Page 77 of Cluelessly Yours

She points to Dale and me, and all I can do is wave an uncertain hand in her direction.

Before I know it, both of the women and the happy-go-lucky Lab are walking toward us. Though, when Sammy meets my eyes, her half smile feels off—like she’s nervous.

The instant she’s standing in front of me, I lean in and touch my lips to hers. “Hi,” I whisper as I pull away. “Looks like you found me.”

“I had a little help.” Her eyes briefly flit to a smiling Kendall before she reaches down to rub a hand over Dolly’s head. “Hey there, sweet girl.”

I step back and open my shoulders to the group at large so I can do some introductions. “Sammy, this is Dr. Kendall Hopkins, and this is Kendall’s husband.”

Dale shakes his head on a laugh while simultaneously telling me tofuck offwith his eyes. He knows exactly what I’m doing.

“Husband?” Sammy’s head bounces back and forth between the couple. “As in, the two of you are married?”

“Unfortunately for Kendall,” I add with a smirk. “They are, in fact, married.”

Kendall cracks up at that, and Dale just sticks out his hand as he gives Sammy a friendly smile. “Dr. Dale Hopkins. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” He flashes a teasing glance at me as he shakes Sammy’s hand. “Honestly, with the way Noah rambles on and on about you, I already feel like we’re friends.”

I’m not surprised by his commentary, and I’m also not embarrassed about it either. I’m man enough to accept the fact that I’m simping—as the kids say—for this woman.

“It’s…uh…really nice to meet you both,” Sammy returns with a still slightly nervous smile. “And I’m just Sammy. Sammy Baker. No doctor or anything.”

“We’re a bunch of cunts, huh?” Kendall questions through a laugh. “You’ll have to excuse us, Sammy, but all we know is the hospital. And as you can see, Dale’s social skills are seriously lacking.”

Sammy laughs, but she also looks at me with a face that says,Am I supposed to be laughing this much at Dale?

And I don’t hesitate to give her a nod of approval, reaching out to wrap my arm around her shoulders and tucking her close to my side.

“Listen here, wifey, my social skills used to bring all the ladies to the yard back in the day,” Dale interjects, and it only makes his wife laugh harder.

“Honey, you and I both know that you were too busy being late to the yard to come back with any ladies,” she teases, and I don’t hesitate to join in on the fun.

“And to think, his tardiness is still his strongest attribute.”

“I’m pretty much late all the time too,” Sammy offers. “So, I think I’m going to have to side with Dale on this one.”

“I knew I liked you already,” he comments.

“Yeah, but you have kids,” I tell Sammy, squeezing her shoulder. “That’s different. Dale’s just a deadbeat.”

“A deadbeat who just worked twenty hours straight,” Dale disputes, tossing one of his running gel packets at me on a laugh.

Kendall and Dale start to argue and tease among themselves, and I take the opportunity to speak directly to Sam. “Don’t mind us. It’s kind of our Monday ritual to get together and shit all over Dale while we fit in a run with the dogs.”

Sammy smiles. “Poor Dale.”

“Nah. He doesn’t deserve any sympathy. The man is the biggest jokester on the planet. I can assure you both he and Kendall serve each other shit sandwiches on a daily basis. It’s basically their foreplay.”

“I take it you know them both from work?”

“Kendall is a neurosurgeon at the hospital. Dale works in the ED. And we’ve been friends since we were baby doctors in residency,” I explain, and Sammy gets the strangest expression on her face. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She nods. Laughs. And her cheeks turn a gorgeous shade of pink as she meets my eyes.

“What’s going on here?” I question, an intrigued grin now forming on my lips. “What am I missing?”

“Nothing, I just…” She pauses and shakes her head, but it’s more at herself than anything else. “I’m just an idiot, that’s all.”

I furrow my brow, and she lets out a sigh.

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