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MY BOYFRIEND’S DOCTOR DADDY
MY BOYFRIEND’S DAD: BOOK 2
1
HALEY
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I know I’ve made a mistake when I’m sitting at work, with a miniature trash can in my lap and my stomach churning…thirty minutes after I clock out. And that mistake’s name is Alex.
“Haley,” Emily says from the doorway to the break room, concern lacing her voice. “Why the hell are you still here? You need to go to the doctor!”
“I’m fine,” I groan, face halfway in the trash can. “I’m going home in like, five minutes.”
My coworker comes in and slides into one of the hard plastic chairs across the table from me, frowning. “Do you need a ride home? I can take a break and–”
“No, no,” I cut her off, forcing myself to my feet. My head spins, but I clench my teeth and ignore it. “I’m going right now. Don’t worry about it.”
I gather my things from my locker, slinging my bag over my shoulder and snatching a water bottle from the communal refrigerator. Emily continues to watch me with a disapproving look on her face. We’ve worked together for almost a year now at the Novels-A-Plenty bookstore, an enormous two-story establishment downtown. During that time, Emily and I have become friends, but I have a hard time letting people into my personal life.
Alex was the exception, but now, after the way things have worked out between us, I should have kept him at a distance, too.
“You’ve been getting sick for hours, Haley. I don’t think this is something you can just go home and sleep off,” she points out as I slip my jacket on. “Just let me get you an Uber and you can go to Urgent Care. It doesn’t close for a few more hours.”
I shake my head. “If I get worse I’ll go, but right now I’m just desperate for bed.”
She gives me an eye roll but doesn’t press me any further, just telling me to call her any time if I need her. I feel a little glow of warmth at the thought that she cares so much, but it’s quickly driven away by another wave of nausea. Rushing out of the bookstore, I sigh as I get an inkling of relief as the cool evening air hits my face. I don’t even mind the misty, barely-there rain on my fevered skin. Anything is better than just burning up.
I’m only four blocks from home, but the walk feels like it lasts a lifetime. I have to dip into an alleyway to dry heave, but I’ve long since thrown up everything in my stomach, so it’s a pointless exercise. I hate knowing that I should have been home in bed already, except for the fact that I stayed late hoping to throw a certain someone off my schedule.
That someone being Alex Harvey. My well-meaning but incredibly overbearing ex-boyfriend. We were together for around two months, but each date we went on, I was more and more sure he wasn’t the one for me.
For Alex, though, it seemed to be the opposite. Since I told him that I didn’t think we were working out, his interest has increased tenfold. When the flowers he kept sending to my job and apartment weren’t getting a reaction, he switched tactics to showing up at my place and waiting outside until I returned from my shifts. Alex has been getting pushier and pushier, wanting a second chance with me, but I just can’t make myself be interested in him anymore.
Now, I’m doing everything I can to avoid seeing him, even staying late at work to try and throw him off.
I can only hope I waited long enough that he’s given up and left, but as soon as I turn the corner and see my apartment building, my hopes are dashed. There, sitting on the stoop, is Alex, staring at his phone and waiting contentedly.
Something about knowing that I’m going to have to deal with him makes my stomach clench even harder and my head pound. The stress and the sickness combine, and the world spins around me. Alex or not, I need to get inside and into bed. I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to last.
Blackness is pushing in at the edges of my vision when Alex spots me, hopping up from the stoop with a bright smile on his face. “Haley! You’re back!”
I try to push past him, saying, “Not right now, Alex. I’m sick.”
He manages to get a better look at my face and his smile quickly fades. “Whoa, Hales, you look really bad. Are you okay?”
“Sick,” I mutter, feeling the acid in my stomach working its way up my throat and my vision going darker by the second. “Need sleep. Please get out of my way.”
Alex moves aside slightly, but I can’t even get up the stairs to the front door of the apartment building, slumping against the railing with a groan. I feel Alex grabbing my shoulders to steady me, and I don’t have the strength to shrug him off.
“Haley,” Alex’s voice sounds like it’s coming from down a long hallway. “Forget any dating stuff. You need a doctor.”
“No,” I groan. “Too expensive…”
“Don’t worry about that. I know someone who will see you for cheap,” he insists, already pulling up the Uber app on his phone and making the reservation. “For right now, just sit down. We don’t need you passing out on the concrete.”
Alex helps me to sit, and I lean my head against the metal railing, eyes closed. I barely hear him say, “And maybe once you’re better this will prove that I’m the right man for you.”
