Page 43 of Dr. Attending

Walker pauses his methodical smearing of peanut butter all over the doll’s back and frowns. “You’ve got a toilet right there, Buff.”

I stop too, confused for a split second. Why would he be nauseous already? He hasn’t even gotten wind of Parker’s punishment plan for him if he loses.

“A bucket ofbeers, dumbass.”

Chapter 16

Caroline

“Good job, buddy,” Cassidy coos excitedly as Carter reaches up to pop a bubble with his chubby finger.

He giggles when the soapy liquid mists his face and presses his hands together to communicate that he wants more. They’ve been doing this for a solid thirty minutes now, and I don’t think I’ve seen either one of them happier.

I lean back on my forearms, letting the afternoon sun soak into my pores. I think I’m either Vitamin D deficient, or I forgot what it was like to live a life outside of school, but I don’t think I’ve felt this happy in a while, either. Which is surprising because my sister just started talking about Weston Southerland.

“Ugh,” Claire sighs as she reaches up to adjust her curly ponytail. “I swear he gets hotter each time I see him. Who knew he would be such a good dad?”

“I won’t comment on how hot he is because your brother would probably divorce me after less than twenty-four hours ofmarriage,” Cassidy laughs. “But yeah. He’s doing a great job. I’m proud of him.”

“He’s notthathot.”

The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them, and they taste just as bitter as they sound because I know they’re nothing more than a bald-faced lie. I’m just trying my hardest to convince myself otherwise.

My sister scoffs and glares at me like I’ve just personally offended her. “What are you talking about? The man has had an insane glow-up over the past few years. I mean, did you not see that deep V? Hot damn. No dad bod in sight.”

My cheeks heat against my will because I saw it alright . . .

I saw it. And I touched it. And at one point, I even seriously considered licking it.

“Why would I have seen it?” I stammer, trying to push away the memory.

What happened last night was the last thing I would have ever expected from the man I used to know. I thought that as soon as I gave him permission, he would want to go from zero to sixty in an instant. That he would get me naked, offer a few minutes of half-assed foreplay, and then fuck me.

But what he actually did was so much worse . . .

Weston Southerland devoured me. He consumed me. He worshiped me. And he shook me to the core—both literally and figuratively—until I had forgotten everything I knew to be true about him.

It was so different from that reckless Fourth of July night when I was eighteen. It wasn’t a dare or a game—it was an awakening. A memory that will forever be ingrained in my psyche as the first time a man put my pleasure first. The only thing I knew in that moment was that I didn’t know anything anymore. I had just let Weston do the one thing I swore to myself I would never let him do again.

And I liked it.

“You’re kidding, right?” Claire blinks rapidly at me a few times like I’ve just told her that Diet Coke is being discontinued from the U.S. market. “Beau and I literally saw you two half-naked in the kitchen last night. You’re telling me that you didn’t let your eyes wander even a little bit?”

Morgan snickers beside me, and it makes me instantly want to crawl into a hole because I know exactly what she’s thinking. She wants to know why we were found in the same room, late at night, wearing only towels. It’s like we’re playing some sort of kinky Clue game, and she’s about to put all of the pieces together to win.

Fortunately, before she can say anything, Carter reaches out and knocks over the bubble container, spilling soapy liquid all over the grass.

“Whoopsy,” Cassidy sings as she picks up the bottle and places it out of his reach. “You’re just a silly goose. Aren’t you?”

She reaches out to tickle Carter’s belly, and he flails around with a toothy grin.

“I know,” she coos, pretending like she can understand his babbles. “But you’re so dang cute that it doesn’t even matter, does it? Ah. I can’t even stand it. I can’t wait to have a little monster just like you. And then you guys can be best friends, just like your papas.”

My forced scowl shifts into a pained smile as I watch my sister-in-law with Carter.

She’s going to make an amazing mom one day—it’s written all over her face. The way she holds him and soothes him is almost instinctual, like she knows exactly how to speak his language. And it just makes my heart sink because I doubt that’s ever going to be me. I don’t have a maternal bone in my body.

It’s not that I’m against becoming a mom, but it isn’t something I ever fantasized about. Even when I was a kid, myfriends would play house with their baby dolls, acting out their roles as doting mothers. I remember not getting it, not feeling that same pull. I always figured it was something I’d grow into, that one day I’d wake up and feel that tug in my heart that everyone talks about.

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