AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’d finally debriefed my friends last night that I’d met Anastasia, including meeting her on my first day, her car breaking down, the dance class and meeting Ryan again. What was with Stacey’s brother? He was acting like he was her father, suspicious of some teenaged guy showing interest in his daughter, rather than acting like a brother.
The group chat hadn’t stopped since. We had more gastro complaints today and my caseload was full, but I checked it whenever I could. They had become sudden love experts, determined to offer me advice of how Stacey and I could get together.
I grabbed some plain biscuits between patients as my lunch as I read through our group chat.
Mel: you like her. You sound like you want to woo her.
My biscuit paused halfway to my mouth. Did I want to woo her? I was out of here in less than eight weeks once George was back on his feet.
Besides, Stacey had rules, which I’d debriefed my friends on. And even if this attraction between us was real, it didn’t mean she wanted to act on it.
But if she did, what did I want?
My phone pinged with pleas from Mel to ask some locals about which wineries were good.
I made a mental note to ask Stacey. We’d been so busy today with patients there’d been no time for conversation. And she’d cancelled today’s lift to work, sending me a text to say Ryan was dropping her in to Stanmore.
Pam flew into the lunchroom. I was about to ask her about local wineries when she held up her mobile, panic-stricken.
“What’s wrong?” I straightened. “Emergency?”
“Yes. Some of the Wombat players can’t make training tonight or the game this weekend. Phil is still sick and another can’t make it. Do you play league?”
I chuckled. An emergency indeed. “League through and through. More than happy to have a run on the field.”
She let out a happy noise and then told Phil on the phone that I was in and needed a jersey, and then Phil was ordered to get back into bed and rest.
Ryan also played for the Wombats. Perhaps this was an opportunity to get on his good side, assuming he had one. Lord knows, he’d declared me an enemy on sight yesterday.
Five hours later, after an afternoon booked back-to-back with patients, I parked Lorraine at the Ballydoon sports field. I legged it to the back of the Ballydoon Rural Fire Brigade’s toilet block which doubled as the footy team’s change rooms with showers. Folding tables leaned against a far wall with stacks of plastic chairs beside them.
I threw my bag down on a bench as someone walked in, throwing a spare footy jersey on my bag, and then slamming their bag down beside mine.
Ryan scowled, with his hands on his hips. One arm was fully covered in tattoos. We were the same height but somehow his tatts felt like an advantage.
I straightened, picking up the jersey. “Thanks for this.”
“I don’t like the way you look at my sister.”
And there it was.“Has Stacey said something about me?”
He grunted. “No, but—”
“Then I’ve nothing to say to you about the way I look at her.”
Ryan stepped closer, getting into my personal space. “Stay away from my sister.”
“I work with your sister. Staying away is impossible, as you know. And I’m staying in Ballydoon where she lives. And, if she asks me, I’ll happily give her lifts to work while her car is being fixed. How is that going, by the way?”
Ryan’s hand formed a fist. “I know your type.”
Fuck this.
“You don’t know a thing about me and what ‘type’ I am.” I did air-quotes in front of his face. “So until Stacey tells me I’m not welcome in her life, I’ll keep being in it.”
I pushed past him, knocking his shoulder, and left the shed, pulling on the jersey from Phil before joining the team to warm up.
Shit.I didn’t need to message my mates on the group chat to know that pissing off Stacey’s brother was not going to help with any potential wooing. And what was that about ‘knowing my type’? Was that a reference to me being a doctor? Maybe Ryan knew why Stacey had a rule about never dating doctors.
