Don’t Fall for the Doctor by Lacey Bolt

Chapter 30

Ashley spent the rest of the afternoon avoiding Michael. It wasn’t hard since she was working on the pediatric floor, and Michael’s patients were all adults. But only while in the locker room at the end of her shift did Ashley feel like she could breathe again. She looked at her phone one last time before closing her locker door.

There were no missed calls or texts.

Shouldn’t he have reached out to her by now? Was he trying to give her space to sort out her confusion, or had he finally given up on her as a lost cause?

It wouldn’t really be a surprise if he’d given up on her. He was a distraction, anyway. If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t need to think about chasing her dream to be a chef and essentially betray her parents. He was the one who pushed her into meeting Chef Jeff, and he was the one who was pushing her to interview for the job at his restaurant. Now Kelly was also on her case about working in the restaurant. Why wouldn’t either of them just let her live her life the way she needed to live it?

They didn’t have to face the look of disappointment on her parents’ face when she told them that she was going to drop out of college and enroll in culinary school. They didn’t have to argue with them about all the reasons to finish her undergrad degree in social work. They didn’t wake up to a phone call from the hospital, telling her that her mother was dead and that her father wasn’t going to last much longer. They didn’t have to live each day with the knowledge that her parents died just hours after the worst fight of their lives, all because she wanted to become a chef instead of finishing her undergraduate degree and following in her parents’ footsteps.

She walked out of the locker room to the staircase at the end of the hall, and started to descend. She still needed to think about that ugly apartment. She should just sign the lease for that place, even though she’d have to pick up extra shifts each month in order to afford the rent. She could consider it punishment for the way she’d messed up her life so much, first by disappointing her parents and now by pushing Michael away.

She reached the landing for the second floor and froze. Michael was standing in the middle of the steps below, staring at her. She reached her hand up and smoothed her hair. If this was their last conversation together, then she might as well look as good as she could after spending the last eight hours cleaning.

“Hey, Michael.”

“Ashley.” His voice was deeper than usual. He shifted slightly. “Heading home?”

“Yes.”

“Is your car fixed already?”

She shook her head. “I’m taking the bus.”

He frowned. “I’ll drive you home.”

“You don’t have to.”

He ran his hand over his jaw. “I want to.” He raised the jacket that he was carrying. “I’m on my way out anyway.”

“I can take care of myself. I don’t need your help to get home.” She walked down the last few steps and tried to walk past him.

He stepped to the side and blocked her path. He reached out and arranged his jacket around her shoulders. “It’s pretty cold outside. I don’t want you to freeze, and your jacket doesn’t look very warm.”

She inhaled deeply, enjoying his scent. “I can handle the cold.” She bit her lip. He still wasn’t moving.

He cleared his throat. “Can we just talk for a minute?”

She sighed. “About what?”

He reached out gingerly and hesitated. He drew his hand back and placed it in his pants pocket. “I don’t know what to do about you. I can’t stop thinking about you. I just want to be with you. But . . .”

Ashley shuddered. Were they really going to officially end things in the stairwell of the hospital? It was one of the most depressing places she could think of for a breakup. Grey cement steps, grey cement walls, grey railings, musty smell of antiseptic and stale air. This needed to be over quickly so she wouldn’t miss her bus.

“I know. It’s fine. We can end things now before they get too messy.”

“What are you talking about?” His voice was strained. He reached out again and grasped her upper arms gently. “I’m not ending things. That’s the opposite of what I want to do. I just need to know that you are in this too. I keep thinking that I’m going to scare you away, and I need to know that you want this as much as I do. I need to know that you’ll stop running away from me. I— I—” He let go of her arms and took a step back, running his fingers through his hair. He turned, then shook his head and started pacing.

Ashley frowned. “I don’t know what to say.”

He turned back to her, his eyes intense. Her breath caught in her throat, and she took a step away, her back brushing up to the cold wall. “Tell me right now if I should walk away and leave you alone. Or tell me if you want this as much as I want this. I’m going crazy. I can’t think of anything except you.”

Ashley wet her lips. “I keep waiting for you to change your mind and realize that you should be with someone else.”

“There is no one else I want.”

Her stomach started doing somersaults. “Same.”

“What?” He took a step closer, removing any distance between them.

“I want you. I want to be with you too.”

“Then it’s official? We are dating? Boyfriend and girlfriend?”

The corners of Ashley’s mouth started to rise of their own accord. “Do people our age really say that? It sounds like we’re in high school or something.”

He groaned. “I don’t care. Is that a yes?”

Ashley sighed and looked directly in his eyes. “There’s one condition.”

His eyes darkened.

“You don’t ask me to be a chef again. You don’t ask me to interview at your friend’s restaurant. Cooking is just a hobby, and you don’t ask me about it again.” She tried to cross her arms, but he was standing too close and didn’t budge. She rested her hand on his bicep instead. If he didn’t agree, they could have no future.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. He exhaled loudly, then nodded. “I won’t do that.”

She started to grin. “Then it’s official.“

He leaned in close. “Should we seal the deal with a kiss?”

“Definitely.” She barely finished the word before his lips were on hers, kissing her. She’d never made out before in the hospital staircase. If Gwen saw her, she’d probably be fired. But then again, Gwen was always trying to fire her. It was worth the risk to feel his mouth pressed against hers for a few more seconds.

She wrapped her arms around his neck just seconds before he ended the kiss. She frowned. “Give me a ride home?”

He smiled. “Let’s head to your place.”