decided instead to walk away. Walk away now before he had anything else to regret. In some ways, he was sorry he had never noticed her before. He’d show her. He wouldn’t hook up with anyone tonight. And if he did, it would only be with her.
The rest of the party was spent mingling. Haley really knew how to plan a party. She had thought of everything. Instead of having a huge birthday cake, she had opted instead to have cupcakes. They were perfect. They came in a variety of flavors. They were low maintenance. And since they were on the dessert table, they were serve-yourself. He rather envied his brother. How in the hell had Sam managed to snag her? She was beautiful and smart and talented. He could see it all. Maybe now he was ready to find someone special to settle down with, too.
Looking around the room, he saw a woman here or there waiting for him to make a move, watching for him to make eye contact. He smiled and was polite, but he didn’t attempt to move beyond that. Mostly what he noticed as he walked around the room was that he had nothing in common with these people. He had been in the hospital for a month before convalescing at his brother’s home. Not one of them stopped by. Nobody here really cared. And he wished that they would all just go. If they weren’t going to go, he would rather just leave.
That’s when Haley came over to sit with him on the black leather living room sofa. “Happy birthday, Adam. I hope this is your best year yet.” She squeezed his arm and then leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek. Sam walked over almost instantly.
“Hey now, you just giving kisses away?” He bent low. “If so, I’m next.” And that comment earned him a kiss and a giggle. “Did you tell him?”
Shaking her head, she said, “Not yet. You want to do the honors, since you seem so excited?”
Sam looked at Adam. And the first thing Adam noticed was that his brother looked like he was absolutely beaming. Still, he was suddenly filled with a sense of foreboding. “We figured you were probably missing your own place and all your things, so we hired a nurse to come stay with you until you are back to par.”
From the look on their faces, he could tell he was supposed to be really excited. This was clearly meant to be a really nice gesture, thoughtful, considerate, a real solution to the problem. Clearly, he was the problem. Only they hadn’t even mentioned it to him. They just…kicked him out. Packed him up and dumped him at his place. Really. All alone.
“Um, maybe it would help if we introduced him to his nurse?” Haley was looking up at Sam with those big green eyes of hers. She wanted the best for him. She was genuine. That he believed.
He looked at Sam. That rat bastard…he just wanted Haley to himself. That was obvious. And no doubt they had found him some huge, hairy nurse who could pick him up if he fell or something.
Nodding, Sam gestured to the woman who had been standing over near the window. It was the same woman he had made eye contact with previously, the one he didn’t recognize, the woman he hadn’t encouraged to talk with him.
“Hello,” she said sensually.
His eyes narrowed. “You are my nurse?” He openly looked her up and down. After assessing the situation, he spoke the first words that came to mind. No sense in censoring now while all the cards were on the table. “You look more like Ferris Bueller’s nurse.” He crossed his arms across his chest to show he wasn’t at all pleased with that idea.
Haley looked confused. “Ferris Bueller’s nurse?”
“Haven’t you ever seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off?” He spat. He was getting more frustrated by the moment. Clearly, they saw him as superficial as he had been feeling. He was the family joke. He could see it now. He was the playboy, the black sheep, the one not to be taken seriously. And really, it was his fault. His chin dropped to his chest and he sighed. Suddenly, more than anything, he wanted to be taken seriously.
He looked at Sam. It wasn’t that long ago that Sam had needed to lighten up and that’s when he found Haley. Maybe he could find the woman to shape him, make him