Determination Read Online Free PDF Page A

room.
    “Anywhoo, we were in New Orleans, which is fabulous by the way. If you ever have a chance to go, you totally should.” Alex’s free hand was waving in the air as he continued to talk animatedly about spending the week in New Orleans as if I hadn’t been there with them. I never could understand what Brandon and some of the other guys had against Alex, because he was an amazing person.
    “So, the friend that I flew down with kind of ditched me when we got to the hotel and took off with another guy,” Alex said and rolled his eyes. I giggled again, and Brian chuckled as he draped some kind of medical paper over my bare abdomen.
    “Brian, you just need to cover the area surrounding the burn to keep it sterile. Make sure that you can see all of the affected area,”
    Richard said quietly from the computer, and I’d nearly forgotten he was still watching. I wondered how he was going to feel about listening to Determination
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    Alex’s account of his time with Mike, but I could focus on only so many things at one time, so I concentrated on Alex’s voice and nothing else as Em walked back into the room.
    “But this guy that I roomed with instead, Jamie… God, he was so hot. That first night, we were getting ready for bed. It had been such a long day that I was almost asleep when he came out of the bathroom after his shower, but wow. He walked out in just a towel, and I swear I nearly creamed my superhero jammie bottoms!”
    “Jesus Christ,” Mike muttered from the floor with a barely concealed laugh. The bottom of the bed dipped, and I glanced over to see that Mike had moved up onto the bed near my feet. The look he gave Alex was indulgent but sweet, as if there were no one else in the world he’d rather see. I saw that look often, in Brian’s eyes.
    “Okay, now take out the sterile scissors and tweezers. You need to remove as much of the damaged skin as you can, and then treat the burn with the Silvadene.” Richard’s voice came again from the small speakers, and Alex stroked my hair as he continued to talk to me in that same cheery tone.
    “So, that next night, we went out dancing. Emilio went too,” Alex said with a smile over at Emilio, who assisted Brian by carefully removing the medical supplies from their packages with gloved hands.
    Alex’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “Then he ran off with a hot bayou boy, and we didn’t see him again.” I looked over at Emilio, who smiled cheekily and continued with his work.
    “And what did you guys do?” I asked Alex, not too interested in the answer but more to distract myself from the sight of Brian with those little scissors over my stomach.
    “We were on the dance floor, and Mike was dancing behind me.
    He slid his fingers up under my shirt and moved against me. It wasn’t anything aggressive, just light and fun. But, God, Jamie, I was so turned on, I almost came right there on the dance floor!” Alex finished in a squeal, and I felt something hard and sharp hit my chest.
    “Ow!” I whimpered and rubbed my chest under the paper drapes.
    “What the hell?”
    “Sorry, I’m sorry,” Brian murmured and quickly snatched the scissors from where they’d fallen on my chest. I looked up at him and 20
    Jamie Mayfield

    noticed that his face was bright red; a flush had crept over his forehead, his cheeks, and even his neck. I wondered if he’d blushed so deeply because of Alex telling his story where Richard could hear, but then he hadn’t acted like that when Alex talked about Mike coming out of the shower. Mike snorted, and it felt like I was missing a joke. I wanted to ask one of them about it, but then those scissors moved toward my stomach. I tensed all over, all thoughts of Brian’s embarrassment forgotten.
    “S-so, what do you like about him?” I asked as my body broke out in a cold sweat in the warm room.
    “Close your eyes, Jamie,” Alex whispered as he took my hand. “It will be over soon, hon.” Not wanting to see