“To get the attention of a hot nurse.”
“I didn’t know she was a nurse.”
“She actually took your vital signs?”
“Yes.”
“Did she measure your circumference?”Kyle asked with a smirk.
“Shut up,” Paul said, shoving the bottle at him.
“What happened to avoiding bunnies, brother?”
“Can we retire the termbunny?It’s offensive.”
Kyle drained the bottle, thumped a fist against his chest and burped.“Guess who came to my office yesterday?”
“Who?”
“Gwen.”
Paul hadn’t thought about Gwen since he’d left Houston.After their final conversation, she’d faded into the background of his mind.It seemed like years, instead of months, had passed since they’d last seen each other.
“She’s bored and looking for a replacement.”
“Really?”he asked, squinting at Kyle.“Did she proposition you?”
“Would you care?”
Paul considered the question as carefully as his pickled mind would allow.“Would you care if I slept with Allison?”
“That’s different,” Kyle said.
“How?”
“She’s the mother of my children.”
“You cheated on her.”
“Why are you bringing that up?”
“Why are you bringing up Gwen?”
“She was never going to leave her husband for you.”
“I didn’t ask her to.”
“You got all bent out of shape when she didn’t come to the hospital.”
Paul hadn’t been angry with Gwen.He’d just realized that she felt nothing for him, and he felt almost nothing for her.“You know who did visit?Allison.She’s always been sweet on me.”
Kyle didn’t appreciate the second reference to his ex-wife, or the taste of his own medicine.He launched to his feet and shoved Paul off the steps.They stumbled onto the grass together in a drunken wrestling match.When Kyle put Paul in a headlock, Paul sank his fist into Kyle’s stomach.Kyle released him with a wheezing sound.Paul lay on his back and stared up at the night sky, wondering if his shoulder would hurt tomorrow.
“I never touched Allison,” he said finally.“She came on to me, but we didn’t…”
“She told me.”
“She said I rejected her?”
