Chapter 3 – Skylar
SKYLAR
Irace inside, glancing around as I bypass the hostess and head for the back.
Braelyn throws her hand up in the air when she spots me, waving me down manically and making me laugh.
I’m the last to arrive as Hayes, Roman, Quinn, Crew, and Forest are already here with her.
These people are not only my lifelong best friends, my ride or die, but are more or less my family.
Especially Roman and Forest, who are actually my cousins.
“Hey!” I exclaim. “Sorry I’m late.” I pull down on the brim of Crew’s Rebels hat as I give him a hug.
“Look at you. Already falling into team mode. Or is that so you can keep a low profile while out in public?” Crew is a tight end in the NFL and had been living in LA along with Forest, but both moved back last month for different reasons.
Crew came after a trade deal with the Boston Rebels was made.
A team where Quinn and Crew’s dad is the coach, and their brother, Mason, is the quarterback.
Since both Forest and Crew moved back, it feels complete for all of us.
“Both,” he tells me. “Though in here, Roman is the celebrity, not me.”
Roman flips him off, but it’s true, so he can’t deny it.
“How cute. You brought us chocolates…” Quinn trails off with a small laugh when I set them down on the large table. “That look like they’ve been run over,” she finishes.
“That’s because I stepped on the box when I found them outside my door tonight.”
Everyone falls silent as they stare at me.
“Don’t get your panties in a twist. They’re from my parents, not Darth Sidious.” I smart.
“Is that what we’re calling the dickhead now?” Forest questions.
“Works for me.” I take a sip of the dirty martini they ordered for me as I look around the restaurant, people-watching while noting the couples and non-couples. Valentine’s Day is such a strange holiday.
Quinn whistles through her teeth and tugs the box in her direction to slip the lid off. “All dark chocolate. Of course. Couldn’t you like milk chocolate? You know, for the rest of us?”
“Sorry. My parents only get me the good stuff.”
“Pass them here,” Crew demands of his twin.
Without waiting for her to comply, he slides the box over, picks one up, and takes a bite.
His face pinches up in disgust when he realizes it’s orange cream and spits it out into a napkin before he goes for another.
“Fudge. Better. They’re good. It was nice of your parents to get you these. ”
A round of appetizers is placed in front of us, and I close the box of chocolates in favor of a tuna and avocado wonton.
“Hell, I have a fiancé, and all I got from him was an orgasm this morning before he left for work,” Braelyn jokes.
Hayes laughs and tosses his arm over the back of the booth behind my shoulder. “You’re telling me your billionaire fiancé didn’t get you a present?”
“Don’t start with that again.”
“You brought it up.”
She sticks her tongue out at him. “Considering we’re getting married in a couple of months and will have more gifts than we know what to do with, I don’t need much else right now other than the orgasms.”
Roman, usually the quiet one of us, makes a disapproving noise in the back of his throat. “Please don’t make me hear more about sex with Adam. My ears are still bleeding from the last time.”
“Or maybe that’s from your last opponent,” Forest teases.
Roman is not only a famous Michelin-starred chef and owner of several restaurants here in Boston and around the world, but he’s also part of an underground boxing ring.
Except the joke is, he rarely, if ever, gets hit.
“Still, he’s right. No talking about sex,” Forest laments, sipping his soda. “It’s been way too long for me.”
I snort. “Try never having an orgasm from your partner.”
Everyone grimaces, and for good reason. My vagina is broken. Or at least men don’t speak its language because I can make myself come, but thus far, I haven’t met a man who can meet that challenge.
It frustrated the hell out of Josh. It didn’t take long before he started criticizing and blaming me for it. The man was nothing if not mean and belittling while packaging it as love. The best thing I ever did was leave him, and my main regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.
“Probably better off with toys than boyfriends,” Quinn states. “Trust me when I say, even the non-asshole ones tend to be disappointing in the flesh. Think about my ex.”
I point at her. “Exactly.”
“How about we not talk about this anymore? Particularly about you using toys,” Crew groans, and Quinn tosses a piece of ice from her drink at him.
“Forget that bullshit,” Braelyn exclaims, turning back to me. “We need to work on finding you a real man. A man who loves and appreciates you for who you are.”
I sigh.
When you grew up as the awkward, nerdy girl who didn’t come into her own until very late in the game and was subsequently teased and criticized relentlessly, or used for your family name and connections, sometimes trusting a person in bed takes a bit of time.
When I first started having sex in college, I didn’t have a lot of self-esteem to pull me through in a healthy or positive way, and I mostly did whatever my partners wanted.
They were drunk guys at parties. Not boyfriends, and I wanted them to like me.
So, I faked it.
Then it became a thing. I couldn’t come with a partner.
Josh was my first boyfriend. He showered me with love and adoration until he didn’t.
Until he became cruel and I was weak, and when he still couldn’t make me come, I faked it with him too because it was easier and safer than facing his reaction.
The eggshells that man always had me walking on could make feet bleed.
Whatever. I don’t want to talk about Josh or any other guy.
“Or we could just not tonight,” I grumble.
“To being single and anti-Valentine’s Day,” Quinn jumps in, saving me as she holds up her Manhattan, and we all toast to that.
“All I know is, the next guy you end up with shouldn’t be some random dick,” Hayes states. “The guy who takes your orgasm card will be a lucky bastard and better know it, or he’ll have to face us.”
Crew gives him a fist bump. “Damn straight.”
I blow them each a kiss and change the subject. “Speaking of random dicks, I bumped into Aston Hughes outside. Actually, I nailed him in the nuts with my purse.”
Hayes chokes on his beer. “You what?”
“It was an accident!” I protest. “Mostly.”
“That’s so classically you,” Forest says.
“Right? I swear. But it was still random running into him.”
Braelyn is the only person who knows about the kiss. I didn’t tell anyone else. Our circle is too small, and I didn’t want it somehow getting back to my brother by accident.
Quinn grins, her eyebrows bouncing. “What are the odds? How did he look?”
“Annoyingly good,” I admit. “And apparently, he’s moved back to town.”
“He moved back with his daughter,” Forest explains. “His ex-wife died about six months ago, and he felt it was time for a change for them.”
“Oh.” I forgot that happened. Micha flew home from somewhere in Asia for the funeral and stayed in California with them for a week after. I don’t remember the details around their relationship or her death, but I know they had a daughter, Zoey, because Micha is her godfather.
“He’s here with my brother and a few of the other guys,” he continues.
“I spoke to Aston briefly last week before he moved back. We used to hang out sometimes and go hiking when we both lived in LA. He’s living with his parents until he finds something better.
” His dark eyes rattle with realization.
“I should have thought about it sooner, but he’s going to be working at the hospital with you. ” He points at me.
That pulls me up short. “What?”
“He’s a pediatric trauma surgeon.”
“Oh yeah. I forgot.” Because for two years, I’ve tried not to think about Aston Hughes or the powerhouse kiss he nailed me with and then regretted.
The thought of him working at my hospital with me makes my stomach churn and my chest flutter.
I work in the MSICU, or medical-surgical intensive care unit, at Boston Children’s Hospital. I’ll see him. I’ll see him a lot.
Crew leans forward, his elbows on the table. “You don’t look so happy about this.”
“It’s fine,” I lie and drain my martini.
“This is better than a rom-com,” Braelyn declares, signaling the waiter for another round.
“The nurse and the doctor with a complicated past, forced to work together saving children’s lives…
” She fans her face. “Maybe he’ll make you come for the first time.
I bet he’s damn good at it.” She launches into a rendition of Frozen’s “For the First Time in Forever.”
I glare at her to watch the complicated past stuff. “It’s not a rom-com,” I protest ardently. “It’s an interesting professional situation at best, and he’s not going to be the guy to make me come for the first time. More than likely, we’ll ignore each other and be nothing but professional.”
“Ah, I see you heard the good news, same as I just did.”
I freeze, my insides icing over as my eyes turn into saucers bigger than the moon. I stare at Roman. Please tell me Aston didn’t hear me talk about him making me come for the first time. Which isn’t entirely accurate. Judging by Roman’s grimace, he did. Awesome.
“Hey, everyone.” Aston shakes hands with Hayes, Forest, Roman, and Crew and gives the women hugs before returning to my side and nudging me with his elbow.
“Is this all true?” I ask. “Are you really working at my hospital?”
“It’s not your hospital, Swan. It’s our hospital now.”
Swan? Before I can even comprehend that nickname, he continues.
“And yes. We’ll be working together. I signed the paperwork this morning. Home sweet home.”
Just great.