Page 30 of The Trauma Response
“Oops, sorry.” I begin stacking them up again, but she swats at me.
“They were in the order I wanted to read them. I’ll get it.” She tugs a book free from my hands and rearranges everything in the most systematic, Whits way possible. I run my gaze over the titles, noting most of them are romance books, but a few are mysteries and some nonfiction stuff. And because there is still some of that annoying teenage boy inside of me, especially in herpresence, I do something completely rude and yank the bottom book from the stack, causing the whole thing to landslide again.
Whits swats me with one of her books, toppling me backward. “You jerk! You and Jaxalwaysdid stupid stuff like that. Not one of my books is in pristine condition, all because of you two.”
“Pristine condition?” I ask while lying on my back. I open the book I got ahold of and skim a few lines.
“Yeah, you know, not wrinkled or bent becauseimmatureboys tossed them about. Gimme that,” she scolds and tries to steal the book back. I keep it just out of her reach and continue reading the paragraph I started. It’s a mystery book, and I’m literally already hooked.
“Cai! Gimme back my book!”
“I don’t wanna. Let’s read it together. I’m already invested.”
“I have all of these other books to read first, now give me that so I can set the table before the food arrives.” She lunges for the book again and misses, but she does manage to elbow me in the gut when she lands beside me. I grunt but it does not dissuade her from going after me again. I roll to my stomach and hold the book to the floor, buying myself enough time to read two more sentences while she pushes and pulls me, working to free her prized possession.
I finally chuckle. “Is this not the first book in the series?” I check the spine and see abook onemark on it. “It is the first. There is literally no reason I can’t read it.”
“But there’s an order, Cai. I have all of my sweet romances first, then I was going to read—”
“What does that even mean? There is an order of book reading separate from reading a series in order? Says who?” I roll back to my side to face her, but maintain my grip on the book.
“I don’t know. I say, I guess.” She chews her bottom lip while adorably sitting crisscross applesauce beside me. “I like order and things that make sense.”
“You say that like I don’t already know that about you, but it doesn’t hurt to be a little flexible.”
Instantly, her mood shifts. Anger sparks in her eyes and her nostrils flare. “You sound like my brother, as usual. Is this some way of you trying to tell me that I have to deal with my accident and move on? Because I am. I took a job, I’m going out and about, and I—”
“Whoa, whoa.” I sit upright and close the book, my attention on something more important now. “No, not at all. I was teasing you about your laser-focused tendencies, that’s all. I wasn’t trying to insinuate that you’re doing anything wrong.” I slide the book back to her so she can adjust her stack the way she wants it.
“There’s nothing wrong with order and neatness, you know.” Whits stares at the book but makes no move to put it back.
“I know. I function with order inside a world of chaos every time I go on shift, Whits. Contrary to what you think, I like it too. I think I’m just used to shaking things up so I don’t fall into a bad place.”
Whits jerks her head up from staring at the book and settles her intense gaze on me. “What do you mean, a bad place?”
Well, this is it. Time to fill her in on the life of a firefighter. Thor is probably the only person who knows about the things I’ve seen, and only because if I don’t tellsomeoneI’ll go crazy. “Whits, being a firefighter isn’t just about putting out fires. I’m on the rescue truck, which means I do things like I did for you, pull people out of crashes and other bad situations. We go on medical calls, too. A lot of people don’t know that. Maybe you do, I don’t know, but I’ve seen a lot of stuff that would keep me up at night if I didn’t have some order in my life.”
“Cai, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want you to be sorry. I like my job. Yeah, I see some really bad stuff, but I see a lot of great stuff too. So I know what it’s like to crave things that make sense in aworld that doesn’t.” I tap the cover of her book. “All I’m saying is, sometimes it’s also fun to shake things up a little and break your own rules when it’s safe to do so.”
Whits rolls her eyes and smiles. “Okay, we can read this book together if you want,andwe can do it on the uncomfortable sofa.”
I shove off the floor and swipe the book up before hoisting her into my arms.
“Cai!” she shouts but she should know by now that it’s a useless attempt to escape. I toss her on the sofa and fall onto it beside her, swooping her feet onto my lap. “You are such a…a…firefighter.”
I smirk, mostly because I know what she means, but also because I can’t wait to see her blush when I make her elaborate on it anyway. “What is that supposed to mean? I’m a hunky hero at your disposal?”
Like clockwork, her cheeks brighten, but mine warm too. Instead of clarifying her comment, she clears her throat and opens the book to chapter one. I’m partly enthralled with the story, while the other part of my mind focuses on how exquisite this woman is. Her hair is all tied up in a knot, and I’m positive she wouldn’t wear these worn out sweats in front of just anyone. I love that she’s comfortable with me, but I love more that with every page turn, her body gravitates closer to me until she’s practically in my lap while we share a story together.
We’re deep into the chapter by the time the doorbell rings and we have to pause for our meal, but if I had to guess, I’d say there are a lot more reading adventures in our future. The little groan she releases says she wasn’t quite ready toun-snuggle.
Once our food is plated and we’re settled in, she sighs. “Okay, you might be right. I think I needed that mystery. It’s so good already.” She stuffs a bite of noodles into her mouth and her eyes roll back. “So good.”
“You better not read ahead on me. I’m invested too, you know.” She’s right about the noodles. They’re probably the best I’ve ever had.
She gives me a smirk and moves the food around on her plate. “I guess that means you’ll have to come by my place every day. I’m a fast reader.”
