Page 19 of The History Between Us

“When I was sitting in one of his patient rooms at the clinic.”

His eyes widen. “Your shoulder,” he blurts out. “Oh, my gosh, tell me he’s not your doctor!”

“He most definitely is,” I reply, biting back a grin at the unbelievable expression painted over Whit’s face.

“Wow.” Blowing out a breath, Whit runs a hand through his hair. “This is…so fucked up.”

“I like to think of it as fun,” I quip.

Watching me with an arched brow and his lips pressed thin, Whit says, “Of course,youwould.”

“Hey! I’m injured and unable to compete. Gotta pass the time somehow.”

As if realization dawns on him, his eyes dart over to mine,narrowing. “What are you going to do, Colt?”

A smirk splits my face as I give Whit my most innocent look. “Who, me? What makes you think I’m going to do anything?”

“Because you’re you, and trouble is your middle name. You cannot pursue him, Colt.”

“First of all”—I hold up a finger—“you’re not wrong. And secondly, why the hell not? We are two consenting adults.”

“Oh my God, you’re a moron,” he grumbles.

“Okay, ouch, jackass. What about you, then?”

Confusion takes over his expression as he pins me with a stare. “What about me?”

“Earlier, when I asked if you and Reggie were going to move in together, you looked at me like I’d lost my mind. What’s up with that?”

He sort of curls in on himself with the question, and I don’t even think he realizes he’s doing it. Glancing down at his lap, he shrugs. “I know this doesn’t make sense to you, since I don’t think you’ve ever been in a serious relationship before, but there’s no need to rush, okay? What Reggie and I have is fine the way it is. Why would we mess up a good thing by changing it?”

“Isn’t that typically the next step, though?” Whit hits me with a deadpan stare, and I hold my hands up in innocence. “Genuine question.”

“Sometimes,” he murmurs, looking down at his lap again. “He lives and works out of town, and I live and work here. Neither of us is planning on leaving our jobs, so moving in together would just create a commute for one of us, and frankly, I don’t want to move out of Copper Lake. I happen to love it here.”

I can’t help but smirk at the way he juts out his chin a little at the end. Whit’s on the quieter side. He can come offa bit stuffy more often than not, but he can get quite feisty if he needs to be. Though he may be but small, he’s mighty, or whatever that Shakespeare quote is.

“It has nothing to do with the fact that the last person you lived with was Conrad, would it?”

That earns me a chilling glare that I can practicallyfeel. “No, Colt, my relationship and how we decide to move it forward has nothing to do with my ex-husband.”

Laughing, I say, “Oh my gosh, you aretouchyabout this shit. Down, boy.”

“I don’t know if you realize it, but people are constantly speculating about me and Conrad. People who come into the clinic, all of our friends, even Reggie! Conrad and I split up almost four years ago. We have never given anybody any reason to believe we’re getting back together or that there might still be something simmering there. We have moved on; I don’t know why everybody else hasn’t.”

“I’m sorry, man,” I say, and I mean it. “I was just messing with you, but I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t think about how annoying that must be for you to deal with.”

His shoulders relax, and he blows out a breath. “It’s fine. I know you’re joking around. I’m just…I don’t know, sensitive about it sometimes.”

Remembering what he said, something stands out to me. “Reggie says stuff about it?”

Eyes flitting to mine, it’s like he is just now realizing he let that slip. “Not often, but he has made a comment or two about it in the past.”

“Like what?”

Whit chews on the inside of his cheek for a moment. “I think it’s natural for him to question it, since Conrad and I stillhave to work together as often as we do. He’s just asked about if the divorce was civil, and if there’re still any feelings around on either of our parts. Stuff like that. Nothing too big.”

All conversation about hookups, boyfriends, and ex-husbands fades as he gets back to putting together this hutch thing. The directions are confusing as hell to understand, but eventually, we figure it out. Once he’s finished, he stands it up, admiring his work.

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