Page 64 of The Quirky Vet

And shit, hello wakeup call!

Here I am, going off in my head like some lovesick teenager, imagining all sorts of…scenarios…when the only thing Fitz is interested in is getting a good night's rest. He'll be just as tired from the day as I am, plus he's still obviously processing all the Erin stuff.

I need to get a grip.

So I lean over and turn off the light on my side of the bed. "Goodnight," I say, getting comfortable, facing away from him.

A few seconds pass.

"Yeah, goodnight."

Fitz switches his bedside light off, and darkness settles over the room. But it's not totally dark since the curtains aren't blockouts. And it's not totally quiet, either, as the hum from the city five floors below drifts into our room.

I can't fall asleep.

The bed's uneven. The pillow is too soft. The sheet is thin and scratchy. I try not to move around too much since I don't want to disturb Fitz, but despite being exhausted from the long day, I just can't seem to get comfortable.

"Can't sleep?" Fitz asks.

"No," I answer. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you." I feel his fingers slide over the material of my boxers and then… "Ow. Did you just pinch my arse?"

"Yes. And from now on, I'm pinching you every time you say sorry when you don't have to. I couldn't sleep anyway."

"Why not?"

"Dunno." The mattress moves as I assume he rolls onto his back. "I'm tired as fuck."

He flicks the light back on, and I turn around to face him. He's sitting against the headboard, the bedsheet pooling at his waist, his chest and washboard abs on full display.

My eyes drift up to his face, and when I notice he's frowning and deep in thought, I stop ogling and fall right back into best friend mode. I sit up next to him.

"You've been a little off since getting back from seeing Erin," I say, broaching the one subject we've avoided all night.

"Yeah." He plays with a loose thread on the bedsheet. "I have been."

"Did it not go well?"

He sighs. "Actually, it went fine. I asked her how she was doing, and she said she was glad to be back in Brisbane. She gaveme back my stuff. We wished each other well. It was all very…cordial."

"Were you hoping for something more?"

"No. I…"

"What?" I whisper, my heart thumping so hard I'm convinced he can hear it.

"I… All I could think about was you."

"Me?"

"Yeah. I saw how you were in the car when I brought it up, and I didn't like the thought of you pacing up and down, waiting for me to return."

"I was not pacing up and down," I say. "It was more of a rectangle designed to avoid the mirror. May have involved an accidental toe stubbing on the bed."

He looks over at me, his butterscotch eyes probing mine. "Really?"

I shrug as the feeling of stupidity creeps in. "Yeah."

"Why?"