Page 58 of Doctor Enemy

Cara takes the phone. Amused, she says, “It’s a house?”

“It’s a house,” I agree, practically vibrating with excitement. “And it might be my house.”

Cara’s eyebrows shoot up.

She uses her thumb to flick through the photos of the listing, taking in the massive backyard, the master bathroom with the huge garden tub, and the expansive kitchen that will probably never be used because neither I nor Kurt can cook. “Yours, huh?” A pause, and a curl of the lips upwards. “Just yours?”

“It was Kurt’s idea,” I confess. “I mean, it's a good one, right? We’re not moving too fast?”

“Does it make you happy?” Cara asks.

“God, yes,” I admit, pulling the phone briefly to my chest before shoving it back into the deep pockets of my bright yellow, duck-covered scrubs.

Cara says, “Then it’s not moving too fast at all. The only thing that matters is making this shit fit for you.”

“How can you tell her that?” Olivia asks, having moved closer to the couch while we were talking. The coffee pot has finished brewing, but she seems to have forgotten it for the moment.

Cara frowns. “Because it’s true. I really thought you would have been happy for her. Aren’t you guys supposed to be best friends?”

My heart twinges. I thought that, too. But it seems like I was wrong.

Olivia shakes her head. “Out of everyone in this place that she could have gone for, Kurt is like– The worst choice that she could have made.”

“I know you don’t like how much older he is but—”

“It’s not just that,” insists Olivia. “You’re the one who said it, Lori. You're his charity case hookup. He’s a player. There’s no way that he is going to just stop being a slut because you’ve decided that—”

Crack.

The sound of skin against skin registers almost before my actions do. My hand is still frozen in the air. Olivia’s face, still turned to the side. Pink is blooming into existence on her cheek.

“Holy shit,” says Cara, lurching to her feet.

Before she can do anything to interfere, and before Olivia or I can break out of our stupor, a strong hand grabs my wrist.

“Ladies,” says Kurt. I didn’t even realize that he had come into the doctors’ lounge. A gobsmacked Nate is standing over by the fridge, staring at us. “I think it’s time that you two get some fresh air.”

“Youhitme,” Olivia finally hisses out, tears welling in her eyes.

I counter, “You deserved it, I can't believe you'd talk to me like that.”

“You know what, Lori? When your bullshit goes bad, it’s going to be on you, not me,” Olivia snaps.

“You don’t care about it going badly! You thought he was a great guy until I started dating him!”

“Lori,” insists Kurt, giving my wrist a tug.

“Come outside. Now.”

There’s something hot about the commanding tone that he uses. The way that he’s touching my hand makes it clear that he doesn’t plan on letting me go. Maybe that’s for the best.

The moment that my hand hit her skin, I regretted it. I’m hot-headed and I act without thinking a lot, the anger a low-burning thing that’s been simmering.

Every time that I’ve called Olivia or gotten coffee with her, she’s brought up Kurt. Her whole idea of the man seems to have changed in the wake of my dating him; instead of talking about how he’s a good doctor, now all she has to say are shitty things about him.

It’s like she’s trying to manipulate me back into my old mindset of hating the guy.

Some best friend she turned out to be.

---