Page 40 of Villainous Summer

“I’m not.” He asserted.

“I thought we agreed we wouldn’t lie to each other.” I bit back a laugh, swallowing hard as he lowered his head. “A lot of people don’t like needles. It’s very common.”

“For children.” The pink had turned into scarlet, tingeing his ears. “I’m thirty-two, Summer.”

“Phobia knows no age. I’m terribly afraid of enclosed places—caves, small rooms. I had a guy take me on a date to a panic room once, and I was hyperventilating at the end.”

My admission seemed to calm him.

“I’ve always felt this way. When I was little, my dad would hold me down to get my vaccines.”

“Well, that might be why. Being restrained while getting poked would be traumatic for anyone. It’s okay to be scared.”

“I’m not scared. I just don’t like them.”

Instead of arguing, I stood and walked over. Stopping before him, I grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I’ll be right here with you. You might need a shot because you could get tetanus, and you might even need stitches. But I won’t go anywhere. If you want to blame it on me, you can. Tell them I’m the needy girl who needs support during your treatment.”

“Thank you.” A soft smile played on his lips. “I haven’t had someone take care of me like this since my mom when I was sixteen.”

“Are you comparing me to your mother right now?” I scoffed.

“Definitely not. Gah, how could you even suggest—” I gave him a withering stare, and he laughed. “No, I mean, I don’t need anyone to look after me.”

“Do you want me to go?”

“No. No. Stay.”

His response was quick.

A knock came from the door, and a very pretty nurse with red hair walked in. Her scrubs were a turquoise, complementing her fair complexion.

“Hi, I’m Ana. I’ll be working with Tomas today for your treatment and—oh. Hi, Van.” A smile bloomed over her face. “I had a feeling that might be you.”

“Ana!” His face relaxed. “I didn’t know you worked here now.”

The way he was smiling at this beautiful redhead put me on edge. Sure, she was gorgeous and had a kind smile and somehow looked cute in scrubs, but who was she?

With a zip of panic, I was jealous.

She set the file down and grabbed gloves from a drawer. “Didn’t Xander mention it? Of course not. He thinks sharing stuff about us is boring. Yeah, I’ve been here for about a year now. Better hours than the hospital. After Maxine was born, it was hard finding care during the odd working hours. Xander is out the door at four in the morning, and if I had a night shift, it was impossible to find babysitters.”

She turned to face me. “Sorry. Catching up. Ana Eberhardt. Van and I went to school together a lifetime ago.”

“Summer Townsend.”

She beamed at me, and I glanced at Van, but nothing in his look projected an ounce of attraction to this woman.

She mentioned a child and another man, but that could’ve been a brother or an ex or something.

After what I went through with Cory, I wasn’t going to assume a man was unattached ever again.

Ana directed him to scoot back on the table to inspect his foot.

I thought he would want me to step back, but he grabbed my hand, keeping me level to his head.

After examining the area, she grabbed tools from a drawer and cleaned the wound, flushing water into the puncture.

Van didn’t betray a look of pain but tightened his grip when Ana announced he would need a tetanus shot.

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