Page 48 of Love Medley
Before I know it, Sterling and Sam are in front of us. Sam’s gaze flits quickly to me and then away, her posture stiff. And while it still feels weird as hell, I have to admit…they make a handsome couple. The kind of couple that makes sense.
“Hi, little brother, long time, no see,” Sterling says, grinning. He cuts a fine figure in his tailored tux, and I have an impulse to wrestle him to the ground, maybe muss up his polished veneer a bit.
“Hi, Sterling,” I say flatly. “Hello, Sam.” It takes everything in me to even greet them—I have a deer-in-the-headlights responseto conflict. Although I admit I haven’t experienced anything quite like this before.
Before Sam can say anything, Sterling places a possessive hand on Sam’s hip. “Sam did tell me that you two know each other. Funny you never told me that. It’s almost like you were worried what would happen if I found out. Like you realized there was only one way for this to go.”
My jaw clenches, and Lucy eyes me with an unreadable expression. But unfortunately, I'm so flooded I can’t focus on her. I’m still fixated on the fact Sterling is making this out to be a competition. I also have no idea what Sam told him, so I’m unsure how to play this. There’s a sensation of glue in my throat—and any words I possess remain stuck inside.
“Hi, I’m Lucy Chang.” Her voice jolts me out of my rising panic. She sticks her hand out for Sam to shake first, and then Sterling after. I’m pretty sure none of us misses the order of handshakes.
My relief from Lucy's interjection is quickly followed by shame. I should’ve introduced Lucy to them myself, but usual social conventions have left me. Being around Sterling always does this to me. It’s like no matter how much I try to separate myself from the toxicity of my family, all it takes is one moment with Sterling, and his presence and general assholery shrink me into someone I don’t recognize.
“Charmed,” Sterling says, sounding anything but, and I resist theurge to roll my eyes.
“I haven’t talked to my little brother in a while, and he certainly doesn’t tell me about the women he’s dating.” At this, Sterling gives me a pointed look.
Welp. I guess that cat’s out of the bag. Sam must have told Sterling that she and I dated. And it wouldn’t take much to fill in the gaps. Like the fact he knew nothing about her.
Red hot embarrassment races through me. I already feel an inch tall around my older brother—and now he has even more fodder to use against me.
This is why I don’t talk to him. When I’m not around him, I can pretend that I measure up. But next to him…all the old trauma resurfaces.
Sterling is still talking: “So I’m afraid I don’t know anything about you, Lucy. How long have you two been together?”
“Only about a month,” Lucy says, looking at me adoringly, twisting a lock of hair between her fingers. “But it feels like so much longer.”
She’s selling this performance so flawlessly that it hurts. We’re here forher, and yet, here she is, leaping to my defense in a way no one has before. Gratitude and mortification swirl inside me. How will I ever look Lucy in the eye after tonight?
As I sort through my increasingly turbulent feelings, I notice that Sam is worrying at her lip, a sign that means she’s stressed out.
Wait. Why is she stressed out? Why does she even care about who I date? Or maybe she’s embarrassed that Sterling is acting like a total asshole?
“How…how did you guys meet?” Sam asks, her voice higher pitched than it typically is.
“Oh, it was a perfect meet cute,” Lucy gushes. I would smile at Lucy’s pitch-perfect delivery if I weren’t so conflicted. “Unbeknownst to us, we shared a patient in the ER. Jake came over to the doctor’s station to touch base with me. The moment we met, it was like magic.”
Part of me wants to burst out laughing at Lucy’s deliberate earnestness, but another part of me wants to curl up and die because I remember it not so differently from the way Lucy relays it. To me, meeting herwasmagic.
Who’s the chump now?
“That’sadorable. Are you a nurse too, Lucy? Or maybe a PCT?” Sterling sneers.
Anger flares in me that he just assumes she’s a nurse or PCT—what, because she’s a woman? Then there’s the fact he obviously looks down on those jobs like the snob he is.
And in true Sterling fashion, it’s not just about Lucy. It’s a dig at me, too. After all, he’s had a lifetime to perfect this multi-pronged attack.
And Sterling is skilled at everything he does.
“Actually, I’m a fourth-year med student,” Lucy says chirpily. Before I can drag her away from Sterling and Sam, she plunges along headfirst. “I love the fact that Jake is a nurse, you know? First, he’s just so darned good at it. It’s a calling, not a fallback option. Second, he has a way higher emotional IQ than most guys, which is super sexy. He doesn’t feel intimidated by the fact I’m going tobecome a doctor. He just supports me in everything I do. So many other guys would feel emasculated by a woman having a career.” Here, she lowers her voice to a stage whisper. “That’s probably why so many men with high-profile jobs can’t keep their women happy and end up getting divorced, you know what I mean?”
Sterling’s face has gotten progressively redder throughout Lucy’s spiel. Did I ever even tell her that Sterling’s been divorced twice?
But already I’m reeling for a completely different reason. I know she said before that nursing suited me—but her labeling my job as a calling, not a fallback option?
That hits so much harder.
Then I wonder…how much of what she said was real, and how much was just for show? A performance to get under Sterling’s skin?
