The Off Limits Rule (It Happened in Nashville 1)

“That’s great, man. Just don’t let Lucy be your test subject.”

Test subject. Those words feel like acid on my tongue as I repeat them to myself on my drive home from the bar. Test subject. Is that really what he thinks I would do? It’s clear that Drew has a different opinion of me than I’ve had of myself. I don’t know; part of me wants to be ticked at him, but another part wonders if I’d react any differently if I had a sister and the roles were reversed. Nope. I’d probably be giving him crap too.

Lucy is officially off limits. I know I need to get her out of my head, but I can’t.

And as I pull up to my house and park in the driveway, a queasy feeling settles into my stomach at the thought of not seeing her again. She’s unlike any other woman I’ve ever known, and I feel a pull to her that I don’t know how to deny. What if Drew is wrong and Lucy is the one for me that everyone talks about? My soul mate or whatever.

Shoot, even worse, my body is having a physical reaction to the thought of not seeing her again. I suddenly feel sick, and achy, and…okay, so maybe this is not entirely due to Lucy? What are the odds the burger I had at the bar gave me food poisoning?

Pretty high, considering the way I spend the next hour of my life. And because no one should be judged harshly for decisions they make on their deathbed, I don’t want to hear any crap about the fact that I call Lucy, hoping she’ll come over and take care of me.

I’ve just finished singing Levi a song and scratching his back until he falls asleep when Cooper calls. It’s a little strange that he’s actually calling me instead of texting, but we’re friends, right? Friends call friends.

“Cooper. Hey,” I say in my totally-cool-I-have-cute-guys-calling-me-all-the-time tone.

“Hi, Lucy,” he says in a gritty voice that immediately makes alarms blare in my head.

“Why do you sound like you’re knocking on death’s door?” I ask while shutting my door so Drew doesn’t overhear.

He sounds like a lifelong smoker when he says, “Because I am, in fact, dying.”

“What?! What’s wrong?” Okay, Luce, let’s take it down just a bit.

“I have food poisoning. I can’t keep anything down.”

“Oh, Cooper. Where are you right now?”

He breathes deeply for two seconds before answering. “In my hallway. On the floor. I can’t make it to my room.” He sounds so pitiful and miserable that I can’t think of anything other than going straight over there and helping.

But I don’t know if I should. It’s not really my place to go nurse him back to health, and given the other night, when I tried to kiss him and he rejected me, it seems a little strange for him to be calling me. Isn’t that the kind of thing you call a girlfriend for? “Do…you have anyone who can come take care of you?” I chicken out at the last second and add, “Like your mom?”

“I’m sure she would if I asked, but she and my dad live in a retirement community about seven hours away.”

Right. “So you don’t have anyone? Like…Bailey maybe?” I press the palm of my hand to my head, feeling like such an idiot for asking. What am I trying to get him to say here? The man is clearly miserable, and I’m trying to get him to DTR a relationship we don’t even have! I’ve totally lost my mind.

“Uh—no. Bailey…I don’t want to call Bailey.”

My heart soars on the back of a magical tiny hummingbird. I feel weightless. I don’t know what it means yet, but Cooper is calling me, hoping I will come take care of him. And I refuse to think so lowly of myself that I believe he’s only chosen me because I’m a mom and have excellent bedside manners. There’s something here. I just don’t know what it is yet.

“Cooper…” I say, unable to keep the smile from my voice, “are you calling because you want me to come over and take care of you?”

There’s a tiny pause, and I hear him swallow. “Yeah. It’s embarrassing.”

Light bursts from my cheeks like I have just harnessed my superpowers for the first time. I feel invincible. “I’ll be right over.”

After I hang up, I carry the baby monitor out to Drew, who is watching TV in the living room, and tell him one of my friends is sick and needs me to help. I purposely avoid any pronoun usage because I am an evil genius, and thankfully, hearing the urgency in my voice, Drew spares me the third degree. Tomorrow is Saturday, so he tells me he doesn’t have to go into the office, and he’ll take care of breakfast for Levi if I’m late.

Guilt over lying to Drew tries to claw its way across my skin, but I refuse to let it, because I’m lying to him with noble intentions, right?

I’m standing at Cooper’s door, waiting for him to answer and feeling too excited for someone who’s about to aid a sick man. This is when I realize my crush might be getting a little out of control.

When he doesn’t answer the door after I knock, I pull out my phone and call him.

He just grunts when it connects.

“Hey, I’m here.”

“Is the door not unlocked?” he asks, sounding way worse than earlier.