Kade disappears into his room with his physical therapist, and we follow a few steps behind them. He turns to sit on the bed, and his eyes light up when he sees me, which makes my heart skip a beat, even though it shouldn’t.
“There you are. I was beginning to think you took off.”
“I needed some fresh air.”
“Understood.”
“Hi. I’m Talia. I’ll be Kade’s morning physical therapist.” She takes two steps in our direction, holding out her petite hand.
“I’m Sydnee.” She steps up and grabs the woman’s hand to shake it. “This is Britney.”
“So, you’re the girlfriend.” Talia smiles at me and extends her hand in my direction, but I don’t move because her words trip me up. Girlfriend?
“Yes, Britney is my girlfriend,” Kade adds to the already confusing conversation. Am I still downstairs daydreaming? Since when am I Kade’s girlfriend? I want to ask Sydnee to pinch me to make sure I’m conscious, but I don’t want to come off like a weirdo.
Thankfully, Sydnee looks just as confused as I am, which solidifies that I am awake, and I heard both Talia and Kade correctly.
“Um, yeah. I’m the girlfriend,” I finally answer unconvincingly.
“Aaron and Kade have nothing but sweet things to say about you.”
“Thank you?” My appreciation of her kindness comes out more like a question since I have quite a few bobbing around in my brain.
Talia turns her attention back to her patient. “Franklin will be in around six for some more laps.”
“Great. Thanks,” Kade responds.
“I’m off to visit my next patient. I’ll see you ladies tomorrow.” Talia smiles as she leaves Kade’s room.
Sydnee is quick to close the door before we both bombard Kade with questions. We toss out question after question in rapid-fire, while he just sits on the edge of his bed, smiling.
“Are you both done playing twenty questions? Are you ready to hear the answers?”
“Shot or not, you’re still an ass,” Sydnee retorts. Kade chuckles, pissing her off and fueling her temper.
“Seriously, what was that all about?” I interrupt before these two piss each other off even more.
“Will you help me get settled first? You seemed to have scared off my physical therapist before she could show me the best way to get back in bed with the least amount of pain.”
Now I feel like an asshole.
“Do you want me to get Aaron to help? I’m sure he knows how.” I have to ask because I’m afraid I’ll hurt him.
“Nope. You got this.”
“This ought to be fun to watch.”
“Shut up, Syd,” Kade and I say in unison.
Ten minutes and a few curse words later, I finally get Kade comfortable in his bed. He presses his Dilaudid button and relaxes.
“Now, to answer your questions. No, I didn’t tell Talia you were my girlfriend. Aaron did.”
“What? Why?”
“If you want to know, sit down and eat. I will continue as long as you and Syd will let me finish speaking without interruption.”
“Fine.” I take a seat in the reclining chair and open my lunch bag, taking out the yogurt and spoon. I tear back the foil and start eating. I must have been hungry because it feels like this fat-free strawberry yogurt is the best thing I’ve ever eaten.
“Before Talia arrived, Aaron came in and gave me a heads up that he had told Talia I have a girlfriend. Apparently, she’s one of those women who has no problem hitting on attractive patients. He knew Talia would set her sights on me, so he took it upon himself to nip it in the bud. At first, she didn’t believe either of us, because how could a girlfriend leave her wounded man alone? I told her that your brother is here too, and you were visiting him. Eventually, she got the picture.”
“Wow. How does a therapist like her keep her job if she’s so forward?”
“I asked the same question. Aaron told me she’s great at what she does, and since she’s not bad looking, most men don’t care or complain.”
“Bad looking? Come on. We saw her. She’s smokin’ hot,” Sydnee adds her two-cents to the conversation.
“Whatever, Syd. As for you—” Kade’s focus turns to me, and my hand stops midway to my mouth with another spoonful of yogurt—“you’re mine.”
I’ve longed to hear those words for years, and now that I have, I want them to be true. I want this relationship to be real, and not some made-up scenario to ward off an uninhibited physical therapist.
“Will you be my girlfriend?” he asks with playfulness in his tone.
“If I must.” I keep my response neutral even though I’m freaking the hell out.
Though I know our relationship is purely a ruse, I can’t help feeling like it’s more than that. Lately, the conversations I’ve had with Kade have been more intimate and more frequent than before. He has gone out of his way to see me and talk to me. And let’s not forget the kiss or the way our bodies connected when we were dancing together. Each moment we have shared has been leading up to something more than friendship, but this situation isn’t it.
“Well, I need to head to work. I’ll be back with your lunch, Brit. Text me if there are any updates about D.”
“I will. And thanks again for the food.”
“You two lovebirds have a great morning,” Sydnee adds with a laugh as she heads off to work.
Sydnee's career started in hospitality at a nearby five-star resort. It didn't take her long to climb the corporate ladder. She went from checking people in and out, to managing the front desk staff in no time at all, but she wanted to do so much more with her career. When the hotel's event manager was overwhelmed, Sydnee stepped in to assist him. The more she worked with him, the more she fell in love with becoming an event planner.
On a whim, my incredibly intelligent best friend decided to start her own business and become a contract event planner. She started making the rounds from one winery to the next. To her surprise, a few wineries—all of them big-name wineries in our area—were quick to respond. From there, Sydnee’s business boomed.
Of course, my family's winery was her first official client. I called dibs when she was toying with the idea of becoming an event planner. I had been doing that daunting task ever since I’d graduated from college, and even though my events were crowd-pleasers, they didn’t compare to Sydnee's spectacular events. Planning someone's party while wearing two to three other "hats" in the family business was exhausting. With Sydnee under contract, I became happier and less stressed. But more importantly, my parents were pleased. I’ve only ever heard words of praise from her other clients, including her former employer.
I finish the meal that Sydnee was kind enough to bring to me and settle back into the reclining chair. An awkward silence lingers between Kade and me, which is my fault, not his. Being Kade’s girlfriend is my wish come true, but playing the pretend girlfriend is only going to hurt me when he’s out of here in a day or so.
“Hey. Are you okay?” Kade’s voice cuts through the quietness.
“I’m fine,” I lie. Kade doesn’t need to know the crazy going on inside my head.