Page 62 of The Doctor's Truth

Only I get to insult him.

“Hey.” I flash Nick a razor-sharp smile. “Be like Bambi.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “What?”

“If you’ve got nothing nice to say, shut your mouth?”

“Or what?” His hand tightens around his pint.

Smoothly, I inform him, “I can break your fingers and reset the bones in thirty seconds as though nothing happened. Don’t test me.”

The color falls from Nick’s face. “Whatever,” he says. I relish in the scent in his fear as he sulks away.

“Since when did you become the one who threatens violence?”

To my left, Kenzi appears. As if out of nowhere. My heart kicks.

“You showed up.” I state the obvious, like an idiot.

She leans against the bar and lifts her eyebrows at me. “I thought beating people up was Jason’s schtick.”

“Yeah, well. He became a guru.”

“And you?”

“The student became the master.”

Her eyes following Jason’s performance across the stage. “He wasn’t lying about the karaoke. Is he…really going to take off his shirt?”

“Yeah. He’s a performer.”

God, she looks beautiful. The deep green of her dress brings out the color of her eyes. She pulled her dark hair back in a messy braid, like it was something she whipped together while running out the door. Something about the rawness of her look right now strikes a chord in me.

Maria comes over, and the two women greet each other. “Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year! Where is Diego?”

“With his aunt. What can I get you?”

“A pinot noir, please.”

“Put it on my tab,” I tell Maria.

“Thanks.” Kenzi’s gaze turns back to Jason. He’s in the grand finale, and he’s got half the bar on their feet, singing along with him. His charisma is infectious. Despite herself, a smile reaches her eyes. “God, he’s something, isn’t he?”

“He is that.” I side-eye her. “Are you going to sing one?”

She raises her eyebrows at me. “Me? No way. I still have the worst stage fright.”

“Do you still write?”

At that question, she looks at me blankly. “What?”

“Your music.”

She blinks and then says, “No one’s asked me about that in a while. Uh…no. Not really. I guess other things just…took precedence.”

“You should get back into it,” I say, and she scoffs, so I press, “It was really good.”

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