Page 5 of Tobias

She presses the button on the machine to add cream, then pins me with a stare.

“Nine.”

I whistle, shaking my head.

“I can imagine the cat litter bill.”

"Food bill is worse," she says as she slides my coffee over and rings me up. It's just over five dollars, but I hand her a ten and tell her to keep the change. “See you at lunch,” she calls after me as I walk off.

I raise a hand in acknowledgment.

I take the elevator up to the second floor and head over to the nurses’ station.

“Morning, Max,” I say as I grab an iPad from the dock and drop into the seat beside him. He’s the head nurse and makes sure everything around here runs smoothly.

“Morning,” he mumbles.

“Late night?” I ask.

“Not really.”

“Then why do you look so tired?” I sip my coffee and pull up the app to clock in.

Max turns to me with an annoyed expression. “Not everyone can be as happy as you all the time, Tobias.”

I grin, just to annoy him further. He rolls his brown eyes, then turns back to the computer screen. His dark hair is pulled back in a messy bun. He has a twin brother, and they look nearly identical, even though they aren’t. He stops by now and then to bring Max food. Cool guy; hot girlfriend who’s a bartender and apparently cool with him fucking guys. I heard this from Max when he relayed a message from his brother that he was interested in hanging out. He can say his girl is cool with it all he wants, I don’t believe it and I don’t need the drama. So I declined.

“Oh hey, just a warning that—”

“Good morning, Tobias.” My spine stiffens at that voice, and I turn to Max with narrowed eyes.

He mouths, “Sorry.”

I can only assume this is what he was going to warn me about, but too little, too late.

I look up at Brandon, who’s dressed impeccably in a three-piece slate grey suit. His hair is slicked back, his jaw as angular as ever. He’s tall, lean, and could pass for a vampire. Honestly, he sucks the life out of everyone around him, so he probably is. He’s also an arrogant prick who always has to let everyone around know he’s made of money and owns the place. As if the recovering patients who can hardly remember their loved ones are going to give a shit about the owner and what he does with his days.

“Hi, Brandon,” I grit out, putting my drink down and turning to Max. “I’m going to get started on my patients.”

I enter my info into the tablet to get to my patient list and tasks for the day. I leave the station and head down the hall. I feel Brandon following me, but I ignore it because it’s better to ignore him than give any kind of attention. He thrives off negative attention more than positive, so telling him to fuck off would probably give him a hard-on. Learned that the hard way.

“Things would be much easier if you just talked to me,” he says once I reach the end of the hall, about to turn into my patient’s room.

“Easier for you. So why would I want to do that?” I grin at him, but it isn’t friendly.

Brandon purses his lips, eyes shining with humor. “You do realize I could fire you at any point, right?”

“You do realize that I couldn’t care less because I have another, better-paying job that doesn’t have a dickhead boss,right?” I quip back.

He shrugs a shoulder. “That job helps you financially, but it doesn’t feed your need to please. You’re too nice to date people forever, Tobias. You need something else. Need to do good. You love this job.”

I grit my teeth, not wanting him to know how much he’s pissing me off. But of course he knows. He always knows. It’s why he does it. Brandon is one of the only people in the world who can infuriate me like this, and he is very aware of it. That’s what happens when you spend four years of your life with someone and split yourself open for them. He was the wrongperson to do it with. The manipulation and cheating taught me that.

“There are hundreds of physical therapist jobs in the area. I don’t need this one.”

“But you want it.”

He’s right, I do. I like this place. The hours work, and it’s close. If I were to quit or get fired, I’m not sure I would find another job that I loved as much, even if the work is the same. The staff here are great. I have friends—or whatever is right below friends, I guess. The shift is perfect. The only problem is Brandon. Who, honestly, isn’t here all that often. He’s usually worrying about bigger and better things, but now and then when he gets bored with his life, he has to come annoy me. Remind me why we broke up in the first place, which is honestly a good thing, because constantly dating does get tiring, and I think about settling down often. Then Brandon comes in like a wrecking ball, scaring me away from even the idea of marriage. So maybe it’s a good thing he sticks around.

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