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Her cheeks flush like she’s overstepped, like she’s speaking from experience.
Experience my fucked-up mind suddenly wants to know about. “Have you ever…” I scratch my beard. What the fuck am I thinking? You don’t ask a female doctor if she’s ever fucked a man with one ball. She’d have me done for fucking harassment. “Forget it. No, I haven’t been intimate since the operation, but yes, everything works fine. Next question.”
“I really think you should talk to—”
“Next question.”
She presses her lips together but nods. “Any aches or pains in the testicle, scrotum, or lower abdomen?”
I shake my head. “None.”
“Any discomfort when urinating or ejaculating?”
I shake my head again.
She looks at me over her steepled fingers, elbows on her desk. “In that case, unless there’s anything else you’d like to talk about, you’re good to go. We’ll contact you with the results of your blood tests as soon as we have them and will schedule any follow up appointments should they be needed.”
I push through the glass doors of Florida Military Hospital and breathe in a lungful of fresh air. Goose pimples rise on my arms as my skin reacts to the warmth after the air-conditioned hell of that appointment. Done. It’s done. All being well, I won’t be back. Cricking the knot in my neck, I jog down the white granite stairs and scan the parking lot below, pulling my cell from my back pocket. Before I can bring Jaynee’s number up to tell her I’ll just call an Uber, her silver SUV pulls up by the curb in front of me.
Still dressed in her blue scrubs, my sister leans across the passenger seat and waves me into the car. You’d never know she’d just worked a twelve-hour shift by the grin on her face.
I climb in and fake an answering grin.
“How’d it go?” She glances at me before pulling smoothly out into the traffic.
With a deep sigh, I sink down into the seat. If there’s one thing worse than cancer, it’s knowing that everyone around you is thinking about your balls.
“Fine.” I shrug and reach for the seat belt without looking at her. “I was just about to call you. I could’ve Ubered.”
Eyes on the road, she stifles a yawn with her hand. “No way, bro. I’ve only got you for the afternoon, don’t think you can get rid of me that easily. Besides, we’re not going home, we’re going to Mom and Dad’s.”
My own problems fade when I finally look at her, take in the bags under her eyes. “You’ve just come off nightshift. You should be sleeping, not ferrying me around.”
“And you’ve just had your manly bits prodded by a stranger. You should tell me how it went.”
Manly bits?Seriously?What the fuck did they teach doctors in Florida?
“Everything’s fine.” I turn and stare out of the window. “I refuse to talk about my manly bits with you.”
“I’m a doctor.”
“You’re my little sister.”
“Fine.” Her bottom lip sticks out the way it has since she was a baby and she didn’t get her own way. “The kids are dying to see you. They were pissed they had to stay with Mom and Dad last night and not with you.”
The tension in my body releases as my lips lift into my first genuine smile of the day. “I’ve missed the little monsters.” I reach into my pocket for the two surfboard keyrings I made for them, rubbing my thumb over the names engraved in the smooth wood and try not to think about the inevitable lecture I’ve got coming from Dad.
SIXTEEN
Kenzi
“Here’s to Clua’s newest and most fabulous restaurant owner to be.” A teary smile on her face, Jo holds up a glass of champagne from where she’s standing behind the bar. “I’m proud of you, Zi. Bummed that you’re leaving The Beach Hut, but woooooooooo! So proud.”
Glass held high, I grin, still in shock. It all happened so fast. One minute I was putting off going next door to talk to Mylo, the next I was applying for the Start Up grant. They accepted it this morning. Amount to be confirmed. But they were impressed—with me!
“To me.” I clink my glass against Jo’s, then hold it out for Rae to join in, choosing to ignore that the email was signed by Ricci Rivas. My mom.Mymom. If there were any doubts over whether the applications really were anonymous, there isn’t now. She’d never have accepted my proposal if she’d known it was me. I shake my head and drain my glass.
“To Kenzi.” Rae holds her glass of soda out for me to clink again. “And her smoking hot ex-boss.”
