Page 47 of Trick or Treat Nurse at My Feet
James studies me for a moment. "The nursing student?The one with the Halloween drama?"
"Yeah."
"Good." He turns back to his laptop. "About time this place had some diversity beyond jock and bigger jock."
Coming from James, that's practically a bear hug.
Smiling about my strange but weirdly positive interaction with James when Gavin bursts back into the kitchen like a human tsunami, all six-foot-four of him somehow taking up even more space than his actual size.
"Dude! There you are!" He claps a hand on my shoulder hard enough to make me wince. "Been looking for you."
"I've been here the whole 4 minutes you've been gone," I gesture to where James and I have been sitting.
Gavin grabs another apple from the fruit bowl, polishes it on his shirt, and takes a massive bite. "So," he says with his mouth full, "Ethan, huh?"
James makes a sound that might be a snort, but doesn't look up from his laptop.
"What about Ethan?" I'm trying to sound casual, but I can feel heat crawling up my neck.
"Oh, nothing," Gavin says with exaggerated innocence. "Just that your door was closed all night, and Ethan was nowhere to be found this morning, and you've got this dopey grin that won't quit."
"I don't have a dopey grin," comes the automatic protest, as my facial muscles try to rearrange themselves into something more serious.
"You absolutely do," James mutters, still typing.
Gavin leans against the counter, grinning. "So the little nursing dude, huh? He's like, what, five-eight? And you're…" He gestures up and down at my six-foot-two body. "You guys look like a tree and a squirrel."
"He's not that small," I'm defensively, though the imageof Ethans small frame makes me smile. "And I'm not that big."
"Bro, you're huge," Gavin says, like it's obvious. "Not as huge as me, but still. Your shoulders are like twice as wide as his." He takes another bite of the apple. "Bet you could pick him up with one arm."
My face is red now because the truth is, I really like that I can lift Ethan easily. I like how he fits against me. I like that I can wrap around him completely. It's not something I expected to be into, but here we are.
Gavin's watching my face with more perception than most people would credit him with. "OH!" His eyes widen. "You LIKE that. You like being bigger than him!"
"Shut up," My mutter has no heat in it.
"Nah, it's cute," Gavin says with that easy smile that makes it impossible to be mad at him. "Little guy's got you wrapped around his finger already."
"We just started... whatever this is."
"Yeah, but I've known you since we were freshmen," Gavin says, pointing his half-eaten apple at me. "You got it bad, my friend."
James glances up, looking between us. "The nursing student is intelligent. Good match."
Gavin and I both stare at him, shocked that he's voluntarily contributing to the conversation.
"What?" James shrugs. "I've had classes with him. He asks thoughtful questions."
"High praise from the Webmaster," Gavin stage-whispers to me.
Shaking my head, I'm secretly pleased. "I'm bringing him to the car wash fundraiser."
Gavin's eyes light up. "Excellent! I wanna see if he can actually reach the roof of an SUV."
"Don't be a dick," My tone warning him not to tease Ethan around me.
"I'm not!" Gavin looks genuinely offended. "I think it's awesome you found someone who makes you smile like that." He tilts his head. "I never saw you look this way with what's-her-name."
