Page 60 of Nothing to Lose: Lost Trilogy: Part 1
The last fewmonths have been magical. Puck coming into my life is the best thing that could’ve happened to me, and I can’t get enough of him.
We talk on the phone every single day. On the days when I don’t work a night shift, he stays on the phone with me until I fall asleep. And if I do work a night shift, he texts me all throughout the night. Now that I think about it, I have no idea when he actually sleeps.
“Hi there,” I smile at Becca after we both got our stuff from the lockers at the hospital.
She gives me a weak but sincere smile. “Hey.”
She and I are okay now. It’s been a couple of months since we came back from our disastrous trip to Dallas. The guy she met with there, Wrecker, ended up in prison. Not only that, he was an asshole to her before we left. She never gave me details, but she did do an outline of the situation, and none of it sounded good. I understood more why she had been so bitchy toward me at the time.
I feel sad for her when I see her moping around all the time. I also feel guilt. Guilt because I am so happy with Puck, and I can’t even tell her anything about it. He swore me to secrecy, and I refuse to break his trust.
Dad’s been acting sketchy lately, so I haven’t been able to tell him much either, although, the way he watches me sometimes, it’s like he knows.
I have to confess that Puck being a criminal weighs heavily on my mind, and I worry that dad will give us a hard time over it when he finally has all the details.
My cell phone now dinging is the best sound ever. Expecting to see a message from Puck, I frown in confusion when I see it’s a text from Steve. He’s been doing this a lot lately. I always ignore him, but then he calls. The only thing he hasn’t done has been showing up at my house. And that’s because he hates the little town I live in and refuses to step foot in it.
“Are we ready?” Becca asks from next to me. I drove today so I have to give her a ride home.
“Yes, let’s go.” I march out of the locker room, ponytail swinging.
I let out a grunt of surprise when I run straight into our boss.
“Careful there,” is all she says and continues on her way.
“I really don’t like her,” I mutter to Becca.
“Why’s that?” she chuckles.
“I have no idea. It’s like she doesn’t like me either. I can sense that and respond to her energy,” I try explaining. “If that makes any sense.”
“It does,” she assures me.
Morgan Foster has been a pain in my ass since she became our boss. She is super smart, which intimidates me to no end, and I feel like she’s got a snotty attitude. I blame that on her transferring here from a big hospital in Seattle.
“Do you need to stop anywhere before we head home?” I ask Becca. We sometimes stop at the grocery store since the one here is a lot bigger than what we have in our little town.
“Uh, no, not today,” she mumbles from behind me. “Colt’s been on this insane health kick, and he got us stocked with all kinds of salads and stuff like that. I guess that’s good for me, too.” We both laugh at that.
Colton is her little brother. He is in his senior year in high school, a very dedicated athlete who is now waiting on offer letters from colleges for him to join their football team. He is very good, so I’m sure they’ll be lining up and he’ll have his pick.
“It’ll be weird once he leaves, right?” I ask Becca, frowning when my phone beeps with another message from Steve.
“Oh, most definitely.” She starts talking about her brother and all the funny things he does that she will miss.
I am so distracted by these messages Steve is bombarding me with, I don’t hear much. I drive for the next almost forty-five minutes thanks to muscle memory and instinct. I am almost surprised when I pull into her driveway.
“Thanks, Em,” she smiles at me right before getting out. “See you on Thursday? I’ll drive?”
I nod in agreement and say my goodbyes. We both work the same shifts and have the next two days off.
As soon as I get home, I get out of my uniform and jump in the shower. It’s a habit I developed early in my career as a nurse.
When I’m done, I walk to the kitchen to make myself a sandwich, grabbing my phone on my way to the fridge. I am shocked when I look and see I have five new texts from Steve.
Steve: Emily, we need to talk. Call me.
Steve: I miss you, honey. Call me.
