Page 46 of The Exception

“That would be Josh and Cat,” she said, oblivious to his point.

“More friends?”

“Yes. Now,theyare the mushiest couple you’ll ever meet but they’re nothing alike. Cat’s like a little bulldog, five foot one, always growling, and I don’t think Josh has ever met a person he didn’t like. Except maybe the bartender here. Nowthatis a story.”

Trav watched her fall into another fit of giggles over what was clearly an inside joke. Even though he had no idea who or what she was talking about, he laughed along. Her laugh was contagious.

“How did you and your ex fit in with all of these couples—the college sweethearts, the mushy ones, the sarcastic ones—what was your superlative?”

Sonya’s shoulders fell on a sigh. “Marcus and I didn’t have one.” She picked up her beer and drained it, and he caught the attention of a waitress, gesturing for two more.

Sonya pointed at her chest. “Me? I’m the responsible one. Sometimes the tough love one. I’m the one whoalwayshas my shit together. Butwe? We were never anything together.”

Trav leaned back into the table, watching something play out on her face.

“It’s funny, I never noticed until I took off that damn ring that wearing it somehow made me feel like I fit into some “got my life together” club. But the man, the one who that ring was supposed to tell the world was mine, he had nothing to do with it. It was just something to check off my life list.”

She looked over her shoulder at him and a sad smile crossed her lips. Somewhere deep inside his chest, a screw tightened. Sonya was stunning, sure, but more than that, she was a brilliant nurse, compassionate in a way he’d forgotten existed after having his dad for a medical role model all those years. It was clear she was a good friend to everyone, and to think of her lonely all this time, trying to be strong, made him thankful for every time he’d pushed her buttons and made her crack a smile. He wondered what it might be like to have that opportunity outside of work. He wondered if he could maybe get a couple more in tonight.

Twenty

With every drink, Sonya found it harder and harder to control where her eyes landed.

Trav led them back to the bar, leaning his elbows on the wood to order them another round. This time her gaze lingered on his dress shirt tucked into his pants. Just like before when she’d wanted to mess up his hair, she had the overwhelming urge to pull his shirttails free, maybe pop open the top button. This buttoned-up version of Trav, though objectively handsome as hell, was missing that littleje ne sais quoithat made himhim.

That tie had to go too. She imagined taking it off and tossing it over her shoulder like he’d done to Marcus’s place card, then she giggled at herself. This wasridiculous.Worse than the dream. She was practically ogling her intern at a bar. It was so unlike her.

Maybe she could make an exception just this once. She was having a good time, after all.

The bartender slid two glasses across the bar, and Trav started back in her direction. She fixed her face just in time.

“Last round if I’m going to let you drive me home,” she said when he pushed one into her hand. She heard her words slur and watched Trav’s smile stretch in response.

“That’s very responsible of you.” He held his drink up to her nose. “But mine’s been water for the last few.”

She sniffed the decidedly plain liquid. “Oh. Well, that’s very responsible ofyou.”

“Always.”

Now that was something she never thought she’d agree with. But there he was, surprising her at every turn.

“You’re different than when we first met. You know that?” Along with the slurring, she could also feel her filter starting to slip. Dangerous territory when he was looking like that.

“So are you.”

She laughed but there was something unpleasant about it even to her own ear. “I doubt that,” she said. “I’ve been called rigid a time or two.”

He leaned back in his chair, narrowing his eyes. “Do you always turn self-deprecating when you drink? Because I’m not sure I can just let that slide.”

She didn’t usually, but there was something sounusual about life without Marcus. Some of it was freeing, like the way she could just pop out for a drink with a friend without worrying about being home in time to miss a Facetime call from somewhere around the world, sometimes the only contact for days. But this brooding trend Trav was picking up on wasn’t her favorite new trait. Maybe she wanted to be saved from herself.

“What are you going to do about it?” she asked, scooting a little closer.

“Tell you how great I think you are. Working with you has been—”

She waved a hand in his face. “For me. You work for me.”

Trav chuckled. “Workingforyou… it’s been inspiring.”

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