Page 45 of The Exception

“And yet…” she gestured to his front.

“What?”

“That just surprises me, is all. You still sit like a soldier. You march around like one too.”

He leaned back in his stool and rubbed at his chin. “Running off to get married was your parachute moment. Signing up to be told what to do every day of my life was mine.”

“What’s a parachute moment?”

She scrunched her nose and it was so adorable, he laughed under his breath.

“You know, the minute where you feel yourself crashing and decide you have to eject. Then you say “Oh, fuck. I hope my parachute works.”

She snorted a laugh, nearly choking on her beer, and damn if it wasn’t the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.

“That’s a good one.” She pointed her bottle at him again, and even though it was only half empty, the vodkas she’d had at the gala must have been kicking in because this was the most he’d gotten out of her since they’d met. Something told him if he shut up and let her talk, he was going to get to see a whole other side of nurse Sonya.

Considering the way seeing her in that dress had affected him, it was possible that he should change the subject before he saw any more sides, but his discipline was waning.

He leaned an elbow on the bar getting closer to that pretty smile. She was full-on giggling now and it was like he’d entered the Twilight Zone.

That evening she'd come into the break room wearing sneakers and scrubs flashed in his brain. The first little glimpse of what he was now seeing was the Sonya her friends probably got. Here in this place she felt comfortable in, a little booze in her blood making her loose. He wasn’t sure if he was excited at the idea of seeing this side, or disappointed that now he’d have to go back to the way things were knowingthisexisted just out of reach for him. Getting just this little glimpse had his brain reeling with all of the ways Sonya was still a mystery to him.

“Whew,” she said when she’d calmed her laughing fit. “This is getting intense.”

He cracked a smile. “Is it?”

“Let’s play darts.”

He turned over his shoulder to see a pair of boards in a corner. Sonya was already out of her seat.

He scooped up both of their beers and followed her. “I’m not sure I’m ready to give you sharp pointy things to throw in my presence, Nurse Ratched.”

She gasped, slapping him on the forearm. “You did not.”

He smiled at her expression, and the touch. “Why do I get the feeling you’ve heard that one before?”

“Adam called me that all through college.”

“Who’s Adam?”

“My friend Emma’s husband. They were college sweethearts.” She picked up the darts and handed him half. “And then Dylan started in with it because he’s about as original as a frat boy drinking from a red Solo cup.”

Trav scratched at his jaw, trying to keep his smirk from growing. “And Dylan is?”

“Dani’s boyfriend. Though, at first he was just Josh’s business partner.” She stepped to the line and closed one eye, making a throwing motion with her wrist. “Then Dylan and Dani hooked up and fell into some weird love affair that’s eighty-percent sarcasm and twenty-percent these sweet smiles I didn’t think either of them had in them.”

“Dani is a woman?”

“Mm-hmm. Danica.” She seemed to consider something. “You’d like her, actually. She has that same trouble switch.”

“I don’t know about that.”

Sonya winked at him. “She’s also super hot.”

He watched her throw her dart, unsure of how he felt about that comment. For some reason it rubbed him the wrong way, Sonya insinuating he might be attracted to her friend. Obviously she hadn’t meant for it to go anywhere since this woman was clearly in a relationship, but there were all sorts of lines forming tonight that he hadn’t seen before and that one was one he didn’t like crossing.

He stepped into the small space between her and a table. He set the beers down and let his arm brush hers. “In my experience, it’s opposites that attract.”

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