Page 31 of Wrecked
“My money's on the first thing,” he says, grinning like a goof.
“Alright, I'm headed out now. I'll see you later tomorrow. Take care, Walter.”
With a smile molding my cheeks, I walk toward the elevator after finishing up. My stomach grumbles and it's only now that I realize just how hungry I am. While waiting for the elevator to arrive, my phone vibrates in my pocket.
Tanisha: Sometimes I feel like this kid is sucking the life outta me.
Another text comes through. This time it's the back of baby Travis's head while he's breastfeeding.
Me: That is why they call it 'Life Juice'.
Tanisha: I think you're the only one that calls it that.
“Hey,” a voice from beside me says, interrupting my quiet giggle.
I look up to meet the eyes of a guy I've seen around here, maybe twice before. “Hi.”
“You're Jasmine, right?”
Without meaning to, I scan over his face and do a once-over of his body. He's just a little taller than me. What looks to be a well-built chest is hidden under his scrubs, like he spends a lot of time at the gym working his upper body. And a boy-next-door face is topped with brown curls that cover his head. Bright blue eyes glitter back at me.
“Yeah, that's me.”
“I just started here a month ago. Trying to meet everyone. The name's Ash.”
“Oh, sure, hi,” I greet, slipping my phone back into my pocket and extending my hand. No one else has gone out of their way to introduce themselves to me, so I wasn't expecting it. “It's nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” He grins in return, revealing dimples in each cheek, and takes my hand for a quick shake. He's kind of adorable looking. “I heard you started a few months ago. I've found it a little hard to break through the friend barrier here so far.”
“Ah, yes, Iknow how that feels,” I reply, nodding in understanding.
He gives another small smile. “I had a feeling it wasn't just me.”
“No, it's not you. So, are you from the city, or did you move here when you started?”
He crosses his arms and leans his shoulder against the wall by the elevator. “I lived in Freeport up until five weeks ago. My girlfriend still lives there. Actually, I guess she's my ex at the moment . . . but we'll see what happens with that.” Scratching his cheek, he shakes his head as if he doesn't know why he added that bit of information. “Anyway, yeah. Just moved to the city.”
His friendly nature and the fact that he's also from further north has me feeling a comfort I haven't felt in a while. It's like when you're on holiday in a foreign country, and you find someone who speaks the same language as you. “I moved here from Portland a few months ago. I'm still learning the city, but if you have any questions, I'd be happy to help if I can.”
“Thanks, that's really nice of you.” The elevator doors open in front of me, and he pushes off the wall. “Well, I'll let you go. Maybe we could grab lunch or a coffee sometime?”
The thought of actually having someone here to talk to has me jumping at the chance to accept his offer. “Yeah, that would be great.”
He takes a step back. “Great. Okay. I'll see you around then.” His hand lifts in a half wave before he spins around and continues down the corridor.
Knowing that I have a friend here now has me breathing out a happy sigh as I step into the waiting elevator, and I can't help the smile it brings with it. It's not terrible here, and I love my job and patients, but knowing I'll have an ally, a friendly face, it feels good.
But as I step out onto the main floor with my stomach grumbling, the thoughts of the light and open conversation with Ash are slowly replaced by thoughts of the intense and closed-off Cam. Ash is friendly, handsome, and happy to divulge all sorts of information about himself when asked, yet I wasn't attracted to him in the slightest. On the other hand, Cam divulges next to nothing and doesn't have the same light and breezy way about him, but I'm still inexplicably pulled to him.
My thoughts continue as I head toward my car, but somewhere along the drive to his place, hunger pains start hitting me fiercely, and I can feel myself losing steam and getting grumpy.
My phone rings just as I'm opening the door to Cam's apartment building, so I pull it out to answer after an annoyed groan.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” Graham replies cheerfully. “How's it going?”
“Fine, you?” I can hear the faint sounds of a TV in the background, and I wonder whether he's at his place or Mariana's. They've only been dating for about eight months, but they sometimes act like it's been eight years with the way they sit at home watching TV together most nights.
