Page 34 of Firefly Effect

“You’re afraid of what?”

The inquisitive look Evie gives me launches a rocket of guilt straight into my chest.

“I’m afraid I don’t have what it takes to be a long-term therapist here,” I tell her. “I’ve failed to convince more than half of Jenkins’s patients to give me a chance, and the only new patients booking consultations with me are…” Again, I stop myself.

Evie narrows her eyes. “Why are you hesitating so much? I just poured my guts to you earlier. What are you hiding from me?”

Panic kicks me in the gut. “Nothing. I was just going to say that the only new consultations I’ve been booking are with married women around my age. Mothers. Specifically, Lucy’s friends’ moms.”

Evie looks like she’s trying to hold back a smile. “You’re telling me the married women in town have the hots for the new doctor?” She widens her eyes in mock disbelief. “No.”

I roll my eyes and lean my head back to face the sky again. “Ha ha. I’m glad you find this funny because it’s been causing me some severe anxiety.”

Evie turns over onto her stomach and arranges her tube so she’s floating backward to face me. “Have they made advances toward you? Like, are you certain they’re booking these consultations for reasons that have nothing to do with their mental health?”

I frown. “My consultations are confidential.”

She tilts her head and purses her lips. “I’m not asking you to out any women in particular. I’m just asking, in general, if any of them have come onto you.”

Against my better judgment, I tell her the truth. “Yes.”

Her face darkens a shade, and I swear I see a new emotion on her face. Jealousy? Annoyance? I’m not quite sure, but something dark and devious inside me loves it all the same.

I reach for the handle of her tube to pull hers toward mine. “I’m not interested in any of those women, Evie.”

Her cheeks flush even darker. “I wasn’t suggesting that you were.”

I bite down on the inside of my cheek. “But you were thinking it.”

Her mouth opens and closes, then she frowns. “I mean, sure. I’ve seen the women in this town. Plenty of them are rich and beautiful. Certainly, you must find at least one of them attractive. I can see why you’re afraid. You might slip.”

Desire roars inside me like a wild beast. “There’s only one woman in this town I find attractive. I think you know that.”

She averts her eyes, doubt cascading over her features. “A bold statement.”

I reach out, cup her chin, and turn her to look me in the eyes. “It is. And it’s true. Why do you think I dragged my family out here today?”

Her eyes widen like she’s taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” I start slowly, not wanting her to miss a single syllable, “that Kyle mentioned to Francine that he’d invited you here today.” Evie still doesn’t seem to be taking my meaning. “At the bar last night.”

Her eyes flash, telling me my point has finally clicked.

I finished with, “So I made a family day out of it, hoping that you would be here.”

“Oh,” she whispers.

My heart is practically in my throat as I wait for her to say more, but before she can, I hear the roar of the water and look over Evie’s shoulder. “Shit.”

Evie reacts quickly, snapping her head to look behind her then flipping around in her tube so her butt is back in the center. “You’re going to want to get in your tube, Lincoln.”

I scramble to follow her lead, planting my ass in the tube just in time for the first downhill plunge of the trip. Large rocks protrude from the water as the water becomes more turbulent. We’re jerked like Ping-Pong balls from one side of the creek to the other as our tubes take on a mind of their own. Evie shrieks then laughs so hard I can’t help but do the same.

It’s a wild ride for the next several minutes but so worth it once we take the final bend that deposits us into another stream of calm waters.

“Damn, that was intense,” I gasp, still shocked after the unexpected thrill.

Evie is giggling with her head tossed back and sunshine beaming down on her beautiful features. “The look on your face when you saw those rocks.” She laughs even harder, the kind of hilarity that bubbles up straight from the belly.

---