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I start putting on my coat. “You can take me home, Doctor,” I tell him.
He gives me a small smile then, his stance relaxing, like me calling him Doctor means everything is right in the world again.
“Morgan,” I say as I zip up my coat. “Who won?”
“You did,” she says.
“Ha!” I say to Graham, who rolls his eyes before grabbing my hand again and guiding me toward the door.
Graham
“GRAHAM, JUST ADMIT THAT YOU liked the pirate book,” a smiling Lucy says as she stands in the nurses’ station next to an equally entertained Dr. Monroe—or Calista, as she keeps asking me to call her.
She’s referring to the book that Lucy picked for me to read early on in the challenge. I started reading it the night we exchanged books. But it didn’t really capture my attention that night and I hadn’t picked it up since. But last night, when I couldn’t fall asleep after leaving that stupid bar, I picked it up. I needed an escape from my brain that kept replaying Lucy sitting in Brett’s lap while she sang that Britney Spears song and him making a move on her afterward.
I read until two in the morning, rolled out of bed at six to go swimming with Lucy, and then came back and finished the freaking thing. Luckily, I was able to sneak in a nap since I didn’t have to work until three today.
“It was ... entertaining,” I offer. It’s all I’m willing to admit. At least with Calista around. If it were just Lucy, I’d tell her that I couldn’t put the damn thing down.
“Sure,” Lucy says, clearly not believing me. I don’t know if I love or hate the fact that the woman is learning my tells due to all the time we’ve spent together.
Even my frustrated one last night when she was talking to that douchebag. Something snapped when I saw them together. I felt protective, almost irrationally so. I could see her giving him her number, him calling her and playing around with her like I know he does. Like I used to do.
I felt like an idiot after, when it was so obvious that Lucy can take care of herself. I knew that; Lucy’s smart. I just ... I don’t know what I was thinking. We’ve never talked about our pasts, not the romantic ones. I know she’s figured out bits and pieces of mine, but hers is a blank page for me, almost like she doesn’t have all that much experience. Which seems ridiculous to me. Lucy is ... well, she’s everything. Everything jerkwads like Brett don’t deserve. I don’t know if there’s a guy out there who’s worthy of Lucy.
“There’s a sequel, you know,” Calista says.
“Really,” I say, purposefully giving her an expression like I don’t care all that much.
“I’ll get it for you,” Lucy says, with a knowing smile. Guess I wasn’t able to hide my interest from her. She really is figuring me out.
“That’s okay,” I say, knowing full well that I already downloaded it on my Kindle app earlier today. I almost started it, but then decided I would save it for tonight.
Calista takes a breath, tilting her head to the side as she looks at Lucy. “I’ve just got to ask, what’s with the pictures of Dr. Shackwell?”
She points to the little pictures of me that Lucy has taped to her scrub top and headband. There’s even one on her badge, and also dangling from her earrings. When she first came in, she had one on her cheek, but she’s since taken that off.
We’d decided not to do any of these challenges at work anymore, but this one seemed harmless. Plus, I had the best idea for mine.
Lucy looks to me before turning to Calista to explain. “Oh, it’s just this challenge we’re doing.” She rolls her eyes, downplaying it, even though just last night I was belting out Taylor Swift and sexy dancing at a bar. “Today was wear something silly to work.”
“Gotcha,” she says, giving Lucy a bright smile. She turns to me. “What did you do, Graham?”
“Yeah, Dr. Shackwell, what did you do?” She gives me a confident smile, thinking I’ve either forgotten or I didn’t bother. Little does she know.
I lift up my scrub top to show a T-shirt with Lucy’s face on it. She’s cross-eyed and her chin is tucked so she has three of them. Morgan sent me the picture after I texted her asking for one, and she delivered. I took it to the drug store a couple of miles from my place, which offers same-day screen printing.
“Oh my gosh,” Lucy says, her eyes widening and her cheeks turning a lovely shade of pink—which makes all my effort worth it. “I’m going to kill Morgan, that freezer-burned popsicle!”
She reaches over and pulls my scrub top down to cover the shirt.
“Get used to it, Price,” I say. “I’m going to wear it all the time.”
“I’ll burn it.”
“Is anyone else doing this challenge?” Calista asks, reminding me she’s still here. It’s interesting how quickly I can jump into a bubble with Lucy and forget there’s anyone else around.
Lucy, still red in the face, turns to her. “Nope, it’s just me and freaking Dr. Shackwell.” She reaches over and gives me a push with both hands on my chest. I grab her hands and pull them off me but hold on to them for a second longer than I should before letting go. I’ve got to stop this. But holding her hand last night ... it felt good. It’s not a big deal, really. Friends hold hands. I’d totally hold hands with my guy friends.
