Page 48 of Trick or Treat Nurse at My Feet
"Cher," I supply.
"Yeah, her." Gavin nods. "You guys were fine and all, but you never had the dopey grin."
I'm surprised by his observation. Gavin comes off as a space cadet most of the time, but he notices things others miss. One reason he's so good at recruiting pledges is that he sees past surfaces.
"It's not that serious yet," I say, though my chest feels warm at the thought that it could be.
"Mmhmm." Gavin finishes his apple and tosses the core into the compost bin across the room with perfect aim. "Just wait till the car wash when you see that little nursing dude all wet and sudsy."
"It’s Ethan, not ‘nursing dude’, use his fucking name, man."
"Ethan," Gavin repeats with a grin. "Who has our big, bad VP wrapped around his little finger."
"I hate you."
"Nah," Gavin says, ruffling my hair like I'm a kid brother, even though he's barely four months older. "You love me. And you're into tiny, smart guys who can boss you around."
Groaning I drop my head to the table while Gavin laughs.
"For what it's worth," he adds in a rare moment of seriousness, "I think it's cool. You seem happy."
Gavin is one of the few people I've met that I have tolook up towards to meet their eyes. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," he says with a warm smile. "Plus, now we can double date whenever I find someone."
"In that case," I reply, "I'm definitely breaking up with Ethan."
"You're not even officially dating yet," James points out without looking up.
"Details," My hand waves.
Gavin laughs again, a booming sound that fills the kitchen. "Speaking of details, what's the plan for asking him to the car wash? Please tell me it's gonna be awkward and adorable so I can watch."
Throwing a balled-up napkin at him. He catches it without even looking, because of course he does.
"It's going to be perfectly normal," I insist. "I'm just going to text him and ask if he wants to come."
Both Gavin and James make disapproving sounds.
"What?" Confused why they are both looking at me like I've said something unforgivable.
"Text?" Gavin looks horrified. "You can't just text him! This is your first real date!"
"We've already—" I cut myself off, not wanting to go into details.
"I know what you already did," Gavin says, wiggling his eyebrows. "But this is different. This is public. This is you saying, 'Hey world, this is my guy.' That deserves more than a text."
"Ummmm," I hadn't thought about it that way. "I guess you're right. But we went out to dinner too."
"Course I'm right, but this is different. This isn't just the two of you. "Gavin says confidently. "You should do something special. Not huge,but thoughtful."
"Like what?"
Gavin shrugs those massive shoulders. "I dunno. What does he like? Besides you, obviously."
Thinking about what I know of Ethan, it takes me only a second to answer. "He's really into his nursing program. He volunteers at the hospital. He likes coffee. He's got this thing about proper hydration..."
"Oh my god," Gavin says, looking at me with mock horror. "You're dating a responsible adult. We're gonna lose you to the dark side of regular sleep schedules and balanced meals."
