Page 15 of Bruise Me Tenderly
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I know Judson will be there when I get off my shift later, but I can’t help being a little nervous as I watch his Jeep drive away. I don’t like the idea of being dependent on someone for a ride, but I’d wanted to spend more time with Judson. And I’m looking forward to seeing him after my shift. I just have to keep that in mind.
Most of my day passes in a blur of the usual summer related injuries. Kids with sprained wrists after a fall during skateboarding and guys overheating while mowing their lawns. I pass out a lot of ice packs and waters. I don’t mind the rush because it helps keep me focused. When I first started school, I liked that it kept my mind occupied with something other than Ian and the fact that Judson was gone. Now I’m thankful that the busyness of today is keeping me from overthinking what I did yesterday with Judson.
I’d expected to be a little afraid when I was finally with someone again, but since that person was Judson, it wasn’t as scary. I’d felt so safe with him.
“You seem happy today.” Paul’s voice cuts through my thoughts, and I turn around from where I’m staring at the microwave, waiting for my Ramen noodles to heat up. I’m not as hungry right now as I usually am at this time of day because Judson made a huge breakfast, and it was delicious. But when it’s time for my break, I have to take it. I don’t know if I’ll get another one.
“So?” Paul asks, opening the refrigerator and pulling a salad from its depths. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
“Oh, um…it’s not like that.”
“Right. Like I don’t know that look.” He tears open a plastic fork and moves to one of the round tables in our small lounge.
The microwave beeps, but I don’t move to take the noodles out yet. I’m not really sure what to say to Paul. I like him a lot, and he’s one of the only people here who doesn’t know about everything that happened with Ian. He only transferred here a year ago.
I’ve just never had someone to actually talk about. I was a virgin when Ian took us; the only person I’ve been with, not counting him, is Judson. What would I even say to Paul about him?
“Playing it close to the vest?” Paul asks, cramming a bite of salad into his mouth. “I respect that.”
“It was just a hookup,” I say, even though it felt a lot bigger than that. “And it was that guy who almost passed out in the hallway the other day.”
Paul glances up at me. “Really? No offense, but I never took you for a guy who had random hookups.”
“I’m not really.” I grab my meal from the microwave and move to sit across from Paul. “He’s actually an old friend of mine. We knew each other as kids.”
“He move back into town?”
“No, his sister’s having a baby. He’s not going to stay too long.” The thought of him leaving again already bothers me more than I should let it.
“Is he the reason you don’t date?” Paul asks.
I take a bite of my noodles to stall for a minute. I hadn’t realized Paul noticed that. We’re all on busy schedules, but most of the others I know here, like the girls, still find time to date.
“He’s part of the reason,” I say after swallowing. “But he didn’t do anything wrong. It was just…complicated.”
Even that doesn’t feel like the most adequate way to describe our relationship, but it’s the best answer I can give Paul without going into all of the details. There’s nothing I could say that would encompass everything we went through together.
“Well,” Paul says, pulling me back to the present. “You look really happy. And that’s nice to see. Especially in a job like this.”
He turns his attention to a text on his phone, and I let the silence settle between us. For the first time since I started working here, I can’t wait until the end of my shift. Because at the end of my shift, I’ll get to see Judson again. I don’t know how long he’ll stay in town for after McKenzie has her baby, but it already feels like it won’t be long enough.
Nine
Judson
When River steps out of the hospital a little after five, I’m not surprised at the anxiety on his face in the few seconds before he spots my Jeep in the parking lot. I’ve been waiting over twenty minutes because there was no way in hell I was going to be late. It probably seems like a really small thing to most people, but after I left him for six years, he has no reason to trust me.
“Hey.” River gives me a bright smile when he climbs into the passenger side of my Jeep. “Thanks for picking me up.”
“Of course.” I put the car in reverse and start backing out of the parking space. “How was work?”
“Busy,” he replies. “Summer has a lot of injuries, but it’s better than flu season.”
“I can’t believe you chose to work in a field where you’re surrounded by sick people. Remember how you didn’t want to go to school in December in grade school because you didn’t want to catch that bug that was going around?”
His cheeks redden. “For the record, my neighbor said Santa wouldn’t visit my house if I was sick.”