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She whacked me with the pillow again, this time not hiding her smile. “Just look for it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
While she searched the floor, I shook out the pillows and blankets, moved the mattress to see if it had fallen behind, and rustled my clothes from last night to see if anything fell out. But we both came up empty.
“Damn it. Maybe I lost it at the party last night. Do you think they cleaned up yet?”
I looked at her. “There’s still six weeks left in the semester.”
She laughed as she zipped up her leather boots. “Alright. I have to run because I have a shift at the hospital today. Will anyone be up if I stop over on my way to see if it fell out there?”
I grabbed a box of Cheerios and dug inside for a handful, shoving them into my mouth dry. “There isn’t even a lock on the door. Just let yourself in if no one answers.”
“Okay.”
She pushed up on her toes and kissed me while I chewed. “I had fun last night.”
“Me too.”
“You want to hang out next weekend?”
“Can’t,” I said. “Games Friday and Saturday night and then Sunday I’m heading down to New York to go ice skating with a bunch of the guys from the team.”
“All the way to New York to skate?”
“Yeah, it’s some sort of tradition. The hockey team goes to Wollman Rink, where they have the big Christmas tree in Central Park, to skate on the last day and then to the Irish pub a few blocks away.”
“Well, I have either class or rotations Tuesday through Friday this week.”
I shrugged. “Want to meet up after your shift ends later?”
Teagan smiled and stuck her hand into the Cheerios box. “Yeah, maybe. Text me.” She turned around at the door and ate some of the cereal from her hand. “And this doesn’t count as you buying my breakfast. So you’re buying me food next time.”
“No problem.” I held up the Cheerios. “I’ll bring the box. They’re good any time of the day.”
She chuckled. “See you later.”
That afternoon, Teagan texted to say she hadn’t found the earring at the house where the party had been last night. She asked if I could go by the place my brother’s party had been. Since I had practice, I told her I’d stop by afterward and pick her up at the library where she was meeting someone to swap notes after her shift at the hospital.
She was waiting outside wearing blue scrubs when I pulled up at the front of the library.
“Any luck finding my earring?” She climbed into the car and pulled the door closed.
I shook my head. “I looked myself and asked two of the guys if anyone found it. By the way, Chandler’s name is actually Rene. I think Chandler works better for him.”
Teagan sighed. “I can’t believe I lost that earring. It’s only the second time I wore them out. Would you mind driving to the house we went to for the first party, and we can walk the path we took to the second party before it gets dark? Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“Sure.”
Parking in Boston was a bitch sometimes, so I had to leave the car a block away before we could trace our path to the other house and back. We didn’t find the earring, but when we were almost to the car again, Teagan pointed up ahead to a guy getting out of a car. “Is that your brother?”
I squinted. “Yeah, I think it is… Austin!”
He turned and waited. “Do you work at a hospital?” he asked Teagan as we approached.
“I’m a med student.” Teagan snapped her fingers. “That’s where I know you from. You were a patient.”
“You were in the hospital?” I said.
Austin shook his head. “No, I wasn’t.”
Teagan’s brows furrowed. “Yes, you came into Boston Medical Center a week ago, right?”
Austin’s eyes flashed to mine and back to Teagan. His tone was stern. “No, I didn’t. But if I did, wouldn’t you be bound by doctor-patient privilege or something?”
Teagan’s face fell. “Uh…yeah… Sorry.”
“Jesus, lighten up, bro. She’s a student.”
Austin frowned and put his hands on his hips. “What are you guys doing here anyway?”
I pointed to Teagan. “She lost an earring somewhere last night. So we were retracing the walk from here to the party we went to after.”
He nodded. “Any luck?”
“No, but we’re going to go grab something to eat. Want to third wheel?”
Austin shook his head. “I gotta study.”
“Alright, later. But look around the living room for her earring when you go in. I checked earlier, but it can’t hurt to look again.”
“You got it. Have fun.”
Maybe it was me, but it felt like my brother couldn’t wait to get the hell out of here. He was already at the front door before Teagan and I finished saying goodbye.
