Page 28 of As They Are (Strawberry Springs #2)

WREN

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Madison Heines: Hello. I’ve joined the group to post a friendly reminder to NOT shoot the drones. They’re only trying to get shots of the library. We’ve lost three now.

Henrietta Brown: @Marjorie Brown

Marjorie Brown: Wasn’t me! I’d use the bat.

Hu Gh: I HAVE A RIGHT TO DEFEND MY LAND AND MY SKIES AGAINST INVADERS!

Jade Clark: Whoa, calm down there. You know it’s just a machine, right? To take pictures?

Hu Gh: I did NOT consent to Facebook using my pictures!

Jade Clark: It’s not for Facebook!!! Can’t you read???

“This is a terrible idea,” Mollie said. “Literally one of the worst you’ve ever had.”

It had been three days since my sprain. I’d been sitting dutifully in bed, icing it the best I could.

But I was losing my mind.

And so was Madison. We were losing valuable time, and she demanded that I come back to filming. I was so bored that even being in front of a camera sounded fun.

“I have stuff to do,” I said. “I won’t work, just do interviews and come back.”

“Henry said to rest for at least a week.”

“It’s not even my driving ankle,” I said. “Seriously, it’s fine.”

I hoisted myself up on my good foot and gently tested the waters on the injured one. It was sore, but not the worst I’d ever had.

Henry didn’t need to know this, but I’d twisted this ankle many times. Sure, it wasn’t from falling off a ladder, but this wasn’t the first time I’d walked on a bad joint.

“You’re a nightmare patient.” Mollie shook her head.

“Like you wouldn’t do the same.”

She blew out a breath. “You don’t have to call me out like that, you know.”

I slowly made my way toward the front door. “I’m your best friend. I definitely do.”

“You’re really going for it, huh?”

“I need to get out of these four walls.”

“Fine, but I’m helping you down the stairs.”

“Won’t Cain be mad, considering he thinks you’re so fragile right now?”

She shrugged. “We both do things our boyfriends don’t like. Whoops.”

I was tempted to correct her, but the words got caught in my throat. It was nice, even if only for a second, to pretend that this was real.

My crush was getting worse. And I had no idea how to get a handle on it.

“All right, the coast is clear,” Mollie said as we got to the bottom of the stairs. “No one caught us.”

“And hopefully no one will. I’ll be back early today. Unless I go try to find hardware.”

“Then I’ll kill you. You still don’t need to be doing your full workload.”

I rolled my eyes, but she was right. “Thanks, Mollie. I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Have fun getting yelled at if Henry catches you!”

I waved her off. Henry didn’t expect me to be there. I highly doubted he would even notice me.

Slowly, I got in my truck, cursing how high it was, and drove to the square. I parked right in front of the set, letting a PA pull my truck around to a better spot, and hobbled over to where we would do interviews.

“I’m here,” I told Madison. “What do you want me to do?”

“Finally.” She folded her arms across her chest. “The contractors have loads of questions for you.”

“They could’ve called me.”

“They would have if your little boyfriend hadn’t told them not to. I swear, two injuries and he’s acting like you almost died!”

She walked off in a huff, and I realized I had a line of people wanting to talk to me.

I kept my weight on my good foot and listened to all of them.

We were at an important part of the renovation, and my injury couldn’t have come at a worse time, so I tried to be as patient as possible, even as I grew tired.

“All right, enough questions.” Jude walked over and then stopped in front of me. “We have interviews to do.”

“I need to sit down,” I informed him. “Give me ten minutes.”

“The faster we do this, the faster you’re done for the day.”

“Jude, seriously. Stop pushing me. Didn’t you learn when I fell off a fucking ladder?”

He frowned. “I said I was sorry for that.”

“Was that as I was falling to the earth? Because I didn’t hear it.”

“Just—”

“No, Jude, my ankle fucking hurts and I need to sit for a bit! What’s gonna make you listen to me?”

“Maybe a doctor telling him to,” another voice piped in. “Because I specifically said she needed rest, and I’m sure you don’t want me to report you to OSHA for endangering her again .”

Every hair on my arm stood. That was Henry . And he was using his hot doctor voice.

I slowly turned. “H-hey, Henry.”

His chest puffed as he glared at Jude. He only spared me a glance. “We’ll be talking about you later.”

I probably should have been worried. That would be a normal reaction in the face of anger, but there was something about Henry that was so hot to me at that moment.

Maybe there was something wrong with me.

I wasn’t trying to do it on purpose, but every time he did this, I thought about it for days after.

“Fine.” Jude threw his hands up. “I guess I’ll just keep waiting and doing nothing! God, this is all so boring !”

Once Jude was gone, Henry was on me. “Wren. Sit. Now. ”

I did what I was told, even though my thighs clenched at the order.

“In my defense, I was bored.” I said it the second I sat.

“So that’s a good excuse to work when I specifically told you not to?”

“I was only planning on doing an interview, not any real work. I couldn’t help that every contractor had a question for me, which kept me here for way longer than I intended.”

He blew out a breath and knelt, not giving me an answer. My mind went blank when he gently took off my shoe.

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure you don’t get sore.”

Holy shit. He was rubbing my ankle while pissed at me? My body was warm already from the hot day, but this was taking it to new levels.

“Why are you doing all of this?”

He didn’t look up as he answered, his fingers trailing my sore ankle. “If there’s anything I learned about you falling off that ladder, it’s that I can’t bear to let anything happen to you.”

“Nothing is happening to me. I’m just in a little bit of pain.”

Now he looked at me. “That’s included in what I said.”

I could get lost in his eyes, but then I remembered where we were. The cameras were rolling. This had to be for them.

“I’m trying to rest. I’m just not the kind of person to do nothing all day.”

“Then sit. Do your interviews on a chair. If they give you a hard time, send them to me.”

“O-okay.” My brain was fuzzy. His hands and words were too much.

He spent a few minutes focusing on my ankle, and for the entire time, I was unable to think straight, much less talk to him.

Afterward, he told Madison to do my interviews with Jude from the park bench. She tried to argue, but he didn’t let her.

Once all of it was set up, he turned to me. “Can I trust you to take care of yourself?”

“I’ll try my best.”

“Okay.” He pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I’ll see you later, buttercup.”

And he was gone. I watched him until he disappeared into the clinic, noticing that he didn’t stop to take off the mic pack. In fact, I wasn’t sure he had even been wearing one in the first place.

Which meant I wasn’t sure if all of that was for the cameras at all.

Almost two weeks later, I walked into Henry’s clinic to get my stitches removed.

I’d done my best to take it easy, but he had also made sure I was listening.

I did have a lot to do when it came to the show, especially when I was taking more time off right after the injury, and Madison wanted the all clear to put me back on my usual work.

The door jingled to announce my presence, and Henry poked his head around the corner. “Wren?”

“Hey,” I said. “Have time for a walk-in? It’s been two weeks.”

“I do,” he replied. “Come on back.”

“No waiting time? Perks of dating the doctor, I guess.”

“More like perks of a small-town doctor.”

I laughed and followed him. At least he didn’t correct me on the dating thing.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“About the same as this morning. My ankle is mostly fine. The stitches seem fine.”

He hummed and took off the gauze. “You’re healing really nicely.”

“I aim to please.” That might have been a lie. It had been over a week since he’d gotten bossy with me, and I was already missing it. I was torn between following orders and pushing him to get more.

Henry was focused on my arm, and I had to resist the urge to sigh in disappointment. Ever since he’d said he couldn’t bear to see me hurt—for me and me only—I’d been hoping to see any sign that he was into me in any other way.

But he’d been the picture-perfect fake boyfriend. As always. He stopped when the cameras were off. He walked away at the end of the night.

Except for when I asked him to stay the day I’d fell.

Henry finished taking the stitches out and turned to wash up. “You should be fine for some stuff, but take it easy.”

“Does this mean I could make sure the clinic is in good shape?” I asked. “I can do small repairs too, you know.”

“No.” There it was. The voice. I ignored the thrill that shot down to my toes.

“I have to do something for you in return. And it would be a start.”

“It’s not the priority.”

“My priority is helping you out while you’re helping me out.” I moved to hop off the table, but his hand appeared on my midsection.

“Did you miss the part where I said to take it easy?”

“I can check things out and take it easy.”

I moved again, but his hand was firmer.

“Why are you so worried about helping me?” he asked lowly.

“Because you literally saved my ass and asked for nothing in return. If you don’t give me something to do, I’ll find it.”

I met his eyes, even as they narrowed. I was used to pushing people, but this gave me a thrill in my chest. Henry had this vibe around him. A side that he hid from me. I wanted to see what it was.

His hand moved from my midsection to my hip. “I don’t need anything in return.”

“Let me decide that.”

“No.” He let out a sigh. “Why do you insist on pushing me?”

Because it made him like this . “I don’t take handouts.”

“Take this one.”

He was close. So close. This wasn’t how friends acted.