Page 27 of I Still Love You

“Least he’s not broke, too,” I quip. “She could’ve stuck around long enough to have taken all of his money and ran.”

Jett’s eyes widen. “Hell, he might be if his career is toast.”

I clasp my hand on Jett’s shoulder and squeeze. “I’m going to offer my best to Henderson. Things could be worse. Let’s be glad they’re not.”

Jett narrows his eyes on me. “Why are you so goddamn upbeat? Actually, now that I’m getting a good look at you, you don’t seem so…grouchy. What the hell happened to you?”

I make myself busy by putting away the gel and washing my hands in the miniature sink in the area. Jett doesn’t work at the hospital. His office is the baseball field or conditioning in the team’s fancy gym. He hasn’t heard about Layla, and I’m trying to keep it that way. I’m trying to maintain my personal life while she’s here.

I rub soap into my hands, lathering longer than normal to delay my news because I know he won’t let up until I give him something to work with. “I’m seeing someone.” My throat dries with my words, and I avoid chancing a glance back to see his expression.

“You’re what?” He holds a hand on his ice pack when he scoots to the edge of the chair. “You’re fucking with me, right? Since I’ve known you, you’ve never been with a chick. Hell, never even talked about one. Well, aside from…” He shakes his head, his sullen expression suddenly brightening at my announcement. “So that’s why you’re being so supportive of Henderson and trying to get me out of my head?”

I roll my eyes, rinse, and rip a paper towel off the roll to dry my hands, then turn to him. “I’m always supportive, asshole.”

“I don’t know,” he draws out, jutting his head from side to side. “Not as much as you were a minute ago. Not gonna lie. It was kind of sexy.” He smirks. “Do it again.”

I flatten my lips. “Fuck off.”

“That’s more like it,” he chuckles. “So, what’s she like? I’m trying to picture your type.”

“I don’t have a type,” I tell him, tossing the used paper towel into the trash can.

“Sure, you do. You have the type you fuck around with. Then there’s the type that has you wanting to settle down. Everyone has them. And they’re typically complete opposites of one another.” His eyes light up again, and it makes me want to walk out of the room. He’s assessing and trying to figure me the hell out, and I don’t like it.

Maybe I am in a slightly better mood this morning, but only because I woke up at a good time and got a workout in. It has nothing to do with Layla. Our last encounter wasn’t anything to write home about.

“I’m thinking blonde locks, not as busty…” He trails off and sits back in the luxurious chairs we have along the wall for patients. “Am I right?”

I cross my arms, a subtle frown overtaking my mouth. The last girl I slept with was a brunette. She had strips of blonde and pink throughout, and her tits overflowed in my hands. Too big, if you ask me.

“I’m right, aren’t I? Hit the nail on the head?”

I play it off like I don’t know what he’s talking about and go as far as offering a tiny white omission. “The last woman I was with had blonde hair. So, doesn’t sound like it.”

His brow lifts at the same time the front door chimes, and my next patient arrives. “I’m not buying it.” He nods. “Tell me about her. She has to be a hardass if she’s dealing with your stubborn attitude on the regular.”

Layla can be just as stubborn. She can be confident and cocky, too. She was always good at keeping me in my place years ago, and if I weren’t such an ass now—if I could bare breathing the same air as her—I would revert to the man who allowed her so much authority. It would be easy to go back to that. To let my walls drop and allow her in. She weakened me to the point that I would’ve been okay with jumping in front of a moving train to protect her. That’s how far gone I was. My heart truly did beat for that woman. Until it didn’t.

“She works at the hospital,” is all I offer.

“Oh, a doctor.” He nods his head approvingly, a sly grin breaking out on his face. “Nice. She dress up in her uniform for you yet? A white coat and nothing underneath?”

“You’re a pain in the ass. She’s a nurse,” I clarify. “Works in the emergency department.”

Jett beams with his big ass goofy smile, and I do all I can to ignore it. Before Jett can get another word out, Rebecca’s heels invade our space. She stops at the threshold that leads back to my work area and smiles with that same sparkle in her eyes she’s been giving me since hearing about Layla. “Someone special is here to see you,” she coos. “Still can’t believe you kept her from us. Shall I have her wait in the waiting room?”

My stomach drops to my ass, and an uneasiness moves through my chest. What the hell is she doing here? We haven’t communicated since Saturday, and I figured that would have to end soon, but I was hoping I had a little more time to spare. “No, take her to my office. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Jett’s eyes flick back and forth at our exchange, then Rebecca nods and heads back to the front desk. “It’s her, isn’t it? Damn. This is getting good.” His eyes grow big, barely able to contain his excitement. He looks in the direction of my office.

“Don’t even think about it,” I warn, pointing at him. “You’re in that chair until your done icing. Then you’re going to get up and walk your ass out the front door.”

“I wanna meet her.”

“Absolutely not.”

I have no plan to introduce her to anyone, much less my best fucking friend. This relationship we have is strictly professional. The second we bring our personal lives into it, it’s going to get messy, and I’m not interested in cleaning up a mess that could come from that. I grab the timer from the counter and set it on the armrest of his chair. I tap it twice. “Seven minutes, then out the door you go.”

---