Page 179 of Play Along

My attention comes back to life. “What are you talking about?”

“The job she didn’t take. They called last week and offered her the position. Wanted her to start shadowing the current team doctor right away. She turned it down.”

That can’t be true.

“What day was that? Tuesday?”

He thinks back for a second. “Yeah, I think so. She said she was in the training room with you when they called.”

What the actual fuck?

In what fucking world does she get to turn down an opportunity like that for me. From the moment I met Kennedy, it’s all she’s ever worked for, to become a lead doctor. Fuck, even to become a second doctor. Anything to get out of the current position she’s overqualified for. Anything to get out from working under Dr. Fredrick.

She can’t make that hasty of a decision out of nowhere. I’m the impulsive one. She’s the planner. She’s been planning this move all year.

And what? She’s staying because of me?

Holy shit. I told her I loved her right before she answered that phone call.

I’m always worried people won’t stick around once they see the real me. How many times did I tell her that?

She’s trying to stay for me.

“Shit,” Dean curses. “You didn’t know.”

Without looking at him, I slowly shake my head no. “I do now.”

Chapter 34

Kennedy

“Good evening, Ms. Kay. Welcome home,” the woman working at reception in my overly expensive apartment building greets me. “Are you staying in again tonight? Would you like me to set up a dinner delivery for you?”

With my keys dangling in my hand, I don’t stop to talk as I cross the hall to the elevator. “Not tonight, but thank you! Just grabbing a few things and I’ll be on my way.”

She gives me her best customer service smile. “Of course. Please let us know if you need any assistance with your things.”

“Thank you!” I blurt out just as the doors to the elevator close.

The lobby staff are all kind and over accommodating, which makes sense, seeing as this is one of the most expensive buildings in the city. But I can’t help wondering what they think of me coming in every other day to grab clothes before leaving for Isaiah’s minutes later.

Other than the past few nights Dean has stayed over, I can’t remember the last time I slept here. This place doesn’t feel like home anymore. It never has, I suppose, but especially not now that both Isaiah and his apartment feel like the closest thing I’ve ever felt to home.

Most of my stuff is there, but we haven’t had a conversation about making that a permanent situation. Up until last week, I wasn’t even going to be living in Chicago, let alone with him.

But now, now things are different. Now I’m staying, and neither of us has had the courage to initiate that talk. Now that our little game is over, what are we doing?

And then there’s one more massive conversation we need to have. Something I need to tell him. That I was, in fact, offered the lead doctor position in San Francisco, and I made the decision not to take it.

I had been stewing over the option for days. This offer was everything I had ever wanted, everything I thought I was looking for. A new city with a chance to meet new people. The opportunity to figure out what kind of happiness I could discover with my newfound freedom.

But I didn’t need to go to a new city to find what I’ve been looking for because all these years, it had been right in front of me.

When Isaiah told me he loved me, I knew I had found it. He didn’t say it with an expectation to hear it back. Didn’t say it with the hope it’d change our outcome when that call came in.

But it did.

For the first time in my life, it wasn’t hard to believe that someone could feel that way about me, because he had spent months showing me. His words were simply a reminder of what I already knew.

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