Page 131 of Undeniably Enemies

I toss my hands up. “So? I do. If he talks like we’re forever, then he has to get used to the idea that I have Fritz money. It’s not emasculating that I have money and he doesn’t.”

“No, but men can be prideful.”

“I get that, but it’s hurting us since we want to live together, and neither of us wants to leave our building.”

“Well,” my mother says with a shoulder shrug. “At least you get the makeup sex. Speaking of that, I have to go and find your father. He’s supposed to be done for the day too, and we’re expected at Owen’s for trick-or-treating with Rory and Willow.”

“First, that’s gross about sex with my dad. Second, I thought you just said Dr. Fritz is in the OR waiting for the patient.”

My mother snickers. “First, I had to hear you talk about your sex, so gross on you. Second, your cousin Keegan is also known as Dr. Fritz.”

Oh. Right.

“Point made. Have a good night.” I hug her and head for the exit as she heads upstairs to find my dad.

I’ve only been an intern for three and a half months, but it’s been the best and most exhausting three months of my life. Jack is chief and has been doing a kickass job with it, even if it means he’s working longer hours than he was before. Thatdoesn’t bother me much since I work just as many hours as he does. Harrison Marshall quit the same day Jack was announced as chief. Rumor has it, he and his wife moved out of state. I’d like to say that he hopefully learned from his mistakes, but I doubt that.

Vander did do a little tweaking, and now his arrest back in college shows up on a background check. It’s about the best we can do, but he’ll have trouble getting recommendations from other doctors or superiors, so hopefully that does something.

Other than that, things with me and Jack have been amazing. Owen obviously came around. In fact, by the time he met us out for Mexican with Octavia, Estlin, and Rory, he gave Jack a hug and a fist pound and a threat to take good care of his sister, and that was that. We sort of knew it would be. Men are weird with their pride.

Speaking of, I’m gearing up for another round of fighting with Jack.

Since we’ve been together, it’s either him sleeping at my place or me sleeping at his. But since we live next door, we don’t have things in each other’s place. We’ve talked about formally moving in with each other, but we also decided we’d like more space if we could have it.

I suggested breaking down the main wall that separates our dining areas and making it one big apartment. But we’d have two kitchens, and the layout would be funny. We’d have to renovate for sure, and after talking to the building owner and an architect, it’d be a lot of work. The trouble is, we love our building and our neighborhood, and there isn’t much on the market that fits what we want.

I could do the renovations. The money isn’t an issue for me, but it is for Jack, so that leads us perpetually back to square one. It’s not a big problem to have, and that’s pretty much been the extent of our fighting, believe it or not.

The streets are lined with Halloween décor, multicoloredfallen leaves, and kids in costumes giggling as they hold tightly to their candy bags. What I didn’t tell my mom and Katy is that Jack decided to take the day off almost at the last minute and without explanation. He called one of the other attending physicians last night and asked if they could switch shifts. Then he all but went to bed, so I couldn’t ask him anything about it.

It was weird. At least for Jack, since he never misses a day or swaps out his shift.

Jogging up the front steps of our building, I unlock the door and climb up to my place. I’m not sure where Jack is at the moment since he didn’t return my text, but I’m dying for a shower. Only when I get to my door, there’s a note stuck to it.

Meet me on the 4th floor.

-Jack

Huh. That’s weird. The fourth floor? I pull out my phone and go to text him, but since he already didn’t respond to my first text, I decide to just go and see what this is all about. I’ve never been to the fourth floor before. I always assumed it was more apartments, similar to mine, Jack’s, and Tyson’s. But as I reach the landing, there’s only one door up here.

Glancing around and feeling more than a little strange about it, I tap lightly on the door, except it wasn’t fully closed, and with my tap, it slowly swings open.

“Jack?” I whisper hiss because this totally feels like I’m breaking into someone’s apartment. Which I am because there’s furniture and things everywhere.

“In here,” he says.

In here? Is he kidding? My teeth sink into my lip, and I creep along, taking in the sprawling space.

“Jack?” I question again nervously, and hear him chuckle. That’s it. That’s his only response, but I follow the sound until Ireach the kitchen and find him standing in the center of it. “What on earth are you doing in here? Did you break in?”

“So, funny story.” He takes a step toward me and reaches for my hand. He starts to play with my fingers as he talks. “I got a call from Carl last night. Apparently, the owners of this unit are looking to sell so they can move to be closer to their grandchildren. Plus, the four flights are starting to get to them.”

I scrunch my nose. “I imagine they would.”

“Yes, but I put down a deposit.”

My eyes bulge. “You what?”

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