Page 4 of Hearts on the Table
Frack.
“So, you two know each other?”
“Yeah.” I tried my best to fix my falling smile. It wasn’t Will’s fault that his brother was on my “cars to key later” list. “We work together at Cedar. Dr. Reese is…just…great…” I swear I heard something pop in my jaw from all the grinding.
Dr. Reese, as usual, didn’t even put in the effort to respond verbally. He opted to nod his head a few times and call it a day. It made me want to howl. Why couldn’t he justspeak? Why did he and his oatmealness have to crash my OR dreamsandmy gym?
Well, you know what? Fine. If I could be a bigger person with Jones, I could be a bigger person with Reese. I’d been hoping to burn off my ire with some serious circuit training. So now, I’d just have to do that while he was in the room with me. Whatever.
“Well, I’m going to go warm up.” I gave them both a tight smile.
“Sure thing! We’ll start in a few.”
I gave Will a thumbs up over my shoulder without looking back.
Whatever.
Fine.
Oatmeal.
Chapter 2
Sam
“You're sure that’s the one?”
My gaze trailed Lainey Carmichael's back from head-to-heels. That familiar, curly ponytail swung as she walked over to the rubber mats. Her profile reflected in the mirrors was as familiar as my own. Pouty lips, cheekbones sprinkled with freckles. The tick in her jaw from clenching her teeth.
Oh, yes. “That’s the one.”
She smiled at a guy in a red shirt as she plopped down to stretch. They struck up a conversation. It never ceased to amaze me how comfortable Lainey was talking to strangers. Even when I knew she wanted to punch something (like me, right now), she still managed to work a room without breaking a sweat. It was one of the things that had first drawn me to her. Years later, watching her shine still hadn't gotten old.
Beside me, Will cursed. “I was really hoping.”
“Hmm.” I dragged my attention away from Lainey to frown at him. “And how many Lainey Carmichaels do you think work in my department?”
“I don’t know, man. Stranger things have happened.” Will and I both turned to sneak a glance at where Lainey was rolling her shoulders, mixing among the handful of people ambitious enough to make it to the gym at six a.m. on a Saturday morning. “Well, I’ll back off.”
I grimaced. Conner and I had given him shit for weeks when he’d started talking about a new member at the gym who hadcaught his eye. Even with his policy not to mix business with pleasure, he’d seemed interested enough to make an exception with Lainey. Once he’d learned she worked at Cedar, he’d begged me to come see if it wasmyLainey. Just in case.
Well, case closed. She was. But that didn’t mean I had any claim on her. “Dibs is for the last slice of pizza, William.” Not for people, and definitely not for her.
“Sam.” My brother lowered his voice and leveled a penetrating stare in my direction. “You’ve been in love with her for years. I'm not going after her.”
I shrugged, even though my stomach pitched at the idea of Will “going after” Lainey. Where I was quiet enough to cross the line into awkward, Will had personality in spades. Everyone loved him. If he set his sights on her, it would be game over for me. Not that the game had ever really gotten started to begin with.
“I’ve hardly even spoken to her outside of work. She doesn’t know...” that I’d already named our hypothetical future children. All three of them.
Will waved a hand in the air. “Doesn’t matter, bro. I’m not going after your girl. You’ve been mooning over her for long enough that she’s practically already a member of the family.”
“You make me sound like a loser,” I muttered, bending to retrieve the towel and water bottle from my bag. Yes, maybe I’d been aware of—even attracted to—Lainey for a long time. But my brother didn’t have to make it sound like I was pining after her.
“Not a loser. Can’t date residents or fellows. I get that.” Will gave me a sideways look. “Might be for the best right now. She didn’t seem happy to see you.”
“She’s not.” Lainey hadn’t outright glared at me when she’d walked in, but the smile had slipped right off her face. In Lainey’s world, that was as good as a middle finger. Yeah, I’d known she’d be pissed about me sending her to Jones, but shehadn’t been in the mood to listen to me, anyway. And the EVLP wasn’t even my gig. I was just the messenger.
“What’d you do?” Will waved at a few stragglers jogging in before the class started.
