Page 23 of Love Me (Charlotte Monarchs Hockey #1)

Bree

“ B ree, you’re needed for an emergency in Tommy Ruckshauser’s room,” Tonya reports as we pass in the hallway.

“What?” My neck and shoulders tighten.

She spins around and touches my arm. “Not a real emergency. I think he has something up his sleeve.”

“Ah, okay.” The tension releases with a breath of relief. “Thanks.”

Tommy Ruckhauser is a twelve-year-old in remission from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma who keeps the entire staff in stitches with random movie quotes and humorous comments that sound a bit inappropriate coming from a kid. I’m not judging—to each their own. I’ve seen all kinds in this line of work.

“Hey, Tommy,” I greet him as I enter the room. UNO cards are scattered on the narrow table that rolls up to his bed, alerting me he had a visitor here playing with him.

“Can you come closer?” Tommy asks, beckoning me with his hand.

Without hesitation, I move to his side. My heart skips in surprise when he immediately takes my hand and holds it between his. My lips slide into a smile.

“Bree,” Tommy begins, “will you make me the?—”

“Not you . Me,” says a scratchy whisper from somewhere in the room.

I recognize that raspy voice. Luke. I glance toward the curtain that separates Tommy’s bed from another patient’s. A pair of shiny black men’s dress shoes sticks out from beneath.

“Me. That’s what I said,” Tommy confirms, throwing a quick glance at the curtain.

“Will you make Luke the happiest man,” Luke prompts from his hiding spot.

My shoulders shake, and I press my lips together to keep from laughing.

Tommy squeezes my hand. “Oh! I get it.” He returns his eyes to me and starts again. “Will you make Luke the happiest man on the planet and go on a date with me. ”

Luke yanks the curtain back and steps out from behind it. One hand is still on the curtain while the other clutches a ridiculously large bouquet of roses. “That was not what we discussed.”

“Looks like your wingman pulled one over on you,” I say, winking at Tommy.

“What?” Tommy says, feigning innocence. “I thought you were trying to help me ask the prettiest nurse in the world out on a date.”

Luke tilts his head and gives him a dry smile. “I knew I should have asked D’Angelo to help instead.”

Tommy turns his head to me. “So what do you say? You want to go out with Lloyd Dobler here or what?”

“How do you know the character from Say Anything ?” Luke asks. “You’re twelve.”

“I have awesome parents,” Tommy answers.

Luke nods in agreement and steps away from the curtain. “What do you say?” he says, echoing Tommy while thrusting the flowers toward me. His eyes veer downward, and he notices that Tommy still has my hand in his. “Hey, Casanova, get your hands off my girl.”

“The roses are beautiful, but an old-school boom box would have made this more authentic,” I say, referencing the famous scene from Say Anything to tease him.

“Well, I can get a boom box if you really want me to, but that was a make-up scene. We haven’t gotten there yet.”

“Technically, you haven’t gotten anywhere yet,” Tommy pipes up. “She hasn’t said yes.”

I lift the bouquet to my nose, smelling the flowers while hiding my laugh.

“Thanks, buddy.” Luke sighs. “So, Bree, will you make me the happiest man on the planet and let me take you out?”

“I’d love to,” I respond, lowering the flowers. “Text me later. I’m going to put these in water,” I say and turn around slowly.

I contemplate having someone hook me up for an ECG. Seeing spikes of excitement would make for an interesting experiment.

As I walk out, I hear a bit of the conversation between the guys.

“Now I feel like it’s a pity date,” Luke says.

“Yeah, you really should have gotten D’Angelo to help. He’s much more suave,” Tommy responds.

Once I’m in the hallway, I jump up and pump both fists in the air. Rose petals and leaves flutter to the floor.

“Don’t kill the flowers, Bree.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, pretending he didn’t see my celebration. I thought Luke would hang out with Tommy for a few more minutes, not follow me out.

“Nice jump, though. You should audition for the Earharts,” he says.

After taking a second to recover my pride, I spin to face him. “What are the airheads?”

Luke chuckles. “The Earharts. The dancing girls at Monarchs games.”

“I’m a traditionalist. I don’t believe in cheerleaders at hockey games.”

“I thought you were from Anaheim.” Luke squints at me as if trying to read me.

“How do you know that?” I ask. I don’t remember telling him where I was from in our brief encounters.

“We’re friends on social media, you know.”

Of course. Good old social media, where you can find out all the information you need without ever having a conversation with someone.

It’s what our generation does. And I’m right there, too.

I’ve scrolled through his Instagram account.

He doesn’t have Twitter, though. Not that I’m a stalker or anything.

Luke continues without waiting for a response. “Hockey traditionalist and Anaheim don’t really mix. You created a generation of kids who think the Flying V could actually work.”

“It might on a power play.” I wink and walk toward the nurse’s station, unfazed by his teasing.

Having a father who won back-to-back NCAA hockey championships in college and a brother who played Juniors in the Western Hockey League, I grew up in the thick of Anaheim hockey culture. I know all the The Mighty Ducks movie jokes people can throw at me.

I also know the Flying V would never work in a real-game scenario. I’ll take that a step further. None of the Hollywood-penned trick plays from that movie trilogy would even be attempted in a real game.

“So you’re a hockey fan?”

Luke follows me, which is slightly unnerving because being around him makes my heart flutter and my stomach flip. His mere presence makes me want to tear off the light-gray, long-sleeved Oxford shirt he’s rocking today and lick his tattoos.

“The sport and I have a love-hate relationship,” I admit, scanning the area for a makeshift vase.

I pick a piece of paper up from the desk as if a vessel large enough to hold roses would be under it.

I’m fumbling around like a nervous teenager who’s just been asked out for the first time in her life.

I’ve seen this man naked on multiple occasions. I’ve sucked his dick. Why is having a conversation with him such an issue right now?

Woman up, Bree!

“It’s good to see you,” I say softly, pushing through the nerves. “I thought you might need to take some time off.”

“I thought about it.” Luke tucks a lock of hair behind his ear.

I have to keep from sighing. The last time I saw him, his luscious locks had been pulled back into a mini ponytail. There’s something wild and sexy about him when it’s loose and free.

His eyes move to the floor, then back up to me. “But I had someone special to come back to.”

My pulse races with his words, but I don’t react since we’re in the hallway and anyone could hear the conversation. I’d rather he not know how much he affects me. I’ve only been here a few weeks. Real feelings don’t happen in a few weeks.

Do they?

“Good. Because Keisha has been asking about you.” I steer the conversation toward one of my patients. “I think she has a crush.”

“Just Keisha?” He tilts his head slightly, and his beautiful unruly waves fall forward again, framing his face.

“Luke Daniels.” Tonya’s loud voice knocks me out of the starry-eyed conversation with Luke. “Don’t you have an UNO game to finish?”

Luke scans me from head to toe. “I do, but I like hanging out with you ladies. You complain so much less than the guys I work with.” His lips slide into an easy smile. “See ya later, Tinkerbell.”

“See ya,” I squeak without looking at him. My cheeks burn. A woman my age shouldn’t get so giddy from hearing a hot guy use a silly nickname.

Tonya stands up and leans closer to me. “I thought you two were just fucking?”

“What?” I ask, glancing at her over my shoulder.

“What happened to just fucking?”

“I don’t know. It got complicated.”

She looks down the hallway to make sure Luke has ducked back into Tommy’s room. “Don’t you fall for that boy,” she hisses, pointing to her temple. “He ain’t right in the head.”

“When I first started here, you said all the kids and parents love him.”

“They do. He’s a wonderful guy, but he has issues.”

“Everyone has issues, T.” I brush her off.

If she only knew the issues I moved here to get away from.

“Yeah, well, his issues run deep,” Tonya says. “Sex? Fine. Relationship? No. I’m warning you for your own good.”

“You should have warned me before the sex. There was no going back once that happened.” I wink to make light of the situation.

“Bree, I like you. You’re a sweet girl. Too sweet to fall into his black hole.” Tonya’s tone is more serious than I’ve ever heard it.

Why wouldn’t she have warned me when we were vibrator shopping? She knew I was planning on using it with Luke. She didn’t have anything to say about his issues then.

In this case, being called sweet seems more like an insult as if she really means naive. I’m not naive. I choose to see the good in people. I became a nurse to help people, not to write them off.

I walk down the hall wondering what Tonya meant by “not right in the head.” Luke has a wonderful rapport with both the kids and their families.

I’ve witnessed it firsthand. He has a great personality and perfect manners.

His issues can’t be that bad or he wouldn’t be allowed to volunteer at a hospital, especially in the pediatric ward.

Besides, I know all about hockey players with deep, black holes inside them. I took this job 2,500 miles away from home to get away from one.