Page 10 of Room One Hundred and Nineteen: Watching Her

“Well?” Rick said, rolling his hand for me to get on with it.

“You guys ready to listen? Seriously?” They both turned to look at one another before giving me their attention.

“You two are overcomplicating it. Josh, I love you, man, and you know I love the beach house. But that place is not the answer to all our problems. You have any idea how long it would take for her to get another three-day weekend off? Much less without any plans attached to them?” His lips pursed because he knew I was right. Then I turned to Rick.

“Rick, you lucky bastard,” I mumbled. “You go to kiss her. And I know now every time you walk into the locker room, into the resting area, you will always look at it with fond memories while that schmuck and I look at it with envy. I tip my hat to you.” He chuckled, and Josh rolled his eyes, but one thing he didn’t do was deny it. “But again, your plans are too…” I made a face. “We all have a couple of things in common, as we discovered at Club Sin,” I shared. They looked at one another before giving me their full-on attention. “Something I have a feeling she’s into.”

“Voyeurism?” Josh guessed. I grinned.

“Our girl loves to watch us. We’ve all noticed it. The way she looks at us when she thinks no one sees her? Come on.”

“So?”

“So, we use that to our advantage. Give her a taste.”

“A taste?”

“Of what we have in store for her. We might need to play a little dirty, but we’ve never minded hard work before.” I shrugged.

“Okay, you lost me, Miles,” Josh said. I smirked.

“We’re done waiting, standing around with our thumbs up our asses, right? Watching and waiting to make a move?”

“Right,” Rick sounded slowly.

“So… we use moments that pop up to our advantage this week. Put ourselves in… precarious situations that make her watch us so we can watch her later.”

“What?” Josh’s brows bunched, and his ass moved to the edge of the recliner he was in before he rested his elbows on his knees. Slowly, I laid out the plan I had solidified in my head while I listened to them.

We liked to watch. Each of us individually and as a group. It was something we had learned about one another as we explored the type of relationship we wanted. The only one that would work for the kind of friendship we had.

We were close.

Closer than most.

Maybe it was our time in the Marines or the fact that without each other’s help, we would never have made it out of medical school. Either way, we were who we were. I just hoped that by the end of this, Elena could accept us. Because we couldn’t imagine our lives without her.

4

ELENA

Igot to my car and winced.

“Shit,” I muttered under my breath.

The bag on my shoulder was cutting into my skin. I hefted it up and over and tossed it into the trunk of my old SUV. I was more than tired, and I was glad the day was over. A very long, grueling day. I had to go back in and get my kids from daycare, not that I minded. It was easier to do things this way than to try to carry the twins, especially after longer shifts like this when the kids were sleepy after spending all day there. The idea of the extra walk made my feet ache, but I talked myself into believing this was easier. That the extra steps were good for me.

Yet I still smiled.

As long and tiring as the day had been, it was also interesting.Good even.It had been a while since I’d had such a good day at work.

My boss, Tabitha, had been in an unusually good mood. The calls I was assigned to weren’t terrible and I was able to work with each of my favorite doctors. I loved when I got to do that instead of the asshole or grumpy ones. Miles, Josh, and Rickwere great to work with and not only because they were easy on the eyes.

I opened the driver’s side door and slipped into the seat. I started to do this about a month and a half ago when my car started to give me headaches I didn’t need. I knew from the last time I took it into the mechanic, I was either going to need to seriously invest in fixing the old girl, or it was time to trade her in. Like my mechanic liked to tell me, I was on borrowed time.

I knew the trade-in was going to be a necessity, but I needed a car payment like I needed a hole in my head. I had been trying to buy as much time as I could, saving up a bigger down payment so the monthly rate wouldn’t be so steep.

Every day I got into my old SUV was like playing Russian roulette. My sister, Rosie, helped me out when she could, lending me her car when mine didn’t want to start and she was home. I slipped the key in and started it, but I should have known.

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