A Beautiful Thought (The Beautiful Series) (7 page)

Pearl walked up to Gail and extended her hand that was holding a s’more. “Would you like one, too?”

Gail tenderly smiled at her and hugged Pearl, careful not to get chocolate remnants on her clothing. “Yes, please,” she answered before taking a bite of the gooey chocolate treat. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

I took a seat on the log again. Gail chose a green chair at my right, and Pearl hopped onto her lap. I felt my pulse spike, wondering if Pearl would bombard Gail with the same question as she had done with me.

Instead, Pearl asked, “When can I have another sleepover at your house?”

I had no idea that Gail even spent time with Pearl, but I guessed that made sense, considering she was Abbey’s best friend. The endearment made my chest swell. I let out a silent breath. This woman had me all out of sorts.

“Hmm…very soon. I miss you,” Gail replied.

She shifted Pearl up higher on her leg, and Pearl nestled into her.

“How about not next weekend but in two weeks?” Gail added.

Pearl gasped. “Okay!”

Jason sat down in a yellow lawn chair and pulled Abbey onto his lap. “Did you hear that, baby?” Jason exclaimed to Abbey. “We get a date night in two weeks.”

“Mmm…” Abbey purred at him. “How should we make use of our free time?”

“Whoa!” Kyle cut in, startling Lily. “Jason, I will fucking kick your ass if you answer that question with me right here.”

Jason yelled, “Language!”

“Sorry, man,” Kyle said with sincerity to Jason.

“I’d kick it again because I don’t want to hear that”—I caught sight of Pearl and controlled my language—“
stuff
about my own brother, either.”

Jason nodded and then lowered his head to nuzzle Abbey. “Damn, baby. I guess we’ll have to finish this conversation later.”

The seven of us all sat around the bonfire for another hour, talking among one another and listening to the fire crackle. Pearl stayed by her parents, laughing and having a good time with them. After a while, Abbey took Pearl inside the house to watch a Disney movie with her.

As the rest of us all hung out for a little longer before calling it a night, I could not help but feel this was exactly where I was meant to be. There was no better company than being surrounded by family and friends and laughter.

After Gail and I walked into her apartment later, we each strolled toward our own bedroom door.

She stopped at her doorframe and turned to face me. “Good night, Damon,” she softly murmured.

“Night.”

I smiled as I watched her amble into her room before she gently closed the door. I stared after her briefly as I pondered over how I’d ended up right here, right now in my life, sleeping only a wall away from a stunningly beautiful woman.

With every passing second,
roommate
felt like the wrong term to use with her because every fiber of my being wanted more.

~Gail~

By the third weekday, Damon and I had a morning system. He would wake up and stomp around the apartment, which would wake me up, too.

I peeled my eyes open at the sound of him moving about in his room. I climbed out of bed, and still in my pajamas, I strolled toward the kitchen to start the coffee pot. All the while, I suppressed the excitement I felt for having these few minutes with him before we went off our separate ways to work.

“Morning,” Damon said in a gruff morning voice, coming up behind me.

“Good morning.” I reached for two bagels and put them in the toaster.

He walked over to the fridge and pulled out the cream cheese, orange juice, and a bowl of grapes. I stretched to reach into a cabinet, and I grabbed two plates and two cups.

“So, what’s on your agenda today?” I asked him casually.

He poured us each a glass of juice. “I’m finishing up the drywall today with Jason. Then, we are moving on to taping and mudding.”

“That sounds”—I wrinkled my nose over at him—“fun.”

“I don’t know if
fun
is the right word.” He chuckled. “But Jason and I try to make the best of it. What about you?”

The bagels popped up, and I carefully reached for them. “I’m jam-packed with patients today, so I won’t be home until about six.”

I spread the cream cheese on each of our bagels and carried them over to the table as Damon brought our glasses and napkins. We sat down in the wooden chairs across from one another.

“That’s a long day.” He took a chunk out of his food.

“Yeah, but yesterday was short, so I guess it’s a give-and-take kinda thing.”

Damon nodded thoughtfully. “Do you like your job?”

I took a bite and swallowed. “I love it. Helping people recover from physical injuries is very rewarding. I’ve always known what I wanted to do from a young age.” I reached for my napkin and looked back at him. “What about you?”

“As a kid, I enjoyed drawing everything from people to buildings all the time. Then, in college, I gravitated toward designing buildings from the ground up. It was like a puzzle. I wanted to make a building eye-catching yet highly functional, so pursuing architecture seemed like the right path for me.”

“What will you do now as a partner with Jason and Kyle?” I asked, intrigued.

“The same thing,” he answered. “Instead of the company contracting that part out to someone else, I’ll be an in-house architect.”

I could not help but tease him. “Except, right now, you’re just the laborer.”

“Yep.” He grinned handsomely. “I gotta earn my keep somehow.”

“We all do,” I agreed.

“So, tell me about your family,” he said, finishing up his breakfast.

I pushed my plate aside, feeling full. “Well, my parents are still happily married after nearly thirty years, and they live about twenty minutes outside of town,” I said in a loving voice. “And my sister, Caroline, just recently turned fifteen.”

“Uh-oh. The rough teenage years…”

“Yep.” I laughed. “Although, Caroline is a sweet, good girl. She loves fashion, swimming, and being outside at every given opportunity.” I resisted frowning at the thought of some of the things she would miss out on due to many circumstances. I continued with the positive, “And she was just accepted into a new program that my parents have been trying to enroll her in.”

Damon genuinely smiled. “That’s great.”

“It is. We are so happy for her,” I replied. “So, what about your family?”

“My dad recently retired, so my parents are excited to start traveling. Jason—well, you met him, so enough said.” He grinned devilishly.

I bent forward, picked up a grape from my plate, and gently tossed it at him. “Oh, stop.” I snickered. “Jason is a nice guy.”

Damon caught it against his chest and popped it into his mouth. “Yeah, he is. I have another brother, too—Blake. He’s in the Marines.”

“Does he come home often?”

Damon’s eyes transformed, appearing sad. “Not as much as we would have liked over the years, but Blake tries to every chance he can. His second four-year term will be complete in a few weeks though.”

My brows rose, and I asked, “Do you think he’ll make a long-term career out of it?”

“I’m not sure, but my family and I will support his decision either way,” Damon answered, shaking his head before glancing down at his watch. “Well, I’d better get going. Jason will have my ass if I’m late.”

“Okay.”

Damon rose and meticulously balanced his glass on his plate. He came to my side of the table and set his hand on my shoulder, and I peered up at him.

“Thanks for breakfast, Gail.”

“You’re welcome,” I replied.

As I watched Damon slip on his work boots and head out the door to work, I could not help the reoccurring anticipation rising in me, knowing I would see him again tonight
.
I needed to get my emotions in check because I was not about to start dating anytime soon.

From the first meeting with my counselor back in my college days, I’d known every stepping stone I would take to becoming a physical therapist, specializing specifically in sports. It had always been my dream, and by some miracle, I had been blessed enough to be living and breathing it.

There was only one heartbreaking curse to my job—working all day, every day, with hot, sweaty bulging muscles belonging to the most gorgeous football players. Surely, encountering these men was not the torturous part of my career. The depressing part was enduring a delectably attractive man as he wooed me with romantic dates before getting serious in a relationship, only to dump me later. And by dumping, I meant, he would run for the hills without a backward glance before I could even process all the empty and meaningless promises he’d once made to me.

It had been a vicious cycle or wooing, dating, and dumping me,
but no more. I was no longer that weak person.

I am stronger now
, I told myself as I turned down Devin Walker.

He was an utterly good-looking linebacker, who walked out of my office without a dinner date. He stormed off angrily, but I seriously doubted it actually wounded his over-the-top ego.

I let out a relieved breath when I saw that my last patient of the day was also my favorite. Marvin Jarvis was the first patient Greg had placed in my care nearly two years ago. Marvin was one of the very few people I could relax around due to the fact that he was a genuinely great guy. He was happily married with kids, and he was a hard worker, who was dedicated to his teammates on and off the field.

“Mr. Jarvis,” I greeted Marvin with a sincere smile, gesturing him into the room.

“Hello, Dr. Bennett,” he replied kindly as he walked inside. “How are you?”

I shut the door behind him. “I’m doing very well. And you, sir?”

Mr. Jarvis carefully hopped onto the exam table, and I approached him.

He stretched his right shoulder in a small circle. “I’m still kicking.” He laughed. “The shoulder is doing better this week.”

“That’s great.” I nodded as I reached for my patient’s injured arm to perform my exam. I checked his range of motion in the shoulder he’d dislocated several weeks ago. “You’re healing up very nicely. Do you have any tightness or pain anywhere?”

“No more than usual,” he answered. “The increased arm-extension routine you gave me last week has really helped loosen the muscles.”

I stepped back once I finished my assessment. “Good to hear. That’s exactly what we want. Remember, baby steps.” I gave him a friendly grin. “For this next week, I’d like to see you increase each exercise with five more reps and keep stretching after every set.” I documented a few progress notes on his chart, noting the exact increase in range of motion.

“I think I can handle that, Doc,” he replied.

I strode back over toward the door. “You’re making excellent progress, Mr. Jarvis. I’ll see you again next week.”

“Thank you.”

His eyes suddenly sparked to life, and I knew what he was going to ask me next. It would be the same question all the athletes always asked.

“Do you think I’ll be back in the game by the end of the month?” he asked with hope apparent in his tone.

“Sorry, champ. I don’t think you’ll make that one,” I replied regretfully.

I disliked the fact that I could not give him the answer he wanted, but it was too soon for him to be back in the game. Releasing a patient from my care too early was a risk I was not willing to take. I wanted him to recover completely, not further hurt himself by taking shortcuts.