Page 20 of Citius

Dr. Sethi was a well-maintained steel trap of a woman in her late sixties with a penchant for frosted lipsticks and silk blouses. She was also the unseen hand guiding the future of every sports medicine fellow, including mine.

“She doesn’t use Carling professionally?”

“No. Doesn’t use it in her personal life, either. Was already published when she joined the pack.”

I couldn’t picture them together in a family setting. It was like a Great Pyrenees playing house with a python. The only thing they seemed to have in common was a mile-long list of accomplishments.

“A heads-up would have been nice,” I said. “Considering the fact I meet with her every week.”

“I know, I know—and I’m sorry. Wasn’t keeping it from you onpurpose.” Cal scratched the back of his neck. “It’s not something I like to advertise, even though it’s public knowledge.”

Unsure if his last sentence was a hint or a warning, I asked, “Why tell me now?”

His voice was quiet. Vulnerable. “Quid pro quo, I guess.”

I hummed in noncommittal agreement. At least he recognized that bringing up my heat suppressant dosage during work hours crossed the line.

Cal nodded at an incoming car with a blonde woman at the wheel. “Is that your sister?”

How did Cal know I had a blonde sister? Kelsey had only picked me up a few times since the start of my fellowship, but she’d stayed in the car, never going inside the stadium or any of the offices where I worked.

No, that wasn’t right. I’d forgotten my pill case at the start of the second week. She met me in the lobby of the sports medicine clinic. Cal was there, passing by, and didn’t hesitate to introduce himself.

He remembered such an insignificant encounter? I would’ve thought his mind had even less room for superfluous details than my own damp sponge of a brain.

“I’m waiting for my brother, not my sister.”

Cal’s face contorted in confusion, tweaking his nose even more out of alignment. “There’s more of you?”

It was impossible not to indulge in a small laugh at his reaction. “I’m the third of seven kids. Five girls, two boys.”

“Huh.” He blinked at me. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you give off strong only-child vibes—independent, high achiever. You don’t need much direction at work. For some reason, I thought one sister was already pushing it on the sibling count.”

“No offense taken. It’s a lot of kids, especially for a pack with just one mother in the mix.”

Cal bit back a smile. “What’s his major?”

“Mechanical engineering.”

“Didn’t he want to follow in your footsteps,” he teased, echoing my earlier question, “and be a Wakeland weasel?”

“Oh, he got in,” I said with pride. Sure, Northport might be the state’s top research university, but Wakeland State had the edge in engineering and medical programs. Which is why I chose it—well, that and a generous gymnastics scholarship. “But Rory wanted to stay close to home, and most of his friends are here.”

“Not going to defend your alma mater’s mascot?”

“Nope.” There was no point. Northport alums calling our mascot aweasel instead of its proper name, Finley the Fisher, wasn’t as clever as they thought. They were both members of the Mustelid family.

“You’re no fun.”

After Rory texted to confirm that he was almost there, I slipped my phone into the front pocket of my work bag.

“Since you’re so bored, want to know how you come across? I promise it’s flattering.”

“As long as it’s actually flattering, even if you have to lie to me.”

I studied him out of the corner of my eye as I straightened my sunglasses. “You seem like a surprise baby boy alpha after a long line of mostly omega sisters.”

“I deserved that—and you’re not entirely incorrect,” Cal said with a mellow chuckle. “But I don’t see how that’s flattering.”

---