Page 9 of Soren

It was almost enough to make Soren think Gabe reallywasimmune to his charms. Soren hadn’t ever seen the human romantically involved with a man, for that matter. Maybe Soren was barking up the wrong tree entirely.

But…no. He’d caught the way the human eyed him when he thought no one was looking. There was a heat to his gaze that Soren had centuries of experience translating. The human wasnotimmune.

And rightly so. Soren was a goddamn catch.

Plus, would fate really be so cruel?

It was a stupid thought. Soren already knew the universe was a vindictive bitch. He had no reason to expect good things to come his way. Roman and Danny’s happiness was the exception, not the rule.

Still, Soren was tired of this standstill.

So he decided, sipping his liquid sugar, he’d do something about it.

Hewasn’tsome mooning townie. He was Soren fucking Iversen. He could seduce one measly human.

He had three weeks to try, anyway. If Gabe still hated him by the end of it, then Soren would admit his instincts were off. He’d move on. Leave this town like he should have already.

He didn’t let himself think about what he’d do if Gabe decided hedidn’thate Soren.

Soren would cross that bridge when he came to it.

three

Gabe

“PagingDr.Kingmantothe ER.”

Gabe looked up from his patient notes and glanced reflexively to the ceiling on hearing the overhead page. Since there was no one else in the dictation room to hear him do it, he indulged himself for a moment in groaning dramatically.

Fuck.He was supposed to be finishing up by now, giving a report to the day-shift ICU doctor, but so far they hadn’t even shown up yet. Most likely because today the oncoming doctor was Dr. Monroe, and that motherfuckeralwaysstopped in the cafeteria for his morning coffeeafterclocking in for the day. It was infuriating, even on a good day.

And today was not a good day.

The overhead page repeated, and Gabe logged out of the hospital computer and hustled down to the ER. A patient there must have ended up with a breathing tube down their throat. Gabe’s fellowship was centered on critical care and pulmonology, meaning he focused specifically on lungs. He mostly took care of patients requiring breathing machines on the hospital’s two ICU floors.

It suited Gabe, taking care of ventilated patients. He wasn’t like Danny, who was warm and sweet and had the kind of presence that made people—patients, coworkers, randos at the coffee shop—feel immediately at ease.

Gabe didn’t put anyone at ease. He could be charming sometimes, sure. A leftover sheen from his days as a high school prom king. But it was a superficial charm at best. Because when it came down to it, he could also come off as a bit of an asshole. Gruff when he should be gentle, firm when he should be soft.

But Gabe’s patients were often sedated, and they couldn’t talk with a breathing tube anyway, so Gabe was able to care for them in the way he did best—with good medicine, genuine respect, and a healthy amount of emotional distance.

As Gabe walked through the ER, his gaze darted to the nurses’ station before he caught himself. Apparently he was too used to keeping an eye out for his brother to stop now. He pulled his focus to looking for the charge nurse on duty, hoping they could tell him where his new patient was. He spotted Dr. Monroe first, consulting with an ER doctor in one of the bays.

The asshole raised his coffee cup to him in greeting.

Fucking Dr. Monroe. At least the ER didn’t need Gabe anymore, if the day-shift doctor was already there.

“What’s up your ass this morning, Doc?” asked a bright, absurdly cheery female voice. Gabe knew it well. He looked down to see Chloe, nighttime charge nurse and his brother’s work bestie.

Gabe shrugged, suppressing the urge to glance at his watch. “Nothing. Just ready to get out of here.”

“Funny. You usually seem like you couldn’t care less what time you leave.” The short brunette raised an eyebrow at him, but Gabe ignored the gibe. “Have you heard from Danny?”

Gabe’s little brother had left the day before for his belated honeymoon, and Gabe was officially on puppy duty. He wanted to be annoyed with Roman for not waiting untilafterthe honeymoon to get Danny a puppy, but remembering the ecstatic look on his brother’s face as he showed off the little fur ball made it hard to hold a grudge.

“He texted me when they landed,” Gabe answered. “Then Roman texted to tell me I wasn’t allowed to textthemunless Ferdy had some kind of emergency.”

Chloe laughed brightly. “That’s actually pretty sweet. Little lovebirds.”

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