Page 62 of Tough Score

As we approach the crosswalk, Jaxson instinctively places a gentle hand on the back of my arm. We wait for the WALK sign to illuminate, and then Jaxson and I look both ways before we start across the street.

The memory of being in this crosswalk with Reeve flashes through my mind every time I walk through it.

We get to the other side safely and start walking through the parking lot toward my car.

"So… becoming a doctor. When did you decide to take on a mountain of school debt and pick a career where you work a million hours," I ask.

He takes a deep breath and then exhales, the heat of his mouth blowing out billows of steam. "When I was young, I thought I'd become a professional soccer player. Or, more accurately, my father wanted me to be a professional soccer player. I received a full-ride scholarship to play soccer, and I thought I was on the path I was meant to be on. Then, one fateful night changed everything. I couldn't even look at a soccer ball for years."

"What happened?"

"Let's just say that soccer did me dirty and I didn't want anything to do with it. The next day my mom found out that my dad gambled away our house, and she divorced him. I decided I wanted to do something good for others and being a doctor seemed to fit the bill."

I'm taken aback by how similar our stories are. Both of our fathers are the worst, and we both went into the medical field to help others. Mine might have been to clear my father's karma that seems to keep following me around, but also because Paula gave me a new passion when one dream I thought had died with my injury.

Jaxson also suffered a traumatic event and it pushed him into medicine and making a difference. Maybe Jaxson and I are more compatible than I thought. Maybe he's not just the alternate choice from Reeve? What if he turns out to be the better choice?

The soft glow of my phone illuminates while I lay on my bed.

Reeve's name comes over my phone, and my lips pull into a wide, dopey grin the second I see it.

"Hey, how's the road trip going?" I ask casually, trying not to let him know how happy I am that he's calling.

"It's alright. The guys are in rare form tonight. I think Briggs is trying to convince the rookies that he once wrestled a bear in Alaska, but it's more like he got in a slapping match with the Bears hockey team mascot… while we played them in Alaska."

I laugh, picturing the scene of Briggs having it out with a plush mascot. With all that padded fur, it must have been more of a pillow fight.

"And how are you doing? Have you been keeping up with your stretches?"

"Yes, doc." There's a hint of playful exasperation in his tone. "I've been a good patient, I promise. How about you? How was Oakley's tonight?"

I hesitate for a second, not completely sure if I should tell him about the date with Jaxson. Instead, I remember the moment on TV that I caught. "It was... interesting. The girls all came in, and I finally got to meet Brynn. The girls all gave her some interesting advice."

"Oh yeah? What kind of advice?"

I consider telling him about the honey-do list and the spatula but decide against it. Girl talk is meant for girls. Reeve doesn't need to hear it.

"Never mind about that actually, you'd find it boring," Yeah right, not a chance. "I saw your stunt tonight with the jersey."

I can practically hear his toothy grin over the phone. "Oh yeah? You saw that?"

"I did." I bite down on my lip, then decide to push forward with what I need to tell him. "Actually, something else happened tonight. Dr. Morgan came into the bar."

The silence on the other end of the line stretched for a moment.

"Jaxson was there?" Reeve's voice comes in quiet.

"Yeah," I say. "He, um... he asked me out on a date."

More heavy silence falls between us, thick with unspoken words. Finally, he speaks again. "Oh? And what did you say?"

My heart races and my stomach swirls uncomfortably. "I told him I'm not in a good place to date right now. That I need to finish what I started with your recovery first."

I hear the sound of Reeve blowing out a heavy breath and my heart sinks but this is the right thing for him… for both of us. We can't be together, so inevitably, one of us has to move on first. And with him wearing a jersey with Mr. Woods on the back in front of thousands of fans and even more television viewers… I think I have to be the first one.

"I see," he said, his voice softer now. "Keely, you know you don't owe me anything, right? If you want to go out with Jaxson, you should."

He always tries to make everything easy on me, never letting me feel guilty for anything. Maybe that's Reeve Aisa's most toxic trait, making himself too damn easy to love.

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