Rowena“You taste sweet.”I was left stunned beneath the bright flashing lights of the homecoming dance. In an instant, Eric was gone; I was alone on the dance floor after an intense kiss with…My brother?This had to be a joke. But even if it was, it was too far. The incident in my room on the couch was bad enough, but this? This was way over the line.Suddenly, I felt a hand on my arm. I spun around, breathless, to see Adrian standing there. He still looked a bit confused. “You okay?” he asked. “Your brother took you away so abruptly. Did he need to talk to you or something?”I swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, uh… We just needed to talk. I’m sorry,” I said. “I hope your dance with Heather was nice.”Adrian shrugged. “Want another drink?”“I, um…” I froze, staring down at my empty hand where the punch cup had been before but was gone now. The idea of sipping a bit more to calm my nerves was appealing, but…“I think I actually need to go home,” I blurted out.Adrian’s eyes widened. “What?
RowenaI sank down into the hard plastic chair of my little office and looked around with a sigh.How was this possible? For three weeks, I had been working my ass off in the manager’s office. For three weeks, I had been receiving top scores in my internship assessments. Hell, since I had come to this school, I had done nothing but prove my abilities and my worth.
RowenaEric’s hand felt like an electric shock as his fingers grazed across my cheek.I slapped it away. His eyebrows shot up in surprise as I wrenched my wrist out of his other hand and walked across the room.“Enough of that,” I ordered. “I’m tired of your pranks.”
Rowena“Eric, I want you to teach me how to swim.”My words came out so fast that even I was just as surprised at hearing them. Eric blinked at me as he propped himself up on one elbow.“What?” he asked with a slight chuckle. “You’re serious?”
Rowena & EricRowenaI dried myself by the poolside. In the stone fire pit on the patio, a crackling fire flickered beneath the night sky. It warmed my skin—soothing after nearly half an hour spent in the water.Eric, who was sitting in one of the chairs by the fire with his feet up and his hands clasped behind his head, smirked at me.
RowenaWith a grunt, I pushed the table up against the wall of my little closet office. I took a step back, dusting my hands off as I inspected my handiwork.“That’ll do, I guess,” I muttered. One of the janitors had let me take an unused table from one of the storage closets to serve as a makeshift exam table. It wasn’t ideal, but it would do; after all, I needed someplace to examine any patients that came in.
Rowena“Ouch!” Eric held his head where I bumped it, rubbing it in an exaggerated manner. “Manager, I think I need to be treated for a concussion now.”As he spoke, I saw the hint of a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. He wasn’t hurt at all. I felt a blush creep into my cheeks, however, and I quickly jumped away from Eric as Adrian stepped into the room.
Rowena“Everything looks good here. You’re all set to go.”I leaned back from my current patient, a brown-haired warrior with a tattoo of a tree on his arm. He was in perfectly healthy condition; his musculature was completely symmetrical, his eyesight was perfect, and his heart and lungs sounded strong and steady.