Page 112 of Dr. Intern

“This had better be a fucking joke,” Cassidy snaps, her grip tightening on my arm like a protective mother.

Parker squints at her, assessing the situation. “I’m a little busy here.”

“The fuck you are,” she snarls, kicking the office door partially closed like she knows this is about to get heated. “Are you out of your damn mind? Because you’d have to be clinically insane to threaten your best friend’s career just because he’s dating your sister.”

“It wasn’t a threat, per se,” Parker clarifies, casually leaning back in his chair as if he’s amused by her rage.

Cassidy releases my arm and moves closer to him, her eyes blazing with fire. I want to chime in, but right now the two of them are locked into their own version of a dogfight, and I know better than to intervene.

“Oh really?” Cass challenges, refusing to back down. “Not a threat? Want to tell me what it was then?”

The corners of his lips twitch as he holds her gaze. “A suggestion.”

Cassidy takes a deep breath, like she’s summoning all of the patience in the world. “You’re so fucking delusional sometimes, Parker. Haven’t you seen how happy Claire’s been in the past few months?”

Parker shrugs, not responding to her question.

“Do you want to know why?” Cass continues, her voice shaking with frustration. “Because of him! Your best friend!”

She points at me, her chest heaving as she whips her head back to her fiancé.

“You can’t control every aspect of your life, and you certainly can’t control your sister. God knows you’ve tried.” Cassidy lets out an exasperated laugh before continuing. “She’s as wild as they come, and she’s perfectly capable of making her own decisions.”

Parker’s eyes flick to mine, and he remarks, “He’s a playboy who’s just going to hurt her again.”

The words drive a knife into my heart. He can’t really think that, can he?

Cassidy’s voice escalates as she argues, “It would hurt her more to force him to break up with her. Did you even fucking think that one through?”

I can’t hold back any longer. I lock eyes with Parker and speak earnestly, “I haven’t touched another woman since I met your sister, months ago. I haven’t even thought about another woman. Claire has me in a goddamn vice, man. She’s all I think about. All I dream about. She’s become the most important thing in my life. She’s always going to be the most important thing in my life. You don’t understand. I don’t just love her—I adore her.”

Parker’s eyes flash with emotion but quickly darken again. “Doesn’t matter. You’ll never change.”

I don’t know why Parker has this playboy image of me. Sure, I hooked up with women, but I didn’t do anything more outrageous than he did. It’s irritating that he’s just as guilty of sleeping around, yet somehow, I’m the one saddled with the reputation.

“You changed when you met me,” Cassidy offers, her tone more controlled.

“That was different.”

“Oh, was it?” she snaps, leaning against his desk. “Because I actually think they’re in much better shape than we were at this point.”

Cassidy’s voice lowers as she adds, “Do I need to remind you of that morning in the penthouse hallway?”

I have no idea what they’re talking about, but Parker’s expression shifts as he redirects his anger to her.

“Do I need to remind you of that morning?” he retorts, throwing the words back at her.“Because right now I can think of several ways to do that. You just might not like them.”

A tense silence hangs in the air, neither of them willing to back down as they hold each other’s gaze. I have to hand it to Cass, she handles his rage with grace, clearly experienced in de-escalating his moods. Most people would retreat under his icy glare, but she actually moves closer to him.

“The point, my love, is that they’re clearly serious,” Cass says, gently rubbing her hand over his shoulder. “They respect each other, and are acting a hell of a lot more mature in their relationship than we did.”

Parker visibly relaxes under her touch but grumbles, “Oh, so keeping secrets is mature?”

I had a suspicion that my best friend’s frustration was more related to the fact that we didn’t clue him in on our relationship, and less about my character. If Claire’s bad about verbalizing her emotions, Parker is even worse. It makes sense that he would deflect the hurt, and instead choose to hurl insults. So while his words sting, I completely understand.

“Can you blame them?”

Parker’s shoulders slump as Cassidy’s words sink in. He seems torn between his frustration with me, and his love for her.

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