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“Is she ok? Mabel?” I ask.
“She had a fall last week. She’s in here being monitored.” He nods towards the hospital.
“Can I meet her?” I say.
He blinks.
“I want to meet her. If she’d be okay with that,” I blurt out.
“Yeah?” he says.
“She sounds like someone I need to know,” I say. “If I’m going to be your girlfriend.”
He’s already grinning as he reaches across the center console and pulls me towards him.
I let out a startled laugh, catching myself on his shoulders before his mouth finds mine.
The kiss is warm and relieved and a little desperate. His hand slides into my hair, holding me there like he’s afraid I might reconsider if he gives me enough room to think.
For a minute, I let him before I pull back, breathless, my fingers still curled into the front of his shirt.
“I’m not saying everything’s fine.”
His smile fades, but his hand stays at my waist.
“I know.”
“The song. All the things you kept from me.” I hold his gaze. “It hurt, Cal. And if we’re going to do this, it’s going to be difficult sometimes. Really difficult.”
“I know.”
“I need us to be the kind of people who tell each other things before they become disasters.” I pause. “Especially the hard things—the really really hard stuff.”
He nods slowly.
“No secrets,” he says.
“Good.”
“And for you, no more secret relationships with your students.”
I narrow my eyes. “That nearly cost me med school.” He winces. I take a breath. “It’s not your fault. I should have told Priya about us. I didn’t because it was easier not to, and I convinced myself it wasn’t affecting anything. I knew it was against the rules. That was my decision, not yours.”
His jaw tightens. “What did she say?”
“That she’s disappointed in me.” I wince. “But apparently, my years of being painfully exemplary have earned me one administrative scandal. She’s still writing my letter.”
Relief moves across his face. “Thank fuck.”
“I know. Medical school may still accept me despite my reckless affair with a freshman.”
“A famous freshman, surely that counts as extra-curricular?”
His mouth curves, and my heart flutters; he is so fucking handsome.
“Can I take you to see her?” he asks.
I reach for his hand.
