“No, I know. I hear yourdate looked like a bodybuilder.”
I snorted. Yeah, from John’s perspective,Gray would have looked like a bodybuilder in comparison to him. Or me, for thatmatter.
“He’s not a bodybuilder,” Isaid. “I think he might just be naturally perfect.”
“Naturally perfect, huh?”Dad asked. “I’llhaveto meet him now.”
“Sometime,” I promised,fully intending to pretend I hadn’t.
There was no way I couldkeep Gray after this, but my dad didn’t need to know that.
As far as he was concerned,I was a normal, happy twenty-something living a normal, happy life. There wasno point in letting him believe anything else. He’d worried enough about mefor a lifetime.
I was old enough to worryabout myself.
“I hear the study’s goingwell,” Dad continued. We hadn’t had a chance to justcatch upin a while.
It was nice to talk to him,even if I was a little preoccupied with other things.
“Much better than expected,”I said, proud of the results we’d seen. This project was my baby, and the factthat it was working out felt, to me at least, like a sign that I kind of knewwhat I was doing. “This could be genuinely groundbreaking.”
Even if my heart had pickedit, and not my head. Medicine was about heart, too. Dad had taught me that.
“So I’ve heard. Proud ofyou, kiddo,” Dad said, leaning back in his seat.
I couldn’t help a tinysmile spreading over my face, despite how worried I was about what Gray wouldthink of me now.
At leastonething inmy life was going right.
SIXTEEN
GRAY
THURSDAY NIGHT SAW me scrolling throughboth of the two hookup apps on my phone, checking for new messages I hadn’t seen yet.
Except I kept thinking backto Miles, and the night at the party, and I couldn’t even summon the interestto message back any of the half-dozen people who’d gotten in touch with me.
The thing I couldn’t get away fromwas that I wantedhim. Not just anyone. In fact, the thought ofevenflirtingwith someone else made me feel uneasy.
I wanted to convince myselfit was just…residual lust, mixing with all the protective feelings swirling around in mygut, but I’d never been much of a liar. For whatever reason, my stupid,bruised, shy heart had picked Miles out and was stuck on him.
Not that the lust and theprotective feelings were helping, either. My entire brain was just chantingMiles,Miles, Milesat me like I was an idiot teenager with a crush.
And not an idiotthirty-two-year-old bodyguard.
With a crush.
On hisclient.
Which was infinitely morepathetic.
Even more pathetic? I’d just openedthe conversation I’d had with him when we first hooked up.
Gray:did it hurt?;)
Miles:Oh my god
Miles:Does that everwork?
