“Jacob,” I deadpanned, crossing my arms. “He’s totally rude.”
“If he’s coming off that way, he’s probably just nervous. He’s an introvert, kind of shy.” He looked at his watch. “Look, I gotta run.” He started jogging backward. “Hey, be nice to him, yeah? He’s one of the good ones.” He turned and jogged the rest of the way to the double doors.
I gawked after him. One of the good ones?
I’d known Zander for years. I not only respected him as a doctor, but I also trusted his judgment in general. I didn’t think he’d say that about anyone unless he believed it was true. I mean it wasn’t true, Jacob was definitely an ass. And he was in cahoots with Gibson for the chief position, which I was still pissed about. But I did believe that Zander believed Jacob was a nice guy.
And Jessica also believed Jacob was a nice guy…
Gibson must like him too.
Huh.
I looked back through the glass. Jacob was finishing the doll. He wiggled it in front of the little girl and then bopped her gently on the nose with it before handing it to her. She clutched it and beamed.
I felt my face soften.
I mean, he had brought me that warm washcloth that day in the supply closet. He could have just taken off, especially after I snapped at him in Benny’s room. And I never really apologized for running into him that day either. Now he was over here saving dolls from certain death…I guess he wasn’t all bad.
I chewed on my lip.
If Jacob was shy, losing all his patients on his first day and then pissing off the entire nursing staff wouldn’t help matters. No one really gave him a shot after that. If he really was “one of the good ones,” like Zander said, that kind of made me feel bad, like it was his first week at a new school and I was one of the mean girls.
Maybe I was one of the mean girls.
I was so crabby lately I was probably shorter with him than I would have been if my life wasn’t a dumpster fire.
Benny was an introvert too. He had a really hard time in school…
Through the sliver in the curtain, I saw Jacob get up and I started for the nurses’ station, but I only got a few feet before I let out a groan and turned back around.
A moment later, when the door to Jacob’s room slid open, I was waiting outside. I stepped in front of him with my arms crossed. “Hey,” I said flatly.
He froze with his hand on the door. “Hello,” he said, looking like a deer in headlights.
“Bring them desserts.”
He blinked at me. “What?”
“You should have brought the nurses donuts on your first day. You showed up empty-handed, that was your first mistake. Cupcakes might save you, but not the cheap stuff. Nadia Cakes, two dozen, get a keto one for Gloria, at least four gluten-free ones, and one vegan. Hector doesn’t do animal by-products. Bonus points if you get a doggie cupcake for Angelica’s new puppy.”
He stared at me, and I turned and walked away.
There. I was nice to him like Zander had asked. I gave him the tools to dig himself out of his nosedive with his team. Whether he chose to take my advice was on him. My conscience was clear. I was no longer a mean girl.
“Hey,” he called after me.
I let out a long breath and turned back around. “What?”
He stood there with this earnest, hat-in-hand, puppy-dog look that made it hard to keep my flat expression. I registered again, almost to my own annoyance, that he was cute.
He had this super-sexy, strong-quiet-type thing about him. Deep, gentle brown eyes, a square jaw with just enough scruff to look a little rugged but still put together. He was maybe five-nine, five-ten, to my five-four. Mid-thirties, in shape. His hands were plunged into the pockets of his black scrubs and he had veins running down his toned arms. I loved well-hydrated veins.
I shook it off. Was he hot? Yes. Fine. Doesn’t matter. Super annoying, though.
“Yeah?” I said impatiently.
“What about you?” he asked. “What kind of cupcake do you like?”
“Red velvet, and I don’t want one,” I said, turning back around.
I didn’t want anything from him.
Chapter 6
Jacob
After my shift, I stopped and did the second round of labs Zander had ordered. Then I called in the cupcakes Briana told me to get for the nurses so they’d be ready in three days when I went back to work.
I didn’t know why she was helping me. It clearly pained her to do it. Did Gibson say something to her? I hoped not. I didn’t need some intervention from the boss on my behalf, some forced Play Nice.
I walked Lieutenant Dan and got something on Grubhub. I had dinner, took a shower, and had just sat down to journal in my plant room when my phone rang.
Mom.
I didn’t answer it. I’d been ignoring everyone’s calls and texts since the phone call last week. I knew what they wanted—to know about my girlfriend. I had no idea what to do about it.
I contemplated dragging it on. Making excuses for why she could never make it to anything and then eventually saying we broke up. Maybe I could suspend their disbelief right up until the wedding—which I would then show up to alone, for everyone to look at with pity as the newly single again, twice-jilted, brokenhearted ex of the bride.
Maybe I should just come clean. Or at the very least end the charade and “break up” with her now.
It was one thing to keep it vague. Say I’m seeing someone and leave it at that. But the details bothered me. I didn’t like looking my family in the eye and giving them some made-up name and made-up background for a made-up woman who didn’t exist. It felt wrong, even if my intentions were good. And I just didn’t know how to get around this. Frankly, I was surprised nobody pressed me harder for her name when I’d told them the news. At the time, I think they’d been too shocked to dig for more info—but they were definitely ready to dig now. Even Walter had called me.
Mom’s call ended. Then a text pinged through.
Mom: Jacob, will you be having a plus-one on the nineteenth? I have to know how many cutlets to make.
And then a moment later:
Ping.
Mom: Never mind, I’ll just make my pesto pasta. There’ll be plenty. Unless she’s allergic to nuts? Is she allergic to nuts?
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I don’t know, Jacob. Is your imaginary girlfriend allergic to nuts?
God.
How was I going to do this when I had all of them pecking at me in person?
Then I remembered that even the most unrelenting interrogation would be better than the alternative—everyone watching to see if I was unraveling, everyone blaming Jeremiah and Amy. I could feel the tension of that inevitable situation bearing down on me like radiant heat.
I just wanted to be invisible. I wished I could wipe everyone’s brains and have them forget that Amy and I had ever been a thing.
Hell, I wished I could forget Amy and I had ever been a thing.