AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hello?” I said after answering without hesitation. After all, it was my job to be available, and I wanted to do my job well.
I’d only been working for him for three to four weeks. And I’d learned early on in orthopedic surgery that there were very few days that I was completely off. There was no such thing as free time in the medical world. Not if you worked in surgery.
“Hi,” he said, his voice deep and rich. Familiar.
There was a pause. It felt awkward to me as I waited in silence to see what he needed from me.
“What are you doing?” he asked casually.
“Nothing,” I responded.
I was in bed, trying to sleep, but I didn’t say that. It seemed too intimate. I was confused about why he’d called, and my mind raced, trying to find words to fill the silence across the line.
“What are you doing?” I asked after another strained pause.
“Just driving home,” he answered.
It quickly became apparent that this wasn’t a work call; it was a social one. But he was my boss. Why would he call me late at night, just to talk? Especially when we spent every day together, working long hours. This didn’t fit the nature of our professional relationship. It felt like a line that shouldn’t be crossed.
“Where are you coming from?” I asked, trying to make conversation. It seemed like that was what he wanted from me.
“Football practice,” he said after an awkward pause.
He covered the local college team and was usually with them after work during the fall. It seemed a little late for him to be coming from football, but maybe they’d had a delayed practice or someone had gotten hurt.
We made small talk for about twenty minutes before we ended the call. Afterward, I sat there, alone, in my dark bedroom, feeling strange.
I mentioned it to my mom and my best friend later that week—how weird it was that my boss had called me late at night, just to talk. I didn’t like the way it had made me feel, but it wasn’t like I could have just ignored the call. There was always the possibility that it could’ve been work-related. And that was part of my job—to be available. To be ready to work. But something about it had felt inappropriate.
As the weeks went on, the calls became more frequent. And at some point, I started to expect them. The unease disappeared. It became normal.
I didn’t realize at the time that Dr. Cooper was crossing lines, one at a time. That he was erasing the professionalism between us a little bit each day. Until one day, there were no lines at all. And I was no longer sure where the boundaries should be.
But looking back now … I think that was his ultimate goal. He was pushing me. What an idiotic, naive, foolish little girl he made me. And I wasn’t even aware that it was happening.
CHAPTER SEVEN
ZANE
I pause to run a palm down my face, wondering what in the hell it is that I’m doing.
This woman, Willow, has me all twisted up. We don’t even know each other, but she hasn’t been far from my mind since she arrived in town. And I don’t think it’s some weird competition thing between Wyatt and me, like it has been in the past. It’s her. She intrigues me. I want to get to know her better—without everyone else around. The fact that she doesn’t seem to know who I am only enhances my interest. And I’m aware that our time is limited.
She said she’d be here for, what … two weeks?
To be honest, that might be the biggest appeal of this whole thing. I’m not known for longevity in relationships. And this woman comes with an expiration date. A time limit. Willow will be here for a short stay, and then she’ll go back to the city. Back to her real life. And I’ll go back to mine.
I didn’t like watching her walk up to the cookout with Wyatt’s arm around her yesterday. I enjoyed the view of her back as shesuddenly left with Benji even less. Wyatt and I had words when she was gone.
We’ve always had an interesting friendship, Wyatt and I. I love the dude—most of the time. But there’s this underlying tension between us that continually flares when we’re both interested in the same woman. It was the same in high school, and it only grew when we were on the slopes, competing against each other all those years. We could be the best of friends outside of that arena, but once we strapped on our boards, all bets were off. Wyatt and I are both cutthroat in that way.
I think things got worse when I started winning all the time. It seems like in almost every competition, I’d end up on the winners block with Wyatt standing on the podium just below me. I could feel his animosity start to grow alongside my expanding trophy collection, rearing its ugly head in other areas of our friendship as well. Now, most days, I don’t know if we’re friends or just pretending to be.
Wyatt and Benji don’t know I kissed Willow the first night we met her. But they know me well enough to realize that I wanted to. When I came out of the bathroom that night at Cowboys, she was gone. And when I heard she was walking home alone, I went after her. I wasn’t going to let her stumble along the dark, deserted streets in a tourist town, alone, where anyone could be lurking. Plus, she was lit.
Willow frustrates me.
Especially that first night we met, but really, anytime I’ve been around her, I find myself wanting to punch a wall at some point. She’s so stubborn. She’s difficult to read. She challenges me, which is different from most women. Other girls fall at my feet because of my winning reputation on the half-pipe or simply because of my last name. They make it too easy. They alwayshave. But not Willow. Most of the time, I want to throttle her as much as I want to lay her down, but I guess that’s part of the appeal. She’s this untamed beast that I can’t wrangle or fully understand. And I love a good challenge.
