Page 60 of Class Clown

“Yeah. A kid came in today scared he had rabies because he’d been petting the rat that was sitting on him overnight.” His expression made me smile. “That’s exactly what I thought. One of the counselors told me it’s no big deal, that rats make sense up here, but I still find it disgusting. Cole needs to fumigate the place.”

Nico nodded. “It’s not ideal.”

I chuckled weakly. “Understatement.”

By now we were standing close enough to stop yelling and he frowned. “You look tired.”

“I’m fine,” I insisted, but I yawned and swayed a little bit.

His warm hands gripped my shoulders and pulled me closer, steadying me. “You’re exhausted. You should have eased in by working half a day.”

I sagged a little and he buoyed me up. “It’s a good thing I didn’t. The health center was jimmy-jam packed today and I was needed there. Besides, Cole hired me to do a job and I’m not going to let everyone down. They need a nurse on the ready.” He nodded and my head tipped forward a bit until it nearly grazed his chin. “I got to give someone stitches today. So that was cool.”

“I don’t know a lot of people who like giving others stitches.”

“Face the truth, you don’t know a lot of people,” I cracked.

One of his hands left my shoulder to wrap around the back of my head and he shifted me the tiniest bit closer. “True,” he whispered only a moment before I felt the soft press of his lips against my forehead.

His breath was warm against my skin and I couldn’t have moved if a thousand horses had been at my back dragging me. He pressed a second light kiss in the same spot and I shivered. He moved back, his hands dropping and I blinked up at him, not knowing what to say or how to feel. My brain was a blank white wall of nothing.

“Let’s get you back to the cabin,” he said into the stillness, and I easily fell into step beside him, my mind reengaging in order to race ahead.

“Do you consider me a friend?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“That’s good,” I murmured.

We made our way down the path and up the stairs of the little, dark cabin, and I thought of all the times I’d acted like a clown to get the attention of someone I found attractive. I’d bubbled and laughed, giggled and been a party-hat-wearing, kazoo-blowing fool with nothing to show for it. And now, outside of my regular life in an unfamiliar place, coming off a nasty cold, when I felt weak and unsure, a man had stepped into my orbit and shown me more kindness than any had before.

Neither of us bothered turning on the light when we entered, relying instead on the sunlight still streaming in the small windows. His footsteps stopped as mine moved toward the sleeping area and I couldn’t bringmyself to look back at him. He might see something in my expression that I was still attempting to process. Wonder. Fear. Confusion.

“I’ll bring you some dinner in a little while,” Nico said.

I fell onto my bed, face down, not caring that I was still fully dressed, and sucked in a deep breath. The scent of laundry detergent filled my nose and I raised my head to sniff at my pillow and sheets. They were clean and fresh, not the sweaty, slightly stinky bed I’d been laying in for days. I’d planned to wash them tomorrow, but it had already been done.

A sob climbed up my throat. I knew exactly who had done it and something inside of me banged against the box I’d put him in years ago. My head fell back to my pillow as a few tears leaked out. I sank into it, letting the emotions have free run, something I hadn’t done in a long, long time.

Nico’s hands parted the sheet curtain and he looked down at me. “Are you crying?”

“You washed my nest.”

His expression was serious. “You like things clean.”

The tears doubled. “I really do. You should probably stop being so nice to me, though.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know how to handle it,” I whispered honestly.

He nodded. “I know, love, but you’ll figure it out.”

And then the curtain swished closed and he left the cabin with the same graceful, light steps that he always did.

Chapter 15

Ruby’s Truth: A perfectly roasted marshmallow is the key to a happy life.