Chapter 8
The next day was our team–building event, but I wasn’t feeling well.
As we were walking, my vision suddenly went dark, and my limbs. tingling and weak. Only then did I realize my blood sugar had crashed.
But it was too late–my knees hit the blazing pavement hard.
“Gracie!”
Jaime’s arm caught me around the waist, and I caught a lingering trace of women’s perfume on him.
“Did you just have iced coffee again this morning without eating?” His voice was low, the same tone he used to scold me all those times he caught me skipping breakfast.
“Don’t touch me.” I pulled away, scraping my palm raw against the rough concrete. “I’m fine. I don’t need your help.”
Jaime lunged and tried to grab me again. “Gracie!”
“Gracie.” Kamden’s voice cut through the crowd. He held out a bottle of chilled electrolyte water. “Here, have some.”
As I took the drink, cold beads of condensation dripped onto the scrape on my knee.
The sting jolted a memory–back in college, during the track meet, Jaime had rushed onto the field and carried me to the nurse’s office when I cramped up.
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Back then, his jacket had smelled of my favorite jasmine laundry. detergent, not some strange perfume.
The joys of youth, once gone, can never return.
Because of the scrape, I took a day off to get checked out at the hospital.
I was staring blankly at my appointment slip when the sharp scent of disinfectant mixed with a hint of cedar.
“Looks like fate keeps pushing us together,” Kamden said, settling next to me with a crutch. The bandage on his knee was soaked with blood, glaringly obvious under the harsh fluorescent lights.
Before I could react, he pulled a strawberry milk candy from his pocket like a magician. “Want some candy?”
I stared at his injured knee. “What happened to you?”
“Rear–ended,” he said with a careless wave, the candy wrapper crackling. “Other driver’s fault.”
Then, leaning in to peek at my chart, he said, “But you–hypoglycemia
and endocrine issues….
His eyes narrowed behind his glasses. “Let me guess someone’s making you so nauseous in the cafeteria every day you can’t even eat?”
It took me a second to realize what he meant.
Ever since Jaime and I broke up, he’d made a point of showing up in the cafeteria every day, always bringing Celia to sit right across from me.
A nurse calling my name interrupted us.
As I stood, Kamden stuffed the whole box of candy into my bag. “All
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yours.”
Η
As he turned away, I noticed a scabbed–over scratch on the back of his
neck.
After my appointment, this battered guy hopped on one foot to help me reach my prescription bag at the pharmacy window.
“Kamden,” I couldn’t help but ask, “why are you… So nice to me?”
Kamden bent down so his eyes were level with mine. “Because I like
you.”
The tips of his ears turned red. “Gracie, can I court you?”
The third time Kamden came to pick me up after work, he wasn’t holding desserts he was holding a massive bouquet of flowers.
–
“Gracie,” he said, blocking the elevator with his crutch, completely shameless, “the doctor said I should try ‘dating therapy‘ this week. Supposed to speed up my recovery.”
I was speechless.
He pinned the tip of his crutch right on my toe. “Could you really say not to a disabled guy?”
I was about to roll my eyes when a chorus of coughs erupted behind me.
Three of my female coworkers were exchanging wild glances.
Clare even mouthed at me, “You two! Together?!”
“Mr. Darrow…” I hissed through gritted teeth, yanking him down by the tie. “Stop saying things people will misunderstand!”
Chapter
“Hmm?” He looked at me innocently. “No misunderstanding. I’m literally trying to win you over…
“Kamden!”
That night, the company gossip group exploded.
“Spill! Does Kamden really have those legendary eight–pack abs?”
“Business suit by day, beast by night–girl, you scored big!”
“Kamden looks so lean in clothes, but he’s all muscle underneath. Gracie, you lucky thing!”
“So jealous! But seriously, how many abs does Kamden actually have?”
“@Gracie Stop pretending to be dead and answer us!”
I was about to type back that I’d never seen them when a shadow fell over my desk.
Jaime had appeared out of nowhere, gripping a mug with a broken handle,
It was the birthday present I’d given him last year, still printed with the childish doodle-“Best in the Whole Wide World.”
“Gracie.” His voice was hoarse and raw. “Can you give me a Band–Aid?”
Ceramic shards glittered between his fingers, blood dripping down his palm onto my keyboard.
Celia shrieked, trying to grab his hand, but he shoved her away.
“I don’t have one, Mr. Lyndon.” I slid a tissue across the desk. “I suggest. you go to the hospital.”
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Jaime’s pupils contracted sharply, the ceramic digging deeper into his wound.
He didn’t seem to feel the pain–he just stared at me, unblinking.
“Gracie…” His bloody hand braced on my desk. “You promised me…”
Before he could finish, a commotion broke out at reception.
Kamden strolled in, a bag of tea lattes swinging from his wrist, white shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal a hint of muscle. “Good afternoon, everyone.” He set a strawberry cheesecake down in front of me, smiling. “Brought you some afternoon tea.”
Jaime’s hand started to tremble violently.
Celia rushed over, grabbing at him. “Jaime, let’s go to the hospital!”
“Get off me!”
Kamden suddenly popped the tea latte straw to my lips. “Try it–less
sugar.
He blocked my view. “Don’t look at them. Gracie. Just look at me.”
