Page 14 of Well That Happened

I settle onto the edge while he pulls out a couple of extra pillows and props them behind me.

I flip open my textbook.

“I’ll quiz you.”

I raise a brow. “You don’t know anything about OB nursing.”

“True. But I’m excellent at nodding thoughtfully and telling you you’re doing amazing.”

I snort. “Fine. But if I fail this quiz, I’m blaming you and your distracting face.”

“Totally fair,” he says, settling beside me, legs stretched out.

I try to focus. I really do. But the bed is warm, the lights are dim, and he’s justthere—smelling good and being helpful and laughing at my muttered curses when I forget the magnesium sulfate range.

At one point, he leans in to read something over my shoulder, and my brain short-circuits at the proximity.

“You’re really good at this,” he says quietly, like it’s a secret. “Even when you’re half-asleep and running on fumes.”

Something inside me softens. And that’s the danger.

That’s how we end up here—on his bed, both of us not moving, not speaking, justwaiting.

His gaze drops to my mouth. Lingers.

His voice lowers. “Are you sure we shouldn’t finish what we started?”

My breath hitches. “I…”

And then—

A throat clears from the hallway.

We jerk apart.

Grayson stands in the doorway, shadowed and still, like he’s been there long enough to see our almost kiss.

“The bathroom’s free,” he says, then disappears.

The silence he leaves behind is thick.

Caleb blows out a breath. “Well. That wasn’t awkward at all.”

I drop my head into my hands. “I hate my life.”

He laughs, quiet and warm. “Nah, it’s just starting to get interesting.”

Chapter Four

Rilee

The smell of bacon is what finally lures me out of bed.

That, and the low thud of someone swearing in the kitchen like it’s a contact sport. I check my phone: 9:48 a.m. Which is practically noon in nursing school hours. My head’s still buzzing with Caleb’s almost-kiss from last night and the steady hum of regret (or frustration—hard to tell which).

I grab a hoodie—definitely not mine, definitely not clean—and pad barefoot down the hall.

Living here has been an interesting experiment.

---