Page 14 of Resisting You

“No,” Frey said, taking a step back and throwing his hands up. “I’m trying to say sorry, which is what non-assholes do when they fuck up. I don’t know what I said back there, but I realize it was a low blow. I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

Renato rubbed his hand around his mouth, then let out a heavy sigh. “Yes, I know.”

“You…do?” Frey was suddenly terrified. It was the most reasonable that Renato had ever been. It had to be a trap. He narrowed his eyes and fought the urge to cross his arms.

Renato’s lips twitched—almost like he wanted to smile, but he couldn’t quite get there. “Frey, for whatever differences we have at work, I know you’re not a malicious person. I’ve seen you with patients.”

Frey flushed and scoffed. “Please. That’s my job.”

Renato’s eyes went a little bright under the weird yellow parking lot lights. “No. Your job is to ensure your patients’ health and safety. Your job isn’t going out of your way to tell them that making a helicopter dick when they hop might be sexy for their girlfriend.”

For some reason, hearing all those words in Renato’s accent broke Frey. He choked, then doubled over in laughter. “Please say helicopter dick again. I’m begging you.”

Renato went a little icy. “No.”

Frey swiped at his eyes. “I’m not making fun of you, I swear. Just…hearing someone so…so…”

“Uptight?” Renato asked stiffly. “With a stick up his ass?”

Oh. And okay, there was a little pain in his voice. To be fair, Frey had described him that way more than once but never where he could hear it. “Someone said that to you?”

Renato shrugged. “I know who I am. I know how I am. I know what everyone says about me. Some people aren’t even kind enough to wait until I leave the room. But we’re not talking about me right now.”

They were supposed to be, though. Somehow, it had gotten turned around on Frey. He cleared his throat and tried to ignore the ever-increasing guilt that seemed to be the theme of the evening. “We were talking about how I totally crossed the line, and I really am sorry.”

“I accept your apology,” Renato said. “And thank you.”

Frey shrugged, then glanced over at his car. He thought about the movie he wasn’t really interested in seeing, though he lamented his lost popcorn, but there was still the bookstore. Then he looked at Renato, who seemed a bit lost.

“Do you want to go back in? I promise not to make any shitty comments.”

Renato shook his head, his mouth soft. “I wasn’t there for the film.”

Frey blinked at him. “You were there to talk to the announcer.”

Without missing a beat, Renato nodded. “Yes.”

“You’re such a—” Frey stopped.

Renato’s head tilted to the side. “Finish your sentence. Come on, be brave.”

Something in the way he spoke sent a hot tendril curling up Frey’s spine, and he had no idea why. Yes, Renato was hot, but he was also a massive dick-bag. And he needed to remember this was the man fucking with his lunch and his coffee at work.

But he also found himself powerless against answering his command. “Weirdo.”

Renato snorted. He still wasn’t smiling, but there was amusement in his eyes. “That’s probably the nicest thing you’ve ever called me.”

“Nah. I call you a good surgeon all the time,” Frey said, waving him off.

At that, Renato visibly preened, and Frey wasn’t sure if he hated or loved himself for feeding the man’s ego tonight.

“Anyway,” Frey drawled, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I think I’m gonna go hit up the bookstore and grab a coffee. If you wanted to join me?—”

“I think not,” Renato said, but his voice was warmer than it ever had been. “I appreciate you thinking of me, but I promise I’m not actually a pathetic loser with no one to talk to besides a cinema announcer.”

Frey blushed furiously, even though it was obvious Renato was making as close to a joke as he ever had. But he felt a little stupid for asking. No one knew much about Renato’s life except that he’d been married once—though Frey never asked why he wasn’t now.

But Renato was hot enough to escape the stigma of divorce.

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