Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 9

couldn't believe he'd grabbed Eli's ear. On the upside, he hadn't grabbed Eli's ass. He'd warned Eli he got loopy and the man still gave him the shot, so in a way it was Eli's own fault. And then he had to tell Abby about the pink thing? Eli was mean, that was all there was to it. He was a mean nasty snotty asshole. Who was so fucking hot James had been jerking off to fantasies of him for weeks. He was glad his left arm was broken, not his right.
    But the cast was off now; he was perfectly fine, even if he'd had to have someone else teach the surfing unit while he'd supervised from the beach.
    Next weekend was Halloween. His parents always had their big Star Trek themed Halloween party. It was wild, with the Trekkies really getting into it. It was like a Con but slightly smaller and with more booze. He didn't always go, although he had the requisite costume, actually more than one. Even Dedrick had a costume this year, a little tiny yeoman with a red shirt. Poor kid, he was doomed. The red shirt always got picked off first. Of course, he'd be in bed by nine o'clock anyway.
    James had been thinking about Eli and the whole Trekkie thing. The guy was definitely uptight and stressed - he even smoked, which wasn't something James was into. Surely as a doctor he knew that was bad for him? But then he'd heard about doctors who were hooked on all kinds of drugs, especially high pressure ER doctors, so he supposed cigarettes was the lesser of several evils. He knew personally he'd rather have a doctor work on him who was hooked on nicotine instead of alcohol or oxycontin.
    When he was at his parents for dinner, he'd picked up one of their Halloween invitations. The party was invitation-only - with suitably kitschy invites. James didn't make any promises, but he'd mentioned that Eli was kind of a fan and his parents were thrilled that they might get to meet the man who'd stitched Dedrick's head. His mom gave him a look and winked when he told them about Eli, which garnered her an eye roll. She was a matchmaker; his dad was oblivious.
    Before driving over, James had called the hospital to see if Eli was working. Amazingly they told him he was. He'd expected to get the whole "we can't tell you that" speech. As James walked toward the ER entrance, he couldn't believe how nervous he was. He never got nervous about guys. Well, truth be told, he hadn't asked one out in... forever… and never one as hot as Eli. Before he got to the entrance, he glanced over - sure enough, Eli and his cigarette were skulking by a palm tree. Well, maybe not skulking, but hunched.
    James turned with a big grin and headed Eli's way. The butterflies in his stomach were the good kind. "Eli, hi."
    Eli's head jerked up. His expression was not exactly welcoming. "You are stalking me." He took a deep drag on his cigarette and exhaled.
    James' feet stuttered, and he came to a stop in front of him. "Um. Not really. I phoned and they said you were working and I, uh, so..." He hadn't expected this kind of reception.
    Eli knew he was snarling; it wasn't James' fault, but it had been a bitch of a day. Some idiot had decided to burn his house down with his kids in it rather than let his wife have custody. Both dead - the father survived, of course. Eli just couldn't cope with 'happy smiley the world is a great place' James. He wanted to wallow and scream and beat someone up. Preferably the asshole in the burn unit. He hoped that guy suffered…a lot.
    He watched James drop his gaze to the ground and swallow. Shit. Now he felt guilty on top of being angry. "Oh, well," James continued to stutter, "well, I just wanted to give you this, I thought you might enjoy it. My parents have a big Trek party on Halloween, but whatever, just, anyway..." He trailed off and held out an envelope, which Eli finally took.
    James backed up a step. "Don't worry - I likely won't go, so if you want to go you won't have to deal with me. You can take someone with you or whatever. Anyway, take care."
    As James turned to leave, Eli spoke up. "James." James paused. "God, I'm sorry. It's not your fault. It's just, well, a bitch of a day. Sometimes..." He shrugged.
    There was a moment of silence, then James turned around, walked to Eli and leaned back on the wall beside him. "Wanna talk about it?"
    "No, it's fine."
    "Bullshit."
    "It's not something you want to hear about."
    "Yes, I do. Spill."
    No way was Eli going to tell James anything. He'd never shared this shit with Nate; Nate hadn't wanted