Page 21 of Rounds (Love In Scrubs)

“ I ’m going to need to be off Sunday.”

The lead ER physician looked at me with lifted eyebrows. “Is your dad okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. Why?”

“You never take off.”

I smiled slightly. “That was because I didn’t have anyone in my life that I needed to make time for. I’ll probably start working only as needed on the weekends soon.”

“Damn, man. Okay. I’m speechless.”

I chuckled as I saluted Dr. Janson. I had been at the hospital for the past couple of hours, making rounds and decided to go ahead and let them know I wouldn’t be here Sunday.

Delaney asked me to go to her mother’s house for Sunday dinner, and I wouldn’t dare turn down an opportunity to meet anyone in her family.

She didn’t talk about them much, so it caught me by surprise that she even brought it up.

The past few days with her had been amazing.

It was tough going to work the day after she moved in, since she didn’t typically work weekends.

I wanted to stay home too. I called her nearly every hour to see if she was okay.

I didn’t know what kind of nigga I had become, because I didn’t recognize my own pathetic ass.

Delaney had me whipped. All she had to do was stare at me too long, and I would do whatever she asked me to do.

It was like I could see her admiration of me through her gaze.

I knew she could see the same through mine.

I could tell she was getting more relaxed in us with each passing day.

We hadn’t gone anywhere in public together yet, but I couldn’t wait to flaunt her beautiful ass for everyone to see.

People thought they knew what I was about based on the things they heard or saw, but Delaney was getting the real Glover Israel.

The true Glover was raised with values and taught how to treat his woman.

I knew how to be tender, compassionate, and understanding.

I knew how to cherish a woman and make her feel safe and protected.

It was my job to see after her just as she saw after me.

For the past few days, there was a meal waiting for me when I got home, since she usually made it there before me.

I couldn’t wait to get home to see what she’d cooked today.

I would be going straight home from here since I visited with my dad on my lunch break.

He was sure to remind me of our bet, even though it had only been about six days since we made it.

He made me promise to bring Delaney by soon.

After Sunday dinner would be the perfect time to take her to see him.

He seemed extremely excited when I told him.

After that, he started calling her his daughter-in-law.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and shake my head at him.

He was moving faster than I was. I told him to pump his breaks, and he laughed like I’d said something funny.

When I made my way to my SUV, I called Delaney.

I found myself always checking in with her as well, letting her know where I was going at all times.

I knew she had trust issues, and I didn’t ever want her to have questions about my whereabouts.

Her phone went to voicemail, and I thought that was strange.

After getting in my vehicle, I was about to call her back, but she called me before I could do so.

“Hey, baby. You good?”

“Hey. Sorry I missed your call.”

I frowned slightly. She sounded pissed. “You okay?”

“No. I just cussed that fuck nigga out. He called me from a number I didn’t know. I don’t even know why I answered that shit.”

“What did he want?”

“Begging me to take him back. That ship sailed before I left.”

“Okay. I’m sorry you’re angry. I’ll have to remedy that when I get home.”

“Glover, I forgot to take meat out of the freezer this morning. There’s nothing for me to cook. Shit!”

“Don’t stress about it. Maybe we can go out to get dinner. You wanna do that?”

“Yeah. We can do that.”

“Okay. Well, I’m on my way home. Be thinking about where you want to go eat at.”

“Okay. Thank you, Glover.”

“You don’t have to thank me, baby. See you in a little bit.”

“Okay.”

I ended the call, thinking about where we could go to eat.

I knew she liked a variety of foods, from pasta to a good steak and everything in between.

I would let her decide, because I wasn’t a picky eater either.

She may be in the mood for something in particular.

I would have literally been fine with cereal and milk just to get my fill of her.

We hadn’t had sex since last week. I knew she said for me to be myself, but I didn’t want her to feel like I was pressuring her.

If she needed time, I didn’t mind giving her just that.

I knew there was no way in hell she would be living with me had she not been in a bind.

Eventually, she would come around, and I would do my best to be patient with her healing process.

Heartbreak was a beast to endure . . . or so I’d heard.

I’d had girlfriends in the past, but I couldn’t say that I was heartbroken when things didn’t work out.

It made me wonder if I had ever even been in love.

When I turned in the driveway, I could see her moving around in the kitchen.

She looked pissed. I frowned as I got out of my SUV and headed inside.

She opened the door before I could get to it with a smile on her face.

She was forcing it. Something had her pissed, besides the phone call she received earlier from her ex.

I hated that he was putting her through so much.

He had better hope that I didn’t have to meet him.

I would tell him exactly what I thought of his pathetic ass.

“Hey, baby. What’s up?” I asked.

“Hey, Glover. How was your day?”

“It was cool. How was yours?”

“It was good.”

She tried to walk away, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to me, laying my lips on hers. Once I separated from her, she said, “I’m sorry I didn’t greet you properly.”

“Mm-hmm. Now be honest with me. You good?”

She huffed. “I’m just tired of this nigga trying to get at me. I had to block his damn email address. It’s like, no matter how many times I say I’m done, he thinks I’m just talking out the side of my neck.”

“I’m sorry. Is there something I can do?”

“No. You don’t need to be involved in that bullshit. I got it.”

“Why don’t I need to be involved? Whatever concerns you, concerns me. If I need to put the fear of God in that nigga, I don’t have the slightest problem with that.”

“Thanks, Glover, but I can handle him.”

“Okay. Let me go change. Where are we going, beautiful?”

She blushed slightly. She did that every time I called her beautiful, like she didn’t know that for herself. I knew she did, but maybe she just wasn’t used to hearing it. “Are you okay with Chinese food? I really feel like having an egg roll.”

“Yeah, I’m cool with that. Which spot?”

“Happy Buddha.”

“Cool.”

When I walked off, I noticed she was right behind me.

I glanced at her as I continued to my bedroom.

She was no longer wearing her scrubs, so I had to assume that was what she was wearing to dinner.

As I entered my room, I fully expected her to keep going to the master suite, but she didn’t.

She followed me inside and sat on the bed.

“Delaney, what’s up? Why you came in here?”

“I like to see you get undressed.”

My eyebrows lifted. “Girl, you can see that shit every day. That might be dangerous, telling me some shit like that. Every time I’m in your space, I’m gon’ be taking my clothes off.”

She fell out laughing, and I couldn’t help but chuckle too.

Shiiiid, I was serious as hell though. I bit my bottom lip and went to her, sliding in bed next to her.

She rolled over to face me and kissed my lips.

She gently stroked my cheek, and said, “You are so perfect, Glover. You’re so much more than you’re rumored to be. ”

I frowned slightly. She didn’t have to tell me. I knew I was rumored to be a jackass and a whore. However, I wanted to believe that she believed that shit at one time. “You believe everything you hear?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “No, but I’ve seen you chew a nurse out for something and heard a few stories that resembled what I saw for myself. I’ve also seen you flirt, so that wasn’t hard to believe.”

I nodded repeatedly. “I see. Well, I’m glad you gave me a chance despite what you heard about me.”

“You showed me something different, even that Saturday night at the hotel. I was wanting to be with you on some get back shit. I just wanted to fuck, but I got so much more.”

I smiled at her, then kissed her lips. “I’m gonna get up and get dressed before we not go anywhere.”

She giggled. “I’ll leave you to it. I’ll watch you get undressed when we get back.”

When she winked at me, my dick stood at attention. I knew by that wink that I would be watching her undress as well, and I couldn’t wait.

The host led us to a table and once Delaney sat, I said, “I need to use the restroom. Could you order me some water and beef and broccoli if the waiter comes before I come back?”

“Of course, baby.”

I smiled and kissed her lips, then headed to the restroom.

I didn’t know why I didn’t go before we left.

Well, I knew exactly why. I didn’t typically like eating dinner after seven, if I could help it.

So I was in a hurry and didn’t bother to piss.

However, I also hated using public restrooms. I supposed my need to get here at a reasonable time outweighed my disgust about using public restrooms.