Page 23 of Saving Love (Pulse Medical #2)

BETTE

“ I can’t believe I’ve never done this,” Bette said, hopping onto the scooter and fumbling slightly with the throttle.

She’d been living there for a few months, and somehow hadn’t gotten around to doing something as simple as renting an electric scooter.

It felt too touristy, like something out-of-towners did while checking off their to-do list.

Emily thought differently.

The whole thing had been her idea. She’d insisted they enjoyed their Saturday morning outdoors.

Frankly, Bette couldn’t disagree more. She was more than happy to lie in bed, naked, holding Emily in her arms, summer sheets loose around their bodies, while they binged watched Friends and ate the leftover pizza from last night.

Not that Bette was hating the whole thing.

She clicked the throttle and finally started rolling forward, a nervous laugh slipping out when she wobbled for a second before getting her balance.

The breeze felt good against her face. The morning sun was hot but not unbearable, the sky above her head was that perfect endless blue, and the air smelled salty and fresh like the ocean.

But none of that compared to the feeling of watching Emily cruise ahead of her.

The surgeon looked completely at ease as if the scooter was just an extension and she was in her element.

Bette couldn’t help admiring her—that loose white tank top barely skimming the waistband of her denim shorts; her long, toned legs that made Bette lose her breath completely when Emily wrapped them around her; and her auburn hair, which was hanging a little longer behind her back now compared to the first time they’d met.

Fuck, she’s beautiful , Bette thought, biting at her lip to keep her smiling like an idiot.

But what was wrong with that? Why couldn’t she just let herself smile more, let it stretch across her face?

Why was she still reeling herself in? She’d spent so many weeks, months keeping herself in check, keeping up her walls. But now there was no need.

Three weeks had passed since Bette had confessed her feelings for Emily.

Three weeks of whatever it was that was going on between them.

And honestly, the last three weeks had been perfect.

Early mornings were spent together at the hospital cafeteria drinking coffee.

Quick sneaky kisses in the surgical ward’s storage room.

Then there were the dinners after work, the sleepovers, the early morning walks on the beach.

Tiny, wonderful moments that built up into something more.

Bette sped up the scooter a little, trying to catch up, but the wind in her face made her feel like she was flying, and frankly, it was a little terrifying. One wrong turn of the handle, and she could be flung through the air, crashing to the ground in a broken-boned heap.

But wasn’t that exactly what she was doing with Emily? Soaring through the unknown, hoping her wings would hold, that they wouldn’t betray her and send her plummeting.

“You should get yourself one of these!” Emily shouted, glancing back over her shoulder, not paying attention to the road, which only made Bette squirm and her heart beat faster.

“Not if I want to keep my bones intact,” Bette yelled back, thankful for the helmet secured on her head and the knee and elbow pads she’d opted for when they first rented the scooters.

Emily slowed down just enough to let Bette catch up. “If I lived out here, this would definitely be my way of getting around. Can you imagine how quickly it would take to get to Oakridge?”

“Why don’t you move?” Bette asked, keeping a firm grip on the handlebars.

The question was by no means an invitation to move in with her—hell no—but rather a suggestion that Emily find a place nearby.

It would make staying over at each other’s place way easier.

Not that Emily’s apartment was that far away.

It was just that her roommate, Tessa, whom Bette had met last week, was always there.

And while hushed, roommate-friendly sex had its thrills, it wasn’t exactly ideal.

“Near yours?” Emily asked, frowning while she kept her eyes on the path. “I never thought about it. But if I did move, what’s going to happen to Tessa? She’s like a puppy—I can’t leave her alone too long or she might starve to death.”

Bette laughed and then a thought popped into her head; Tessa renting out the cottage from Jamie.

Emily and Bette find somewhere bigger to move in together.

But it was completely, and utterly ridiculous.

Not to mention, way too soon. They hadn’t even put a label on whatever was going on between them.

Besides the slower, the better. Bette didn’t want to rush into things.

For now, she just wanted to see where things went.

“You’re right,” Bette said quickly, shaking that thought away. “You’ll have to find a place with a separate space for Tessa. She’s your life-long burden.”

Emily laughed and took the corner with ease.

Bette, on the other hand, wobbled. She was dangerously close to swerving into a trash can and tightened her grip on the handlebars as she straightened herself out.

As much as she loved the way the wind tousled her short hair, she also longed for solid ground.

“Should we stop at Centennial Park?” Bette called, her voice carrying over the hum of the scooters. “Have a picnic.”

“Are you asking because you’re hungry or because you want to stop riding before you crash into something?”

“Can it be both?” Bette said deadpan, which drew a laugh from Emily. A sound she’d come to savor far too much over the last three weeks.

Minutes later, they pulled into the grassy stretch of Centennial Park and tucked their scooters beside one of the few shady spots.

Bette unclipped her helmet and shook out her hair, very aware that Emily was watching her, biting her lip as if she wanted to devour her, which was something Bette wouldn’t mind. Not at all.

“See something you like?” Bette asked, slipping the backpack off her shoulders. She had packed a picnic blanket, grapes, crackers, and some soft cheese. Nothing fancy.

Emily winked. “You have no idea.” She stepped forward, taking one end of the picnic blanket Bette had just pulled out and helped her shake it open. “If we weren’t so far from your place, I’d say let’s go back for a quick… you know.”

And Bette did know. She knew exactly what Emily meant and she hated that she couldn’t just slip under the covers, settle between Emily’s thighs, and fuck her with her tongue.

Bette snorted out a laugh. “You know, if we’d just stayed in bed this morning, that wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Well, I didn’t think you’d look so hot on a scooter,” Emily replied.

“You mean a hot mess?” Bette asked, sitting down on the blanket when every part of her wanted to get right back on that scooter and sprint off to her cottage.

But there was a time and place for everything.

“You’re the opposite of a hot mess,” Emily said, joining her, sitting so close her knee brushed the side of Bette’s thigh. “Which is one of the reasons I actually fell in love with you.”

Bette froze. Her hand stopped midway to the container of grapes, her entire body stiffened as though someone had just yelled, “ Freeze! ” Slowly, as if terrified the moment might shatter into a thousand incomprehensible pieces, Bette turned to Emily and muttered, “You…what?”

Emily, on the other hand, looked equally as stunned. Her eyes widened, and her face turned about three different shades of red in the span of two seconds. Her lips parted but no sound came out. She only stared at Bette with a sort of deer-in-headlights kind of panic.

“Did you just—?” Bette started but she was cut off.

“No,” Emily muttered, shaking her head. Her hands flew up, palms out as if she was warding off an attack.

“I mean—No, that’s not what I meant.” She groaned, dragging both hands down her face before letting them fall into her lap.

“Can we just pretend I didn’t just say that?

Forget it completely. Let’s… Let’s enjoy the picnic.

” She grabbed a cracker and bit into it with more force than necessary.

But there was no forgetting that comment, no skimming past Emily’s confession. Just like there was no denying the fact that Bette had already thought about falling in love with Emily, not just once, or twice, but more times than she cared to admit.

“You said you loved me,” Bette mumbled, not sure what else to say.

“No,” Emily said quickly, pointing a half-eaten cracker at her. “I said I fell in love with you. That’s a completely different thing. I’ve fallen in love with a lot of things. Cheesecake. I’m always falling in love with cheesecake.”

“That’s not the same thing.”

Emily groaned again, this time shutting her eyes. For a few long seconds, Bette just watched her, wondering if she should tease her out of the mess or let her squirm. The latter sounded the most appealing.

Emily peeked one eye open, her mouth pressing into a tight line. “Will you just lie,” she said sighing. “Just tell me you fell in love with me too so this whole thing can be less awkward. You can ghost me tomorrow. I’ll completely understand.”

Bette moved closer, so close that she was basically on top of her.

“I’m not going to ghost you, Emily. Just like I’m not going to admit that I fell in love with you.

Rather,” she added, feeling nervous all of a sudden, so much so that she wasn’t sure if the sweat at the back of her neck was from the heat or the fact that she was going to open up her heart like it was a delicate gift.

“I’m going to tell you that I love yo?—”

Before the words had fully left her mouth, Emily’s lips were on hers, fingers threading into Bette’s hair, drawing her even closer. She could taste the saltiness of the cracker, or maybe it was something else. Wait. Were there tears falling down Emily’s cheeks?

When the surgeon finally pulled back, her voice breathless and warm, she rested her forehead against Bette’s. “I love you too, Bette Bridge.”