Page 52 of The Doctor's Simple Life

I laugh before I can stop myself.

Sienna withers, sinking back into her seat as if she’s trying to disappear. It makes me regret it immediately. She doesn’t deserve to hear Mikey talking crap about her and the town.

It’s just easy to forget how not to be like that in his presence.

“You know what?” says Mikey, totally unaware of any hard feelings he might have caused. He chugs the last of his beer and slams the glass down on the table. “You’ve handled this admirably. Way better than I’d ever have expected. I know you technically have a week left here, but I’ll let you out of the bet early. It was only funny while I thought you would hate it, but it looks like you made yourself right at home.”

It’s a loaded comment, and I noticed Sienna prickling beside me. It’s clear what he’s insinuating:You’ve settled in so well here because you’ve got a girl to follow you around. I can’t tell him that that’s not true because it kind of is.

Or at least Ithoughtthat Sienna was fun and hanging around with me because she wanted to. From the way she’s acting now, it’s hard to imagine the woman who’s been in my bed for the last few days, the one who smiles and makes fun of me and cares about me more than I deserve.

Then what Mikey’s saying sinks in.

“Wait,” I say. “Do you mean that I can come back to civilization?”

Mikey grins. “Whenever you want, my friend. Just say the word. It’ll probably take me a day or two to get your shifts set again at home, but you’re free whenever you want to be.”

“Great!” I grin. Home! I’ve been dreaming about leaving this place from the second I got here, and to be going early seems like a joke I’m about to be on the wrong side of.

And then I noticed the look Sienna’s giving me, and I’m hit with the punchline. That’s the face she makes when she’s dealing with someone difficult, or something hard. The face of trying to be strong.

It breaks my heart a little.

Does she not want me to leave after all? Or is she offended that we’re being cruel about the town that she loves? It’s hard to tell.

“Well, I should at least finish my shifts here,” I say. “I don’t want to give these guys more work than they need.”

“How noble of you.” Mikey raises an eyebrow, and I ignore whatever crude things he might be trying to get me to reveal.

“I have nothing booked past Thursday, so I guess I can come back then.”

“Awesome,” says Mikey. “We should play some tennis to celebrate when you get back.”

“No,” I scoff. “I’ve already let you catch me out with that once. I’m not going to let you punish me again.”

“Afraid you’d lose?”

“Afraid you’d think of a punishment that was actually bad if I did.”

“Did he tell you that he’s a complete coward?” Mikey drawls at Sienna, acknowledging her presence almost for the first time all night.

“I’ve noticed,” she mutters under her breath, and hearing that is like being stabbed in the chest.

She still thinks so little of me. Really?

“Hey,” I frown. “Have we not shared some good times together?”

“No,” she says, and I can’t tell if that’s a challenge or what.

Because we have. Maybe it hasn’t been everything she wanted, or maybe I’ve been a letdown. I don’t know. But it can’t just be me who thought we had a good time. There have been plenty of moments that sucked, but it wasn’t everything. It can’t have been everything.

“Well, I’ll be gone soon enough,” I snap, more harshly than I intended.

Sienna’s face is an unchanging mask of stone.

I’m aware of Mikey’s eyes burning into us.

I’m embarrassing myself.

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