Page 2 of Trick or Treat Nurse at My Feet
"Yeah. Good advice. For the... traffic."What the hell am I saying?
He gives me a slightly confused smile, nods, and steps around me. Before walking away, he turns and adds, "If youfeel lightheaded, you might want to sit down. You look a little vasovagal."
I have no idea what that means, but I nod like I do.
Watching him walk across the quad, it's not just his confident stride or the way those scrubs fit him perfectly. It's how he pauses to shoulder bump a stressed-looking student, instantly transforming their frown into a smile. It's the way he holds the door for an older woman with a cane, not with impatience but with a genuine warmth that makes her beam up at him.
In the thirty seconds it takes him to cross to the next building, he's left three people happier than they were before. And me? I'm standing here with my heart doing something it's never done before, watching a complete stranger who somehow feels important already.
I'm still standing there when a massive hand claps me on the shoulder, nearly knocking me over.
"Dude! Sorry, I'm late. Coach wouldn't shut up about—" Gavin pauses, peering at my face. "Are you okay? You look like you're coming down with something."
Blinking, I finally turn to face him. "What? No. I'm fine."
"You sure? Because you were standing here staring into space. I called your name like three times."
Grabbing my backpack from the bench, I'm trying to appear normal. "Just thinking about... stuff."
"Uh-huh." Gavin gives me a skeptical look. "What kind of stuff has you looking like you just saw a ghost? Or got hit by a bus?"
"Nothing." Everything. "Just this nursing student. Literally the most gorgeous person I've ever seen."
Gavin's eyebrows shoot up slightly, but he schools his expression quickly. "Hot nurse, huh? You get her name?"
Freezing for a fraction of a second, my heart is suddenly pounding. This is it, the moment where I either lie by omission or tell my friend something I haven't shared with anyone here yet.
A dozen possible responses flash through my mind: play along, change the subject, make a joke.
But I'm tired of the mental gymnastics and careful pronoun usage. And if I'm going to pursue something with Ethan, which I desperately want to, my friends are going to find out eventually.
But not right now. Not yet. I need to choose the right moment.
Groaning, I rub my hand over my face. "No. I couldn't even form a coherent sentence. I just stood there like an idiot while they called me... vaso-something."
"Vaso-what?"
"No idea. Some medical term. Probably means 'dumbass who can't speak when faced with extreme hotness.'"
Gavin laughs and throws his arm around my shoulders as we head toward the cafeteria. "Well, lucky for you, I happen to know the perfect place to run into nursing students."
"Yeah?" I try to sound casual, but my heart rate picks up.
"Yeah. They're always at that coffee place behind the Health Sciences building. We should go there tomorrow." He squeezes my shoulder with a knowing look that I pretend not to notice. "Operation Get Tyler A Hot Nurse is officially on."
Laughing, I shove him away, but my mind is already plotting how to engineer another "accidental" meeting. Next time, I'll at least find out his name.
And maybe learn what the hell "vasovagal" means.
Chapter 1
The Devil Wears A Mask
ETHAN
Our studio apartment is a riot of colour, a cluttered mess that still feels cozy. Posters of our favourite drag queens plaster the walls, and rainbow fairy lights drape from the ceiling, a big change from the drab gray of the college dorm room we shared last year.
For tonight, we've gone full Halloween decor: plastic skeletons hanging from doorways, fake cobwebs stretched across corners, and a smoking cauldron of dry ice on our coffee table, where our themed cocktails wait.
