Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“Mr. Torres doesn’t have a while,” Deacon said quietly. “The guy only has a few months—at the most.”
Now I felt like I had the weight of this man’s life in my hands. I had to get Dex ready for this undertaking, had to encourage him to overcome his fears, and had to do it within a short time frame. “I’ll get him there…somehow.”
20
Dex
When I submitted my two weeks to the lab, they immediately replaced me with somebody else, so I was out of a job for a while. I spent the week kicking back in my apartment and watching TV. I hit the gym more religiously than I used to, even though I was already so fit that a couple extra hours here and there wouldn’t make much of a difference.
I put off my exam as long as I could, but I knew I couldn’t drag it out.
I applied to take it but didn’t bother to study.
Psh, I didn’t need to study.
Everything was fresh in my mind like I’d never stopped practicing. Like my father said, being a doctor wasn’t something that you did; it was who you are. Even when I was working on the concierge team, I would read research articles in my field because I was still curious about advancements. I followed up on my colleagues, always interested to see how they were doing.
I hadn’t heard from Sicily. I imagined she was hustling to get that office ready in record time, and she didn’t text me to ask which positions I would take. It’d already been two weeks, and if I waited any longer, the offers might vanish.
I had to decide.
“Take the research position.” Daisy sat across from me in her black dress and heels, her thick hair flowing across her shoulders with a distinct shine. She had thick eyelashes coated in dark mascara, making her look more like a makeup artist at Sephora than a physician. “That’s where your interest has always been. And take the teaching position too. You’re just like Derek, having this knack for explaining things to people.” She grabbed her beer and took a drink.
I shook my head. “Not the teaching position.”
“Why?” Derek was beside me, his elbows on the table in a long-sleeved shirt, his black wedding ring on his left hand. He turned his head and looked at me, giving me that same intense expression he’d inherited from Dad.
I shook my head. “I don’t think I have any right to instruct others.”
Daisy rolled her eyes dramatically. “Jesus, you’re annoying.”
I turned back to her. “I’ve been out of medicine for—”
“Your perfect score on your exams contradicts whatever you’re going to say next.” She cut me off then grabbed a fry out of the basket on the table. “Let’s get something straight. You were never a bad doctor. Incompetence and negligence were never your crimes. Just a broken heart. So just stop it—for the love of god.”
I gave her an annoyed look.
“I’m with her on this one.” Derek took a fry from the basket as well. “And you know we aren’t blowing smoke up your ass.”
“I’d die before I blew smoke up your ass.” Daisy grabbed another fry but didn’t pop it into her mouth because some guy came to the table.
Young, handsome, and holding two beers, he set a bottle in front of her. “I thought you could use another. I’m Rhett.” He flashed her a smile and ignored Derek and me. He must have assumed we were a group of platonic friends because he probably wouldn’t come on to her in front of her older brothers or…possible lovers.
Daisy beamed right back and shook his hand. “That’s very sweet, Rhett. A woman never has too much beer.”
I’d seen both my dad and brother get hit on, and it didn’t bother me. But it always bothered me with Daisy. I kept my mouth shut and did my best to respect her adulthood and treat her like she was the same as Derek, but it was hard.
“But I’m actually seeing someone,” she said. “I’m flattered by the offer, though.” She held up the beer to salute him.
Rhett didn’t walk away. “You aren’t married, right? We should—”
“She said no.” It was impulsive and uncontrollable, and the words spewed out of my mouth like word vomit. The glare I gave him was hotter than the sun, and the instinctive protectiveness that consumed me was so evolutionary that I would break his face in that goddamn bar if it came down to it.
Rhett turned to me, raised his hands slightly in surrender, and then walked off.
The glare Daisy gave me was worse than the one I’d just given Rhett. “What the hell was that?”
“You said no.”
“Yes, but was he forcing himself on me?” she asked incredulously. “Chill. Seriously.”
I didn’t apologize because I wasn’t sorry. I let the tension linger and smolder like coals in a fire that wouldn’t go out.