I chugged my beer to keep my thoughts away from how much I'd seen of her.
"—and for reasons only my wife understands, we're asking you to convince our likely shy, definitely introverted colleague to attend our next gathering."
I swung a glance between them. "This feels like a punishment. Should I have brought some beer with me? Wine? I'll bring both next time."
"It's not a punishment," Erin said. "I really want her to meet Malakai."
"You—what?"
"Malakai Ford," she said. "He's the friend from Oxford. He's taking a visiting professorship and I think they could really hit it off."
"They could—" I turned to face Nick while violently waving in Erin's direction. "What the hell?"
He gave a weary shake of his head. "I don't know, man. Erin thinks they might like each other."
"Aren't we a little old to be fixing people up?" I asked.
Erin rested her chin in her laced fingers, a pleased grin on her face. "Maybe you are but I'm not."
"Walked right into that one," Acevedo muttered.
"You're the cradle robber," I said to him. "But listen. We can't be serious about setting Shap up with this guy. Schemes like this, they always backfire."
That sounded legit. It sounded like something a well-adjusted adult would say. Yeah, I was getting away with talking them out of this. They'd see reason. These two, they were smart. They wouldn't go through with this.
"They never work out foryou," Erin said. "Mostly because you set your sights on people who are off-limits, like my sister Shannon. Like my sister-in-law Andy. Like my other sister-in-law Alex."
"Yes, I'm an asshole of great renown," I said. "Anyway. I don't want you setting up Shap. It's not going to end well."
"Who are you concerned about here?" Nick asked.
"I—I am simply stating," I said, more or less hiccuping out these words, "that your residents don't need to see Shap bag and tag a professor who is undoubtedly too delicate for the likes of a surgeon whochoseto work on burns and wounds."
"We're not arranging any marriages here, Sebastian. I just want her to come to the party and meet a friend. What happens after that is out of my hands." When I didn't respond, she added, "If you really don't want to, it's fine. I'll just—"
"I'll do it," I grumbled. "Okay? I'll get her here."
Fuck my whole life.
Chapter12
Sebastian
Even though Iwas due at the hospital early tomorrow, I hung out with the Acevedos past my bedtime. There was no limit to the surgery stories Nick and I could share, especially when Erin set out a plate of tiny Portuguese custard pies from the bakery near her office. I also lingered longer than necessary because I couldn't chance another run-in with Sara.
By the time I emerged from the subway station, I was dead on my feet. I never stayed out this late anymore, definitely not without a midday nap for fortification, and it showed as I dragged my ass up Charles Street. And this weather sucked. My god. Late October was the worst. It was cold and windy all the time and everyone got excited about the fucking leaves. As if that would compensate for the scant bit of sunlight we saw each day.
This early winter bullshit was just as bad as real winter. The snow and ice were total misery but—
I jerked to a stop five feet from my building, my shoes frozen to the sidewalk as I found Sara staring at me with wide eyes. I could hear my pulse thrumming in my eardrums as we regarded each other for a long, tense moment. A gust of wind howled through the narrow alleyways between the buildings and sliced through every layer of my clothing. I squinted against the frigid air, saying, "Out a little late for a school night, don't you think?"
Her face twisted into a disgusted sneer. "Yeah, like I'm going to justify myself to you. Sure thing."
She reached into her pocket, taking out her hospital access card and lanyard with her keys. She was coming home from work. She'd been avoiding me as much as I'd been avoiding her.
There was a pleasant edge to that realization but it wore off fast, leaving me more annoyed than I'd been earlier.
I jogged up the short stone steps, saying, "Not everything is a battle, Shap. Learn to recognize that."
