Page 40 of Just Forever

He turns off the oven and pulls out a pan with baked eggs, mushrooms, more spinach, and bacon. In another moment, a plate appears in front of me.

He takes a seat opposite me, and we eat. And while we do that, he presses the side of his foot against mine under the table. I smile at him, and he smiles back. We’ve been having breakfast like this for a while now. It never gets old. It never stops my heart from jumping in my chest because I still can’t quite believe I’ve hit this kind of jackpot in life.

“How’s your head?” Ryker asks.

“Could be worse. I think.” I contemplate the hangover for a bit. Then a memory hits, and my eyes widen. “Oh, shit. Please tell me applying toNaked and Afraiddidn’t happen.”

He smirks. “Buckle up, baby. The jungle awaits.”

“I’d think you were kidding, but I’m honestly not sure anymore.”

“But you said you’d be good at it,” Ryker says. “You had that whole plan about making clothes out of leaves and fashioning a spear to catch game.”

I send him a glare. “You know, there’s a thing as being too supportive.”

“I didn’t think that was possible.”

“Yeah, well. If I get in, I’m backing out and blaming you.”

He snickers and rubs his foot against mine again. “You can breathe easy. I confiscated Kelly’s phone once he started signing you up.”

“I love you,” I say with more than a little bit of relief in my tone.

“Let’s finish the breakfast, and you can show me just how much.”

“I’ll even do the dishes before,” I promise solemnly.

He laughs and gets up. “Meet you in bed.”

Don’t mind if I do.

The restof the weekend goes by too quickly, and before I know it, it’s Monday morning and I have to go to school.

We already established that I’m not good at change, and even though medical school is the kind of change I actually wanted, and I worked my ass off to get here, my nerves are still running rampant.

It feels like most of my life so far has been leading up to this moment. I’m a medical student.

And I really wish I could just stay at home and never leave the bed.

The hell was I thinking when I applied to fuckingmedical school? I bet they’ll take one look at me and somehow figure out I’m way out my depth and probably shouldn’t even be there.

Those nerves that have been running rampant in my belly since last night? They’re starting to feel like legitimate nausea by now. So… I either throw up right now because I’ve possibly contracted some nasty virus, miss my first day, and make a terrible impression. Or I’ll manage to get myself together enough to drag myself to school, puke in front of everybody, and make a terrible impression.

Cool.

Both solid options.

Ryker wraps his arm tighter around me and pulls me against him. My back is against his solid, warm, wide chest, and for a moment, I feel calmer.

Of course, then I remember I’mstarting fucking medical schooltoday, so the calm quickly vanishes.

Ryker’s hand covers my chest where my heart is going haywire. He holds it there for a little while before kissing the nape of my neck.

“Would it help if I told you to be calm and breathe?” he asks.

“What exactly do you think I’ve been trying to do here?” I grumble.

He hums and kisses the spot behind my ear. His palm moves up my chest to my throat, then back down to my chest. And then lower, over my solar plexus to my abdomen.

---