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All the Central Square kids and the Fritz kids are my cousins. The only blood cousin I have—who is more like my brother—is Wilder because he’s Callan and Layla’s son.
I nod, sipping my drink. “That’s my plan. I have to be at work by six though since I have a new boss to impress.”
“That’s fine. We can go at four-thirty. I have to be in early tomorrow too. But speaking of your new boss, are you going to tell us about the elevator?” Kenna bounces her eyebrows suggestively at me. “Keegan says he’s who you were stuck with. And that he’s hot.”
Owen grunts, shaking his head. “Who cares if he’s hot? How is that even important?”
“Oh, right. Like you guys don’t comment on your female nurses, techs, and doctors’ appearance? I’m so calling bullshit on that,” I tell him.
“You know I don’t. Dating someone you work with is about the dumbest fucking thing you can do.”
I glare. “Ouch.” Since that’s exactly what I did and it didn’t just end badly, it ended in disaster.
He sighs remorsefully. “Sorry. That wasn’t a dig at you. You know what I meant. I don’t look because there’s no point for me.”
I bat my eyelashes playfully at him. “You could try dating again. Meet a lady who sweeps the handsome, broody Owen Fritz off his feet.”
He sips his bourbon, a grimace on his face. “Why do I spend all my free time with you? We need another guy here. Why isn’t Vander or even Mason here? And why don’t I hang out with people my own age?”
“You’re old. We get it. But you love us too much to leave us. Besides, that won’t change the fact that I speak the truth, oh hot, brilliant doctor of Boston Children’s Hospital.”
Another grunt because he knows I’m right. Every straight woman and not-so-straight man is after Owen Fritz. The fact that he’s a single dad doesn’t detract from that one bit.
“Anyway, I invited Vander and Stone to come,” I offer, smiling smugly because he can’t argue with me on his hotness. “Vander doing something I don’t want to know about and Stone has a shift.” Vander is Lenox’s son and he’s somewhat of an evil genius. A bit morally gray, especially when it comes to his hacking abilities, but he’s as loyal as it gets. Stone is Kaplan’s, Owen’s uncle and godfather’s, son. Owen and Stone work together and are very tight. “And you love me too much not to come out with me.”
For how close I am with Keegan and Kenna—since I now sorta temporarily live with them—I am the closest with Owen and have been since we were kids. The moment I came to live with my uncle, Owen took on the role of big brother and protector. Now we’re pretty much inseparable.
“Ignore Owen,” Keegan says dismissively, waving him away. “You’ve evaded this long enough. What happened in the elevator with the hot doc? What?” Keegan blinks when Owen gives her a disgruntled look. “He’s not my attending. I can say he’s hot. Hell, I can even hit on him if I want.”
I groan, picking at a few split ends before forcing myself back from that train wreck. “Who are you, Dr. Seuss? Stop rhyming about my new boss.”
“Because you want him all to yourself,” Kenna teases, playing with a cocktail napkin on the table and searching around for our waitress in the hope she’ll deliver her drink.
I snort derisively. “No way. Absolutely not,” I lie. Because I might. Just a little. But purely in a competitive, I-want-to-be-his-ace-way and nothing more. The fact that he once laid one of the best kisses I’ve ever had on me and his touches in the elevator today had my stomach feeling full and fizzy like I drank too much Diet Coke means nothing.
“Me thinks the lady doth protest too much.”
I scowl at my friends, making Owen choke on a laugh. “As much as I hate to side with Kenna, she’s right. You have a look about you and you’re a horrible liar. What aren’t you saying?”
Ugh. Having people who know your every expression and tone is both a blessing and a curse. “I know him,” I admit, running my finger along the rim of my martini glass. “Or, I mean, I guess knew him might be the better way to put it.”
“What do you mean?” Owen asks, dropping his elbow on the table and resting his head against his fist as he angles his head in my direction.
“He um…” Here comes my awkward, uncomfortable giggle. Shit. I clear my throat, willing it down as I stare at the pale-yellow liquid in my glass. “He was chief resident when I was a third-year medical student.”
They all fall silent for a moment as Kenna and Keegan’s drinks are delivered along with a first round of appetizers. I pick up a chicken finger and dip it in honey mustard before taking a crunchy bite.
“Okay. He was chief resident when you were a med student. So what?” Owen’s eyebrows bunch together in confusion. “I was chief resident, and we had over a dozen medical students.”
“Did he remember you?” Keegan presses, waving Owen away.
“Or not remember you?” Kenna jumps in.
“He remembered me.” But I didn’t know just how much until the very end.
“That’s cool,” Keegan exclaims, scooping up salsa with a chip and popping it into her mouth, talking as she crunches. “I heard he’s a bit of a hard-ass and can come across as a jerk, so it’s lucky that you already know him.”
“Yes,” I agree. “Lucky.”
