I could feel her gaze on me. “You haven’t even googled this guy?”
“I didn’t have to Google him. I know him.”
I heard her typing on the keyboard on her phone. “What did you say his name was?”
“Jody Banks.”
“Joey?”
“No. J-O-D-Y,” I spelled it out for her.
She giggled. “Good name,” she said. “Badass.”
“Fuck you,” I said, biting my lower lip. “You should see his arms. They are badass.”
“Badass?” she said.
“You know,” I replied. “Sculpted. Gorgeous. And he has this tattoo and—”
“Is this him?” she asked, flashing her phone in front of me. “The hunk wearing that hoodie?”
“I wouldn’t call him a hunk.”
“What would you call him, then?”
I bit my lower lip. “Yeah,” I said. “That’s him.”
“And he asked you out.”
“Sort of,” I said.
“And you said yes?”
“No,” I said. “I said we could be friends and that was that. I didn’t know if we could be anything else.”
She thought for a second. “Because you don’t want to be,” she said. “Even though he’s hotter than the sun.”
“He’s still my ex-boyfriend,” I replied. “Things are complicated.”
“Things are only as complicated as you make them,” she replied. “And I have a feeling you are making this as complicated as you can.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Right,” she said. “You know what actually isn’t fair? That you have this guy after you, and he seems really nice, and really hot, and a little rough around the edges, but you’re not giving him a chance.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why should I give him a chance? You know what he did.”
She nodded. “Yes, but he apologized. Imagine if the people who knew you thought you were the same as what you were like in school.”
I laughed, pushing her away playfully. “That was uncalled for.”
“I’m just the only one in your life willing to speak sense to you.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Whatever the case is, it’s not going to happen,” I replied. “I probably won’t see him again, unless he lands in the hospital once more, and we can only hope that doesn’t happen.”
“Wait, he didn’t even get your phone number?”
I shook my head. “No, but how do you know that?”
She shrugged her shoulders that time, looking away from me. “I’m psychic. No, seriously, I just think… I just think it’s a bit of a shame. He seems like a great opportunity.”
I scoffed. “He’s not an opportunity. He is a person.”
“Great. A person you like.”
I bit on my lower lip. “I’m going to go get some coffee.”
“I can tell that this means you like him,” she said, as I walked away from her. I resisted the urge to flip her off as I made my way downstairs toward the cafeteria. I could have gotten coffee from one of the vending machines near one of the many waiting areas around me, but I didn’t like machine-made cappuccino, and I could afford the luxury of having a real cappuccino every day. There was also the fact that I wanted to get away from my best friend, because I didn’t want to keep discussing this.
I didn’t want to keep discussing him at all. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t have thought of him at all. I needed to stop thinking about him. I needed to focus on more important things, like work. Or like coffee.
I only managed to think about it for a few seconds as I descended the stairs and walked towards the cafeteria. My breath practically caught in my throat as I saw him, recognizable in his leather jacket, even from behind.
I told myself to just go upstairs. I didn’t want to run into him. The only reason I had left Cam’s side was so I wouldn’t have to think about him anymore, but of course, there he was. The universe had decided, once again, not to give me a fucking break.
Maybe if I just stood quietly behind him, he wouldn’t notice that it was me. Then he craned his neck, his gaze instantly finding me. He turned around quickly, facing me, a huge smile on his face. “Funny running into you here.”
I smiled at him. “I work here.”
“Don’t you have different cafeterias for the staff?”
“No. Course not.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Guess this hospital isn’t as fancy as I thought.”
I laughed. “How fancy did you think it was?”
“My expectations were way up here,” he said, gesturing with his hand way over his head, then slowly lowering it until it was level with his shoulders. “But after tempering them, they should maybe be here.”
“Just on the cafeteria front?”
He leaned forward, moving slightly so that he could whisper in my ear. “No, I hear the doctors also suck.”
I laughed, moving away slightly. “You’re not hurt again, are you?”
He shook his head. “No, thankfully. I’m just here to visit. And also, to get you dinner, if you want me to.”
I smiled at him, waving him off as I did so. “No, there’s no need for you to do that. I already ate, and I just wanted some coffee.”
“Please let me buy you the coffee.”
“Okay, but I have to warn you, I have expensive taste.”
“In coffee?”
I nodded. “Yes,” I said. “Among other things.”
“Okay,” he replied. “My only condition is that I get your phone number.”
For a brief second, I wondered if Cam and Jody were communicating somehow, but quickly shook that
