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“Just leaving now. Where are you?”
Ellie giggled. “You’re probably not going to like it, but I met this guy on Daterr, and he asked me to come and hear his band play.”
“You told me you weren’t going to do that anymore!” The last guy she’d met on an app had shown up wearing a giant teddy bear costume and greeted her with eerily realistic bear growls. “Where are you?” Her disclosure zapped adrenaline into my exhausted body. I had to save her.
“I’m at the Crow, on Second Street. You should come!”
The popular bar wasn’t too far from the hospital. “I’ll be there in ten minutes. Don’t go anywhere with anyone.” I ended the call and asked the driver to change my destination, promising a larger tip since he’d have a reduced fare.
I looked down at the scrubs I’d worn since the day before, not at all suitable for going out. I needed a shower and sleep, and I hadn’t packed to go out of town. With any luck I could convince Ellie to leave with me at a reasonable time.
At least Ellie wouldn’t pester me about Adam. After she’d picked me up at the airport, I’d told her things weren’t going to work out, and she’d let the subject drop. Ellie wasn’t one to dwell on anything unpleasant, which was good, since I didn’t need any assistance obsessing over the past.
My mom, on the other hand, had adopted my new boyfriend as her favorite subject. In order prevent last-minute blind dates at the wedding, I had to maintain the pretense Adam and I were still together and answer all kinds of questions about him, most of which I didn’t have any answer to. Mom’s inquisition ranged from his feelings on various kinds of pets, elected offices he’d held in school, and the names, ages and bios of all his extended family going back four generations.
I would have thought she was testing me to see if Adam was real, but that’s just how Mom was, showing she cared by being nosey. So far she’d loved everything I’d divulged about him (some of it made up). Breaking the news that he couldn’t make the wedding was going to be a nightmare.
There was only a crowd of smokers manning the door at the Crow, and nobody blinked an eye at my scrubs when I walked inside the dingy basement bar. Ellie was easy to spot in a white tank top and leather miniskirt that probably cost as much as my yearly salary, despite their deceptive simplicity.
“Yay!” Ellie came bounding up to me and caught me in an enormous hug. “Tanner is on now.”
I held on an extra second—I really needed the hug—before finally letting Ellie go. She pointed to the drummer of the three-member band on stage.
Though long hair on men wasn’t usually my thing, I could see Tanner’s appeal. His high cheekbones could have made him a model, and his ripped sleeve tank showcased some pretty impressive arm muscles, gilded by a tattoo. He was definitely the most attractive part of the band before us, including the music. I couldn’t even figure out what the lead guitarist was mumbling into the mic.
After two songs, the band took a break, and Tanner strutted over to Ellie with the swagger of a small-town sheriff. Up close I could make out one of the tattoos on his triceps, a Chinese character.
Tanner slid an arm around Ellie. “Hey, babe. Is that for me?” He took the beer out of her hand.
Ellie grinned in my direction, clearly excited about the direction the relationship was taking. “This is my roommate, Jenna!”
He looked me over in a way that made me glad scrubs covered my body.
“Hi.” I searched my tired brain for a topic of conversation. “What does your tattoo mean?”
“This one?” Tanner ran a hand over his triceps. “No idea. I just liked the look of it.”
“Ah.” I wished there’d been someone around I could share a judgmental look with. Someone like Adam, who I was reasonably sure would find it just as ridiculous Tanner had commissioned a permanent mark he didn’t know the meaning of.
“Hey, I’m just going to duck into the ladies’ room, but I’m sure Jenna will keep you company.” Before Ellie could make good on her announcement, Tanner kissed her so intensely that I had to look away. Ellie giggled and left for the bathroom.
“So, Jenna, what do you do?” Tanner asked, pointing his beer in my direction.
“I’m a nurse.” Normally I would have been more polite, asking him more about himself in return, but his creepy vibe made me want to move to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and hope a hurricane washed out the bridge and the ferry so that Tanner had no hope of following me.
“A nurse, huh? Can you take a look at my tattoos?”
I wrinkled my face in confusion. “Huh?” I could just see the one, and it didn’t look infected. No indication he needed medical treatment.
He smirked at me. “They’re in places you can’t see right now, but I’m sure you’re used to looking at naked men.”
“Ew!” Besides being grossed out by his suggestion, I was also irate for Ellie’s sake, so my next words were unfiltered. “I work in the ICU, actually, so if you want an examination, I’d have to poison you first. Or set you on fire. Or cut off a limb.”
Tanner cringed and put his hands up protectively. “If you’re not into it, you just have to say so. Sheesh. Just being friendly.”
I crossed my arms and glared at him. “I think it goes without saying I wouldn’t be interested in going out with someone who’s seeing my roommate.”
He looked at something over my shoulder, and I turned to see Ellie, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.
