Page 82 of Resisting You

“It looks like you’ve lost your damn mind. Dr. Agosti isn’t coming in today.”

Frey’s ears began to ring. “I…why?”

After a beat, the nurse sighed, pulled out her phone, then pulled something onto the screen. Frey really didn’t want to try and get his brain to focus. He was tired from staying up all night, and he still had a hand cramp from holding the pen for so long.

But when she handed the device over, he forced himself to read. The words started to blur together after a few sentences, and he didn’t make it to the end. But…he didn’t need to. He’d read enough.

“He quit.”

The nurse shrugged. “I mean, he didn’t quit. He’s just changing practices, and that’s complicated. The transfer to Dr. Banks should be done in about a month. I figured y’all over there would be happy you’re not working with him anymore.”

Frey bit the inside of his cheek, then asked, “You like him, right? Here in the office?”

She laughed. “I mean, he’s not exactly Mr. Sunshine, but yeah. We like him. He takes care of us.”

That wasn’t a surprise. Frey was starting to realize what a caregiver Renato was. And fuck him if he’d ruined that by his petty anger. How much would have been solved if he’d just spoken to Renato instead of assuming he was the monster Frey thought?

He swallowed heavily. “So. Okay. Cool.”

The nurse eyed his hands. “Were those for him?”

“I owed him,” he said weakly.

The look on her face said she didn’t buy it, but he appreciated her for not calling him out on it. She let him go without a fuss, and on the way into the hospital, he stopped at a trash can and eventually threw everything away. If he saw Renato again—if he was given another chance—he’d go bigger than some damn coffee.

He just wasn’t quite sure how.

Frey peered across the bar at Lane, feeling entirely defeated. He’d made it through his shift on a prayer and extra coffee and somehow managed not to completely fuck up. But he was no closer to figuring out how to fix things with Renato.

His phone hadn’t made a peep, and he wasn’t brave enough to send a text because if he was blocked, he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to cope. What made it worse were the rumors flying around about Renato. Everyone heard he was leaving. Everyone was speculating. And several people congratulated Frey on his pranks working.

He even overheard one resident quote the damn Wizard of Oz with a happy little ding-dong, and Frey wanted to crawl under the floor and live there like a mole person. It was what he deserved.

He meant to go straight home after work, but Rex was at his school’s read-in, so he had hours before his son could distract him. Which meant he would be alone with his thoughts. He had no idea if Lane was even at his restaurant, but he almost passed out with relief when he saw him behind the bar counting liquor bottles.

“Dallas told us everything,” Lane said when Frey all but collapsed on the marble.

Frey groaned and pressed his forehead to the cool, hard stone. “I’m such a mess. I can’t believe I let it get so fucked-up.”

“I can.”

Frey lifted his head. “Wow. Okay. Thank you.”

Lane softened and reached out, giving Frey’s hair a gentle pet. “I can believe it because I fucked up too. Bowen and I were a hot mess for so long, and instead of facing my jealousies and talking to him, I just turned into a dick.”

Frey scoffed. “You two patched that up in, like, ten seconds. And he was so absurdly in love with you it wasn’t like he was going to let you go. I don’t even know if Renato likes me.”

“But you want to find out,” Lane said.

Frey nodded, feeling miserable. “I just don’t know how. Or where to even find him.”

“Have you called him?”

Frey’s laugh was high and tight. “Uh. No. What if I’m blocked? I’d rather die than know that.”

“Dramatic baby. Just call him. Or go over there. I don’t know. Sounds like this moment could use a grand gesture.”

And, well, that had some merit. Frey had planned something like that with the cappuccino and cinnamon bun, but maybe he needed something better. Something a little more…personal. He had the pseudo-love letter or whatever it was, but there was something else he could do. Something only Renato would understand.

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