Page 24 of Bratva Wolf

I smirk. “A guy, huh?”

“Yeah. He’s in a couple of my classes.”

“Are there a lot of guy nurses?”

“Um. Not a lot, but some. They’re coveted in the industry. They can pick up patients easier than some of the femalenurses.”

I scoff. “But not as good to look at.”

She shakes her head. “You’re such a neanderthal.”

“You have no idea.”

We pull into the parking lot of my favorite burger place. Red sits across from me, and I’m taken aback by her youth and exuberance. Her fresh-faced peaches and cream complexion contrast with the long red braids laying on both sides of her chest. Men leer and women scold me with their eyes. Yes, I look like the big bad wolf ready to devour the little innocent Red. The image raises the corner of my mouth, and her forehead wrinkles.

“What are you thinking about?”

“You.”

She smiles as she ducks her head. “What about?”

“You’re stunning.”

Her gasp reminds me of her naivety. She is so unaware of her effect on everyone around her. She lights up any area she enters. If I were a good man, I’d pay her tuition for the next year and drop her sweet little ass at her grandmother’s, never to darken her door again. I grit my teeth. I’m not that man.

The server steps to our booth. “Have we decided what we are having for lunch?”

She turns her head to Red who smiles at me. “Are you ordering?”

The gesture catches me off guard. Not only does she know I need the control, she’s just handing it to me. My chest puffs out as I hand the server the menus. “We’ll each have a burger, pink with fries, a side of ranch, and put the lady’s condiments on the side.”

She collects the menus as Red smiles at me. “I’m getting to like this.” We’ve gone out a few times now, and I want to order for her, and she just lets me.

“That makes me happy, too.”

She sips her water as she rambles about her morning classes.

I’m honestly only pretending to listen until my ears hear her mention the male classmate again.

“He came into the university in mid-September. I mean isn’t that weird.”

My inner voice pokes at me. “Wait. This guy came in after the semester started?”

“Yeah.” The server drops off our orders and without even a slight pause, Red swipes her French fry through the ranch. “He just showed up in the middle of the week in September. Nobody knew him.” She shrugs.

“Does he talk to every student or just you?”

She dips the fry, and her hand stops moving. “He seems most comfortable talking to me.”

My blood pressure rises as I try to control my temper. “What’s his name, Red?”

Her eyes ping open. “What?”

“His name. We keep calling him the guy.”

“Oh.” She relaxes. “It’s Tony.”

I chew my burger that I can’t taste, trying not to explode. Dread creeps up my spine. Something’s wrong with this situation. “Does Tony have a last name or is he like Madonna?”

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