Page 20 of The Doctor's No-Strings Deal

Kayla noticed, and she sidled up next to Megan to whisper, “You were with him, weren’t you?” She nodded toward Charlie.

Megan scoffed unconvincingly. “Please.”

“You were!” Kayla’s eyes got wide. “Ah, I knew there was something there. You two hate each other way too much not to be pining away in secret. That’s how it always works out, you know.”

“Is it?”

Kayla nodded.

“He might have given me a ride home.” Megan tried to save herself, but it was no use.

“A ride towhosehome?” Kayla asked with a wink.

“Oh, stop it. You read too many romance novels.”

“You can never read too many romance novels.”

She had a point there, and Megan didn’t argue against it. Instead, she spent the rest of the day subtly insulting Charlie, hoping Kayla would notice and change her assessment. Of course, by the end of the day, Kayla had become more certain than ever that there was a secret affair happening right under her nose, and the thing was, she wasn’t wrong.

That evening, Megan crept into her apartment like a teenager who had stayed out too late. Her mother was sitting up at the dining table, waiting for her exactly the way the mother of a teenager who had stayed out too late might be waiting. The kitchen was clean, so maybe it had been a good night. On the other hand, Megan had been gone for two days, so maybe her mother hadn’t eaten at all.

“Where were you?” Sadie asked with that look in her eyes that Megan knew so well. It was some combination ofI love youandhow dare you, and Megan had been seeing it since she was still young enough to be playing with dolls.

“I’m so sorry,” Megan grabbed a bowl and poured herself some dry cereal. It was late, she was too tired to cook, and she wasn’t about to ask her mother to make something for her. “The other residents invited me to go out for a drink. I only had one, you know. But I think it was still too much.”

“You should have called or texted.”

“I know,” Megan said, watching the milk splash into her bowl. She couldn’t stand to look directly at her mother. “I just wasn’t thinking.”

“Mm-hm.” Sadie leaned back in her chair. “And what were you doing instead of thinking?”

Megan blushed and opted to change the subject instead of answer. “Did you get anything to eat today?”

“Snacks mostly.”

“Eat this.” She handed the cereal to her mother. “I’ll pour more for me.”

The kitchen was too quiet while Megan poured her own bowl of cereal and sat down across from her mother. “Mom, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, Megan. You know you can always talk to me about anything. You’re my daughter, and nothing’s going to change that, even if you do forget to text me and stay out all night.” She laughed, and her laugh put Megan at ease a little.

It was true. For most of her life, Megan’s mother had been as much of a best friend to her as anyone was. She told Sadie things none of her friends could ever tell their mothers. And Sadie never judged her. Oh, she’d speak her mind and give her advice, even if it wasn’t what Megan wanted to hear, but no matter what Megan talked about, she never saw the kind of disappointment and judgement her friends feared from their own parents. And that made her think of Charlie. It was clear the expectations of his own family were massive, and the consequences for not meeting those expectations were far from simple.

“I was with a date,” Megan admitted.

Her mother’s smile grew and grew. “I knew you’d met someone! I told the neighbors that’s probably why you were out — I was so sure of it. Ooh, tell me everything. It’s been so long since I dated. I have to live vicariously through you.”

“Okay, you’ve got me.” Megan smiled a half smile and looked back down at her cereal. “But it’s not what you think. I’m not smitten with him or anything. In fact, we kind of hate each other.”

“Oh?” Sadie leaned over her bowl. “Are you sure you’re not in denial?”

Megan laughed. “About what? The guy’s a privileged asshole. I mean he’s a hot, rich, privileged asshole, but he’s an asshole all the same. We were just blowing off steam really. Could’ve been anyone.”

“But it wasn’t anyone.”

“He just happened to be there.” Her mother’s look was enough to tell Megan she wasn’t buying it. Sometimes, it was inconvenient to have a parent know you so well. “Okay, fine. You win. It’s been building for a while. He and I have been in some kind of deranged competition lately. It’s been sort of good for motivation, I guess. I’m determined to beat him, and that’s giving me energy. The trouble is that he’s… well, he’s…”

“Hot?”

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