Beautifully Awake(18)

“You’ve never had sushi, have you?” He cockily turned up his lips.



“Well, I … um, grew up in a really small town up north—when I say small I mean small, like population six hundred and fifty-two small—sushi was not an option.”

He grinned, clearing enjoying the fact that I had never had sushi. “Well, you have to give it a chance ... here.” His chopsticks expertly picked up a beautifully wrapped little parcel and placed it on my plate.

Was it possible to be turned on by watching someone flex their forearm? Those tingles continued.

“This one isn’t raw, it’s a California roll. Try it.”

I pulled my eyes from his chiseled arms to admire the pink and green hues. “It’s just too pretty to eat.” I giggled. Shit. I giggled. I was buzzed already, enough to giggle. Crap. Mental note. Baby nursery in pink and green. Damn, I needed to stop procrastinating. There was no damn way he was letting me leave without trying a piece. I took another rather large swig of sake; it was now or never. Only thing to lose was my stomach contents.

I liked Chinese food, so I was pretty savvy with chopsticks. I picked up the roll and popped it in my mouth, chewed twice and swallowed. Chase sat, arms crossed, critiquing my every move. My eyes bounced back to his perfectly tanned arms and sculpted biceps tugging on his dark charcoal t-shirt. The distraction helped me get through the chewing and swallowing part.

He smiled. “What’d ya think? Did you even taste it? I’m not sure you even chewed.”

I chugged my remaining sake, washing it down. “It wasn’t so bad.” I smiled back. I managed to eat three more pieces while I watched Chase consume at least three or four entire rolls. He had some appetite. I wondered where he stored it; the man didn’t have an ounce of body fat anywhere.

“You finished? Come.” He motioned for me to follow him over to the couch. I stood up and attempted to clean up our dinner dishes. I was tipsy. Seven hours in the OR must have dehydrated the hell out of me.

“Leave it, I’ll deal with it later.” He grabbed another beer from the fridge and headed toward the couch.

“You sure?”

“Lili, come.” He walked from the kitchen to his large sectional in the living room. My eyes roamed from his fitted dark jeans hanging so delectably from his hips back to the dark charcoal t-shirt spreading across his muscular back. Flashbacks from the scrub sink saturated my brain. My attraction to this man boggled my mind.



I was relieved he instructed to leave everything on the table. I needed a seat, definitely feeling light headed. My mind raced with some seriously dirty thoughts. Giving my glass a little refill, I headed toward the couch. The wine seemed to be working, even though it reminded me more of rubbing alcohol than wine. He obviously had a more refined palate than mine.

I kicked off my shoes and curled my legs up under my bottom. He stared at me and smirked.

“Comfortable?” He chose the cushion right next to mine and angled his body to face me, resting his arm along the back of the couch. My body tightened at his close proximity. I lifted my glass to my lips and sipped. A drunken hot mess was closely approaching.

After reviewing a couple of our patients and discussing Kelly’s case, he dove directly into my personal life. A place I didn’t like to frequent.

“So Blue, how’d you end up in Philly?”

I sighed and took another sip. Was it too late to turn back?

“To be honest, if it wasn’t for my best friend I wouldn’t be here. I grew up in one of those towns where everyone knew everyone’s business. My dad couldn’t afford to send me away for college, so in a way I was stuck. Born in Wrangel. Die in Wrangel. Crazy town motto.” I shrugged. “Unfortunately my father didn’t know any other way to raise me. I ended up putting myself through community college.”

“Wow, that’s some feat,” he said, nodding in approval. “What’s your degree in?”

“I got a certificate degree as a social worker-slash-case manager, an extra year tuition for a master’s degree just wasn’t in the budget. As it was, I worked two jobs through high school and continued with one through college. I struggled a bit, but I was pretty motivated.” I placed my glass on the coffee table and ran my hands through my hair. I decided on a quick ponytail. It was warm.

“So what’d you do after college? You said you’ve only been in Philly for three years, right?”

“That’s right.” I picked my glass back up and emptied it. Diarrhea of the mouth ... shit. “I actually loved my job. I worked with underprivileged and abused children at a crisis center. It was extremely heartening to see how simple it was to make a difference in someone else’s life. I know that might sound cliché, but seriously, these kids had nothing, no one to care for them, no food, barely a roof over their heads, and yet it was effortless to make them smile. I really miss them sometimes.” My voice cracked.