“How far I’m going to be able to push you before you decide to push back.”
Chapter 18
“I hear you’re going to be helping us,” someone said, drawing Sloane’s attention away from the little boy that giggled every time she touched his legs to find an incredibly handsome man with a boyish smile watching her.
“I guess that’s the plan,” Sloane said with a warm smile for Teddy as she carefully placed his braces back on his legs.
Once she was done, Sloane moved to pick him up only to have the large man gently push her hands away. “Ready?” he asked, smiling down at the little boy who’d gone through hell as he carefully picked him up and placed him in the small wheelchair that was still too big for him.
“Can we go in the pool next time, Ryan?” Teddy asked, shooting the large man a pleading smile.
“That’s up to Sloane,” Ryan said as Sloane spotted the excited smile on Deb’s face before she pulled it back so that she could continue glaring at Sloane. No matter how many times she’d tried to tell the little girl that she hadn’t beaten Chase with a two-by-four, she refused to believe her.
She was going to kill Chase, Sloane decided even as she couldn’t help but wonder how his first therapy session was going. Since she hadn’t heard anyone yelling, “Asshole,” she was going to assume that it was going well.
“Can we go in the pool, Sloane?” Teddy asked, folding his hands together in front of him as he sent her a hopeful smile that she was helpless to refuse.
“I suppose we could do that,” Sloane said, unable to help but smile as she picked up the equipment they’d used and put everything back where she’d found it.
“What do you think of this place?” Ryan asked when she finished.
“I think it’s beautiful,” she said, joining him as he pushed Teddy back toward the waiting room where a woman was filling out paperwork with a red crayon.
“Kylie was supposed to welcome you, but…” Ryan said, his words trailing off as he glanced toward the front desk where an adorable woman was frowning down at an iPad in her hands, mumbling, “This format just isn’t going to work for me,” as a large man who looked like he loved to glare reached for the iPad only to have his hand gently slapped away.
“I’ll see you next week,” Deb said coldly, drawing Sloane’s attention to find the little girl glaring at her as she grabbed her brother’s wheelchair and began pushing it toward the back.
“I’ll be counting down the minutes,” Sloane said, feeling her lips twitch when the little girl’s eyes narrowed on her as Teddy said, “Bye, Sloane!”
“Looks like you made some friends,” Ryan murmured only to rectify that when Deb mouthed, “Next week,” to her. “Well, it looks like you made one friend.”
“She’ll warm up to me,” Sloane said, determined to win the little girl over because she would be damned if she was going to sit back and watch as Chase was given the best tiara again.
“I’m sure she will,” Ryan murmured, sounding thoughtful as her attention was drawn back to the small woman behind the desk and
“You’ll have to excuse Hunter. He’s an asshole,” Ryan said, sounding amused as the large man in question narrowed his eyes on them.
“Stop being mean,” Kylie mumbled absently, earning a pleased look from the man sitting next to her.
“He’s gotten worse since he found out that she’s pregnant,” Ryan explained, chuckling as he gestured for her to join him at the front desk.
“He really has,” Kylie admitted with a soft sigh, earning a glare from her husband.
“Congratulations,” Sloane said, unable to help but notice the way that Hunter’s face lit up when he looked at his wife.
“Thank you,” Kylie said, smiling shyly only to look amused when the woman that had been filling out paperwork walked over and exchanged her red crayon for a blue one.
“Quick question,” the woman said, adjusting a large black backpack over her shoulder, “Do you think an unfortunate weekend that ended with streaking would be enough to stop me from being allowed to volunteer here?”
Before anyone had a chance to answer, mostly because they all appeared to be struggling not to smile, she said, “You know what? I’m just going to put it down and see where it takes me.”
Clearing her throat, Kylie’s lips twitched as she said, “Grey is partial to green crayon, Nikki.”
Nikki looked thoughtful for a moment as she considered her crayon choices only to end up nodding toward Hunter. “Wouldn’t it be better if he interviewed me since he doesn’t look like he’d put up with my shenanigans?” she asked, looking really hopeful.
“I’m not allowed to interview anyone,” Hunter said with a glare aimed at his wife.
“I see,” Nikki murmured, looking thoughtful as she reached back and pulled a large yellow envelope out of her bag. “This might change your mind, Mr. O’Mallery.”
At Hunter’s glare, Nikki said. “That’s so cute that you don’t think that I would know who you are.”
“What’s this?” Hunter asked, throwing her a questioning look as he reached over and picked up the envelope.
“On the house,” Nikki said with a wink as she tossed her crayon back in the bucket, grabbed a green crayon and returned to her chair.
Frowning, Hunter opened the envelope and
“If you’ll excuse me,” he murmured as his lips pulled up into a shit-eating grin before he walked off, but not before he threw a curious look toward the woman who was now absently humming, “Mmmbop,” as she filled out the rest of her application.
“We’re going to need you to fill out a volunteer application as well,” Ryan said, reaching over to grab a packet off the desk.
“Of course,” Sloane said, smiling as she accepted the thick packet that was going to take her most of the night to fill out.
“I’m not sure what Grey discussed with you, but we”
“I haven’t actually had a chance to talk to Grey about this yet,” Sloane said, glancing down at the packet.
“Well, you can make your own hours, decide what patients you work with, and if you need something, just let us know and we’ll get it for you. You can also feel free to use the facilities to work with Chase whenever you want.”
“That sounds fine,” Sloane said, nodding absently because this would actually be perfect. She could do the basics with Chase at home, but it wouldn’t be enough. The pool would definitely help, especially since Chase didn’t have one at his house.
“How long is your leave of absence?” Ryan said, drawing her attention. With a shrug, he said, “There isn’t much that we don’t know about you.”
“Six months,” Sloane said, unable to help but frown in confusion because she only sent the email yesterday.
“Shadow Security checks everyone before they’re allowed through those doors,” Ryan explained at her questioning look with a warm smile and a pointed look at the security doors.
“Good to know,” she murmured, guessing that’s how they knew that she’d worked at a physical therapist office to help pay for college. At one time, she’d hoped to become a physical therapist but–