Egomaniac

“I don’t think it’s broken.” The emergency room doctor had my swollen ankle in his hand. It was already turning blue. “But we’ll take an X-ray to be sure.”

“Thank you.”

“The nurse will be by in a few minutes to get some information, and then she’ll call for the X-ray technician.”

“Okay.” I turned to Drew. “This is all your fault.”

“My fault?”

“Yes. You were making me go too fast.”

“Too fast? A grandmother pushing a bucket on the ice lapped us. You shouldn’t have let go of my hand.”

“I got scared.”

We’d ice skated for more than two hours, and I still couldn’t seem to get the hang of it. Because I was so unsteady on my feet, my ankles were constantly wobbling back and forth, which caused my skate to loosen. The last time I fell, there’d been no ankle support, and I twisted the damn thing. It hurt, but I hadn’t thought it was broken.

Drew, however, took one look at the swelling and decided we needed a visit to the ER. There was no talking him out of it. His buddy, Roman, had met us in front of the hospital and took Beck back to his place so Drew could stay with me.

The nurse came by with a clipboard. “I need to ask you some questions. Your husband can stay if you want, but he’ll need to step out when the technician comes to shoot the X-ray.”

“He’s not…” I motioned between Drew and me. “We’re not married.”

The nurse smiled. Not at me, but at Drew. She also batted her eyelashes.

Really?

“Well, then I’ll need to ask you to step outside,” she told him. “I’ll come get you after I finish asking your…”

She waited for Drew to fill in the blank.

“Girlfriend.”

“Oh. Yes. I’ll come get you when I finish with your girlfriend.”

Was I imagining it or had she been fishing to see if we were together? Drew kissed me on the forehead and said he’d be back. As soon as he left, the nurse started rattling off medical questions. Only then did it hit me that Drew had just called me his girlfriend.

“I can walk.”

Drew had just scooped me up for the tenth time. He’d carried me from the rink to the cab, from the cab into the hospital, from the hospital into the cab, and from the cab all the way up to his apartment where he proceeded to set me up on the couch with my foot elevated. Just as the doctor instructed.

Now, he’d just had food delivered, and he was carrying me to the table.

“Doctor said not to put weight on it.”

“It’s fine. It’s just a sprain. The boot will stop me from putting too much weight on it anyway.”

Beck pulled out the chair as his father approached with me cradled in his arms. Roman, who had been taking containers of food out of the cardboard delivery box, looked at us funny. Today was my first time meeting him, and he probably thought I was a drama queen.

“I’m so embarrassed. I swear I’m not usually this big of a klutz.”

Roman continued to take in the scene before him, watching as Drew set me down and proceeded to scoop food onto the plate in front of me. I got the feeling Roman was a man who didn’t miss much.

“You’re fine. Florence Nightingale here shouldn’t have let you fall.”

Drew growled. “I didn’t let her fall. She let go of my hand.”

I winked at Roman, letting him know we were on the same page, then deadpanned. “He let me fall.”

“Bullshit.” Drew froze with a tray of ziti in his hand. He’d already shoveled way too much onto my plate. He looked to me and then to Roman. “I didn’t drop her, but I’m going to drop you if you keep starting shit.”

“Watch your language,” I said.

Roman just chuckled.

Dinner was far from peaceful. First Drew and I disagreed over politics, and then Roman, Drew, and Beck had a heated discussion about who was going to make it to the playoffs in hockey this season. It was loud, and we occasionally talked over each other, but I couldn’t remember the last time I’d enjoyed a meal so much.

After we finished, Drew insisted I couldn’t help cleanup and toted me back to the living room. Roman, who Drew had instructed to help clean up, cracked a beer and joined me instead.

“Want a beer?”

“No, thanks.” I slouched down on the couch and folded my hands over my stomach. “I’m too full from the twenty pounds of pasta and chicken parmigiana Drew piled on my plate.”

Roman took a draw on his beer, watching me over the top. “You two fight a lot?”

I smiled. “We actually do.”

“That’s his tell.”

Confusion must have been apparent on my face, because Roman set his beer bottle on his knee and elaborated. “We met in sixth grade. I stole his girlfriend—”

I interrupted. “The way Drew tells the story, he stole your girlfriend before you bonded over the chicken pox.”

“He told you about that?”

I nodded. “He did. It was an oddly sweet story. He told it with reverence.”

“Anyway, the two of us have been fighting since sixth grade. But he’s also my best friend. Him and his old man were closer than any father and son I’d ever met. They fought daily. It’s not a coincidence that he argues for a living, too.” Roman sipped from his beer and seemed to ponder his next words. “Wanna know how I knew it wasn’t going to work out with Alexa?”

“How?”

“They never argued. Not until the end when she started to show her true colors as the selfish bitch she always was. And that’s a different type of fighting than Drew does when he loves.”

“We’re not—”

Roman leaned back into the couch with an easy smile. “I know. I can see that neither of you have figured it out yet. Talk to me in a month or two.”

“There’s night construction on 49th, you should try 51st.”

“Jesus Christ, you’re a pain in the ass,” Drew mumbled as he made a sharp left turn.

We’d argued for a half-hour over my going home. He wanted me to stay at his place so he could help me get around. But with his son there, it wasn’t the right thing to do. Eventually he gave in, but we waited until after Beck went to sleep. Then Roman had stayed so Drew could drive me home.

When we arrived at my building, I made a half-assed attempt at arguing against him carrying me, then gave up. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I leaned in to enjoy it.

“You might want to think about cutting back on the burgers,” Drew teased.

“Watch it. Any fat jokes and I’ll be cutting back on all meat.”

“You’re full of shit. You like my meat way too much.”

“You’re so full of yourself.”

“Maybe. But you’re going to be full of me in about five minutes, too.”

The elevator door opened. “We don’t have time for that. You need to get back so Roman can get home.”

“Screw Roman.” One of the hands cradling me slipped down to my ass and squeezed hard. “I’ve had your ass in my hands all day. We’re getting naked.”

“What if I don’t invite you in?”

“Good point. Maybe I should fuck you right here in the elevator then.” He pointed his chin up to a small camera in the corner of the car. “Someone might be watching. Give ’em a good show.”

I’d been leaning my head against Drew’s chest, so I tilted it back to look up at him. His eyes were filled with heat. If we didn’t get up to the privacy of my apartment, there was a chance someone really might be getting a show. But why weren’t we moving yet?

“Did you push my floor?”

“Fuck,” Drew chuckled and leaned forward to push the button on the elevator panel. Just before the doors slid together, an arm stopped them from closing.

Of course, it had to be Baldwin.

He looked at me in Drew’s arms and then saw the boot strapped up my leg. “Emerie? What happened?”

I felt the grip around me tighten.

“I fell ice skating. It’s just a sprain.”

Baldwin eyed Drew.

What the hell? Does he need verification?

“She’s been checked out. It’s not broken,” Drew said curtly. His jaw was set so tightly, I could see the muscle flexing.

The elevator door closed, and the inside of the car became worse than awkward. It felt…suffocating. The two men stood side by side. I suddenly wished I’d argued more about being carried. By the time we got to the third floor, I was certain there wasn’t much oxygen left in the quiet car. Baldwin extended his arm to let us get out first.

I attempted to find my keys in my purse, but it was difficult in my current position. When Drew stopped in front of my door, I said, “Would you mind putting me down so I can find my keys?”

He lowered me gently, keeping his arm around me to reduce the weight on my foot.

Baldwin stopped at my door. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but Drew beat me to it.

“I’ll take care of whatever she needs.”

Baldwin pretty much ignored him. “I can drop you at the office in the morning and pick you up.”

“I have a car,” Drew muttered as he took the keys from my hand and unlocked the door.

“It’s not necessary for you to come out of your way. We’re leaving from the same place, and I can route myself to drop you on my way to the university.”

I ignored the eyes burning into me and turned to Baldwin. “That would be great. Thank you. Or I can take a cab. I don’t want Drew having to come all this way uptown in the morning, especially dragging his son with him.”

“Then it’s settled. Text me in the morning if you need help getting ready or anything.”

“Thank you.”

Baldwin gave Drew a nod and then finally went to his apartment. The entire encounter had probably lasted the sum total of three minutes, but it felt like hours.

Inside, I flicked on the lights and busied myself taking off my coat. Drew was quiet, and I sensed a comment coming. After a minute, I started to relax and think maybe it was all in my head, that I had misjudged the situation and the awkwardness was only felt by me.

I was wrong.

“That guy’s an asshole.”

“What did he do?”

Drew must have taken my question as defending Baldwin. His entire demeanor changed. “Do you want to fuck him?”

“What? No! Where the hell did that come from?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I gotta go. I don’t want Beck to wake up and me not be back yet.”

While I could understand that, five minutes ago he hadn’t been planning on rushing back. Drew had just gone from desperate to be with me to desperate to get away from me in under five minutes flat.

“What just happened here?”

“Do you want me to take that brace off of you or do anything before I leave?”

Frustrated, I snapped at him. “No. Just go.”

I pressed my head against the door after shutting it behind him. My mind was spinning, but the same question kept running through it:

Do I want to sleep with Baldwin?