Page 10 of Paths
Addy is looking at me with wide eyes and a hint of a smile playing on her pretty face. Crew’s head is tipped, but his facial features have barely changed even if his eyes do appear curious.
But Grady?
No, Grady is about to come out of his skin. If I thought he was irritated before, it’s nothing compared to now.
“I mean…” I start to backtrack, spinning my wheels, trying to make my knowledge of the scalpula, humerus, and the glenoid cavity sound like I merely enjoy perusing WebMD for light reading. “It only makes sense, you know, that not moving it for so long would be bad, right? Like when you sit for too long and you’re stiff when you get up. You clearly take care of yourself—it’s plain to see simply by your pectorals, deltoids, and brachioradialis. You look like you lift and work out regularly.”
Addy grins and Crew’s dimple barely appears, but Grady’s frown softens a bit when I realize I’m going on about Grady’s body right in front of Grady. This would be bad anytime, but spewing about his beautifully-built body right in front of him is downright embarrassing.
“Not that I’m looking.” I try and make it better, even though I doubt anything could improve the situation at this point, besides me disappearing and reappearing in a foreign land, never to see him again. Because right now, this is bad, bad, bad, and since disappearing isn’t an earthly option, I need to make it better. “It’s just, how can I not look? Wait, I don’t mean look, I’m not looking. I mean it’s easy to see. Although, I guess seeing is the same as looking. Maybe notice is a better word. I’ve noticed you take care of yourself and it would be … well … sad for you not to be able to do that anymore, so I assumed some type of therapy might help you with that. But, really, never mind.” I take a big breath and decide to change the subject. I’m sure the smile I try for comes across painful, because it sure feels that way. “Would you like to hear the specials?”
Ignoring my little rant, Addy asserts, “You sound like you know what you’re talking about.”
It’s clear what she means, but I fake it all the same. “Yes, I memorize the specials every day.”
Crew is no-nonsense when he points out, “She means the medical stuff, Maya.”
Now I’m sure my face is pained as I shake my head and shrug. Every time I open my mouth it gets worse, so I bite my lip.
“Are you a doctor?” Addy asks.
“Oh, no, no-no. I’m not a doctor,” I say, happy for once, to tell the truth.
“A nurse?” Crew goes on.
I shake my head again, not liking their interrogation.
“You’re something. Come on, Maya. It’s apparent you know what you’re talking about. There’s no reason to be so tight-lipped, and I know you’ve never waited tables before you started working for me. What do you really do?” Addy pushes.
“You’re a physical therapist,” Crew states, as if he was at my graduation from PT school.
I open my mouth to refute him, but realize I’ve said too much—given away everything I meant to hold dear. As much as I didn’t want them to know anything about me, I do wonder if it’s better than admitting to being a creeper. Even if I have daydreamed of running my fingers over every honed muscle on his body as I reviewed my knowledge of the muscular system, I certainly don’t need to let them in on my fascination of everything Grady.
“Maybe?” I sort of answer.
“You are?” Addy’s shocked. “I thought you were an activities director.”
“Oh, I’m that, too,” I answer carefully. There’s no need for them to know I’m new to the senior citizen circuit. “I’m sort of waiting for the PT position to open up at the Ranch. I like it there and it’ll be full time.”
I try and ignore Crew, who seems to be assessing me in a way I don’t like. Grady opens his mouth to say something, but Addy interrupts him.
“This is perfect. You’re a physical therapist and Grady doesn’t want to go to the doctor.”
Grady looks straight at Addy. “No.”
“Yes,” Addy insists. “You heard what she said. You’re already behind and you don’t want to lose motion. If you refuse to go to the doctor, you can at least work with Maya.”
“I’m fine,” Grady asserts.
I can’t help but sarcastically raise my brows and roll my eyes, because I know for a fact he’ll be anything but fine if he continues to do nothing.
Grady goes on to growl, “Crew, do something.”
Crew looks to his friend and sighs. “If you want to work for me, you need to let her help you. Maya’s right. You can’t lose motion, and you know it.”
Wait, Grady works for Crew? In my attempt to distance myself, I’ve never asked what Crew does, let alone Grady.
Crew looks to Addy and asks her instead of me about my schedule. “When is Maya off?”
