Page 4 of Texting My Valentine

I grab the glass, taking a long sip. It’s entirely possible I’m delaying my response.

“How’d you guess that?”

“Because a blind man could see it’s notjustLEGO the kid is interested in building.”

I’m not in the mood for his professional insights. I became Chief of Surgery. He went on to become a successful clinical psychologist. This means he’s always quick with an opinion, whether it’s welcome or not.

“What’s on the cards for tonight?” I say, changing the subject.

“It’s Valentine’s, so there’s only one reasonable course of action,” he replies. “We find two hotties and have our wild, wicked ways with them.”

“We’re forty, Julian,” I deadpan.

“Ah-ah. I’m thirty-nine. You’re the old one in this dynamic duo.”

I grin. “Fair enough. But don’t you think you’re getting a little old for this?”

“Are you going to give me the ‘settle down’ speech? It’d be a bit rich coming from you.”

“Just because I haven’t settled down doesn’t mean I want to sleep around.”

“You should try it sometime. You might realize that being an honorable man is wildly overrated. Anyway, it’s not as if you’ve been stubbornly searching for love, is it?”

I take another small sip of whiskey. Julian takes this as a challenge and drains his glass.

“Life doesn’t have to be so serious all the time,” he says. “Sometimes, it’s worth just taking each moment as it comes. Who knows how many we’ll have left?”

“It’s a little early in the night to be getting philosophical,” I mutter.

“Blame the bottle.”

“You’re annoying enough without the bottle,” I tease.

He smiles at the gentle ribbing. “Touché, my grumpy friend. Why don’t you do me a favor tonight?”

“I feel you’re going to ask even if I say no.”

“Put all the sullenness in that soul of yours into a box and pretend it doesn’t exist.”

“Is that your professional opinion?”

“No—God, no. If we were at work, I’d tell you to think long and hard about your issues and find the best way to approach them. I’d tell you to meditate and write a list of all the different ways you could conquer your demons. But thankfully, we’re not at work.”

“I’m happy to come out with you,” I tell him. “But the whole one-night-stand thing has just never been for me.”

“How about you do me a favor andtry?”

“Seriously?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

“You always talk about how it’s not for you. You want the real thing. Yada yada yada.”

“When you put it like that, you make me sound like some wannabe hopeless romantic,” I say dryly.

He grins as if to say,And what exactly did you think you were?

“You never know. Going out with the intent of havingfunmight have a positive effect on you. You may even be able to let go of some of this grumpiness. And who knows? Maybe having fun will put less pressure on the whole thing, and you’ll meet your soulmate that way.”

“For the record, I don’t talk about finding my ‘soulmate’ that often at all. Just so you know.”

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