit,” a male’s voice curses, and I’m shoved to the side, the hard warmth leaving me. “We must have fallen asleep,” Miles explains.
“I can see that,” Rainn adds, amused.
Finally, the last fog of my sleep clears my mind, and I realize that Miles and I have fallen asleep in each other’s arms. He is up and out of my bed so quickly I almost have whiplash.
“I came over to check on Nell’s foot and I guess we watched a couple of movies and passed out,” Miles explains to Rainn as he runs his hand through his hair. He’s acting as if she just busted us making out. I wish. Nothing happened between us. Nothing.
“Rhonda made her famous nachos, and you know how good they are. Next thing you are in a food coma,” I tell Rainn.
“Rhonda makes the best nachos.” My best friend grins, but I can see it in her eyes she has so many questions.
“Well, I better go,” Miles suggests as he looks between the two of us. “Rest up, Nell.” And with that, he’s gone like a shot.
“What the fuck did I walk into?” Rainn questions
me.
“Nothing,” I say, flopping dramatically to my side, rubbing my face into the warm sheets he just occupied. They still smell of his woodsy scent. I’m never washing my sheets.
“You two looked pretty cozy when I walked in. His arm around you, and you were snoring,” Rainn states, smiling. Oh my god, how embarrassing.
“His mom made him come over to check on me,” I explain to Rainn. “Then I asked him to hang out, and he did, and now he’s bolted.”
“Maybe it’s for the best.”
“Why?” I question her.
“Because of Remi,” she explains.
“Remi has nothing to do with what happens between Miles and me,” I tell her angrily.
“They’re brothers. Of course, there is going to be drama if you hook up with Miles.”
“Well, I didn’t, so there’s nothing to worry about is there.”
“Not yet, anyway,” she adds solemnly.
“Forget Remi, he always seems to sour the mood even when he’s not here,” I grumble miserably.
“Fine. I just came to check up on you and hang out, but if you need a couple of moments to relieve yourself from being that close to Miles, then let me know,” Rainn suggests jokingly.
I throw a pillow at her, which has her laughing.
20
Nell
“This wedding sucks,” Audrey states, taking a seat beside me at the table. We are at her brother Rhys’s wedding to a woman that his family hates. How do I put this nicely…because she’s a gold digger.