Page 12 of Undeniably Enemies

God, I hate this man. Like in my soul, hate him.

He’s surrounded by his other medical students and residents and even a couple of nurses, who are trying to hide their amusement. My face heats, and my fists clench.

I grit my teeth. “No, sir. I had car trouble,” I lie because it’s easier than giving him a real explanation. Except somehow, he reads it on my face, but before he can lay into me, I quickly utter, “It won’t happen again. I promise.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Your fellow students can thank you because since you missed assignments and rounds, you’ll get to do scut.”

Of course. Honestly, it’s what I expected, so I can’t even argue it.

“First go change your scrubs. You’re dripping water all over the ER floors.”

Without another word—because anything I say at this point won’t be kind or respectful—I spin around and head back into the locker room. I’m grateful for it actually. Not only am I miserably wet, but I need a minute to get myself together.

I moved back home to Boston three and a half years ago for medical school after I graduated college, but for two blissful years after our blowout in that bar, I didn’t see Jack. Then he decided to move back home last year, and I’ve been forced to endure him on several occasions. Now my luck has run out as I not only have to see him every freaking day for the next four weeks, but I’ve been assigned to him as my attending physician.

Owen thinks it’s great. He’s hoping it’ll mean we’ll learn how to, at the very least, tolerate each other. The fact that we don’t particularly like each other is obvious to everyone—even if they don’t know why and never will—and most of the time when we’re forced together in the same space, we ignore each other.

Here that’s not an option. He’s my boss.

I rip off my scrub top and chuck it in the direction of my locker. With a huff, I march over to the rack of extra scrubs andsift through until I find my size while I count backward from four in four sets. My heart rate slows as I pull off my wet pants and slip into dry ones. I wish I had dry shoes and socks too, but right now I’ll take what I can get.

I tie the loop on my pants and pull a new top over my head as I continue to calm myself. “Four is the natural number following three and preceding five. It’s a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number. Its square is sixteen, and its square root is two. Four is the number of nucleobase types in DNA and RNA?—”

“What are you doing?” comes from behind me just as I pull my scrub top down, and I jump, not having heard anyone enter the locker room.

Fuck. I cover my pounding heart with my hand. I don’t like being snuck up on. Couldn’t he have just given me a goddamn minute? “Changing as you ordered me to do and channeling my inner calm so I don’t strangle the attending I’m unfortunately assigned to.”

He ignores my barb. “What was all that about the number four?”

I wish he hadn’t heard that, and I’d rather eat a raw cat’s liver than tell him anything. I spin around and glare. “Is there something you need, Dr. Kincaid, or do you normally make it a habit to come into the locker room when you tell a female staff member to get changed?”

He releases an annoyed breath. “Why were you late?”

“I already told you.”

“You lied. Now tell me the truth.”

“What does it matter?” I snap. “It doesn’t change the fact that I was.”

“Tell me, Wren. Because you looked like you had a rough morning, and I want to know what happened and if you’re okay.”

I give myself a second while I clip my hospital ID badge tothe top of my scrub pants. I’m actively skirting his gaze so I don’t have to look at him, though I can feel him watching me. “I’m fine. I was up late studying, and I accidentally left my phone on silent. I didn’t hear my alarm going off. It’s also pouring out, and I was an unfortunate victim of the rain.”

Jack is leaning against the locker room door, blocking any escape I could have. His brown hair, shaved close on the sides and longer on top, is pushed back from his brutally gorgeous face, showcasing his piercing blue eyes, straight nose, and sharp, stubble-lined jaw. His posture is casual with his foot propped up against the door and his hands tucked into the pockets of the lab coat he’s only wearing because he has new students, but his expression is hard and unrelenting.

“That’s not the way to make a good first impression on me.”

I snap my fingers in an aw-shucks way. “Dammit, there go all my life’s goals and aspirations. How will I recover?” He’s not amused, and I roll my eyes derisively. “As if that were possible with you anyway.”

“It’s not,” he agrees flatly. “You’re right about that. The sooner you finish this rotation and get out of my ER, the better. Having you down here…” He trails off and shakes his head as if clearing his thoughts. “I’d hoped we’d still start off on a more professional footing.”

“Right. Sure.” I scoff indignantly, sarcasm dripping from my tongue. “Yeah, you just proved that.”

He glares arrogantly. “I didn’t treat you any differently than I would any other student. If you thought you’d get special favors from me simply because your brother is my best friend?—”

“Is that a joke?” I shoot back, cutting him off. “You are the last person I’d ever expect special favors from. You threw my last name in my face right in front of everyone just to be a jerk and humiliate me.”

He’s so stoic, so calm when I’m anything but. It’s driving meinsane how dismissive he is of me. The guy took my heart and used it for batting practice as if it were just any other ball for him to play with. Thankfully, those feelings for him have long since sailed, and now I just find him insufferable.

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