Page 73 of A Brush with Love
On Friday night, she holed up in a study room at school, determined to make serious progress in herClinical Results of Fixed Prosthodonticstextbook. Except it was boring as shit, and her mind kept turning to daydreams about a cute guy.
Her phone buzzed and her hand shot to it with embarrassing speed. She tried to hush the flood of excitement as Dan’s name lit up her screen.
Are you at school?
Before she could stop and think too much, she shot off a response.
Yeah. Studying:/
The speed of his answering text made her smile.
I’m here too. Want some company? Feel like I haven’t seen you in a while
She tapped out a reply, but her finger hovered over the Send button. She missed him. She missed Dan in a way she shouldn’t. Her throat ached with it. She hit Send.
Would love some. Study room 112 in the basement
Balance,Harper reminded herself.You are capable of balance. Probably. A little time together won’t make the world crash down.She thrummed her fingers on her textbook and made a valiant effort to pretend to read it. Her phone buzzed again. Thu.
You at school biatch? Alex asked me to help him with their muscles exam next week and I figured you would already have a study room locked down
True to her word, Thu, and the others, allowed the group to fall back into their normal rhythm, pretending Harper’s meltdown hadn’t happened. Harper was beyond grateful. She knew they wanted to return to the issue, but she trusted them to not push her on it further.
I’m in 112. Dan’s coming
I bet he is ;)
you’re disgusting
lawlz see you soon
The door to the study room opened quietly and Harper tossed her phone to the side. Dan walked in and her heart gave a squeeze in greeting. Damn, she’dreallymissed him.
She smiled and slid her backpack off the table, making room for him next to her. He grinned back, taking the seat.
“Hi,” he said. He stared at her and Harper wanted to bottle the tenderness in his gaze and wear it like perfume. Indecision flickered in his eyes before he reached his arm around the back of her neck and leaned in, planting a soft kiss on the top of her head. Dan lingered for a moment, breathing against her hair. It was close and familiar and maddeningly intimate, making her body thrum with need.
She gave herself a half-hearted shake and pulled away.You’re moving. You’re a mess. Stop.The words repeated in her head like a sick mantra, but the cruel voice said them with weakened resolve.
“Hi,” she finally said, her tongue thick and heavy. “Why are you wet?”
Dan ran a hand through his damp hair, making the gentle waves clump together.
“I had cadaver lab today. I went home and took a scalding hour-long shower and pretty much scrubbed my skin off.”
An image of Dan washing his long, lean muscles under steamy water popped into her head and she resisted the urge to fan herself.
“How did that go?” she asked, shifting slightly away from him and subtly adjusting her thighs to alleviate some pressure. Cadaver dissection and horniness were not an acceptable combination.
“The shower was good, thanks.” He shot her a cheeky grin and she batted his shoulder.
“How wascadaver?”
He shrugged, his teasing replaced with sheepishness. “It was kind of tough, to be honest—for me at least. I couldn’t quite get past it being a person, you know? It’s weird to be in a room with a dozen dead bodies and disassociate from the fact that they were once…people.”
Harper nodded. Cadaver lab was a huge privilege for health professionals to learn from, but that didn’t stop it from also turning her stomach.
“I had a hard time with it too.”
