Adriana #6
They both knew it was bullshit. She was on probation, in spirit if not formally. She didn’t need to go into the clinic, but she did need him out of her house. Before you crawl back into bed with him and ask him to stay forever. Adriana shook her head. That was still the moon talking.
He nodded slowly. “Yeah. Of course you do. Sure.” A hard scrape of laughter as he pushed himself from the bed, gathering up his own clothes from the floor, redressing quickly. “I don’t know why I thought anything would be different. You already said it wouldn’t be.”
Her hackles raised, jaws snapping. He needed to be careful. His wolf may have been bigger than her, but she would bite back. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Trapp shrugged, still shaking his head. “It means what it means, Adriana. I’m tired of trying to chase you.
It blew up in my face once before. I don’t know why I would be stupid enough to think this time would be different.
You’re right, you should definitely go into your clinic today,” he said sardonically, making it clear they both knew she wasn’t going anywhere.
Her fists clenched, heat bubbling in her belly.
“No, really. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? By chase me, you mean, what? Chase me out of my job, Trapp? Because I’m not going anywhere; I already told you that.
Do you think you’re going to try to bully me out of town the way you tried to bully me out of school? ”
He laughed incredulously. “Wow, that is one fantastic revision. You are unbelievable.”
“No, really,” she snapped, unwilling to entertain any of his perfect Trapp Hemming bullshit.
“Because I have no idea what you’re talking about.
You spent an entire year turning everyone against me, cutting me down every chance you got.
Do you think that’s going to work now? Because let me remind you, I am the doctor in charge of the clinic. If you think—”
“You can stop,” he said flatly, interrupting her before she could even formulate the rest of her empty threat.
“I said I’m done. I don’t actually like chasing.
I know that seems counterintuitive to the whole wolf thing, but I don’t.
I didn’t then. I really don’t know why I tried for so long.
I like it even less now. So, yeah. We don’t need to do this.
Just stay out of my way, and I’ll stay out of yours, I guess.
Let’s pretend the last twenty-four didn’t happen. ”
He was down the first flight of steps before she shook herself from her enraged stupor to follow. Once again, she knew she should have left it alone, should have let him leave, but giving fucking Trapp Hemming the last word wasn’t a situation she could abide.
“Why did you have to pick me, Trapp? You could have sat anywhere. You could have studied with anyone. Why did you have to drag me into your ego trip like it was a fun little side quest for you?”
He whirled in fury. “Are you being serious? I asked you out like four different times! I tried to include you in things, introduce you to people, but you were completely oblivious to everything but the fucking chip on your shoulder. I’m shocked you managed to get it through the lab door.”
Her face heated. He’d never asked her out. Never once. She was sure of it. He was too popular, too privileged to notice anyone outside of his circle of similarly privileged legacies. Not until she’d proven that she was just as good as him.
“We were partners the whole fucking year, Adi. I spent weeks working on system blocks with you. And what did I get for it? You altered the aortic dissection parameters on my rotation. You changed it just enough for me to not notice the inconsistency, just enough to bomb it. Just as a fuck you for caring about you, I guess.”
She froze. She had altered a set of packet parameters.
Several packets, in fact. There were too many people like Trapp in their cohort.
Like him, but not as smart, not as quick, not as good.
There because their fathers and grandfathers had gone to Mercy, regardless of whether they’d even passed basic biology in undergrad.
They all wanted to share notes and pool resources once they’d realized she deserved to be there.
She wasn’t willing to give a single one of them an inch, not when she’d had to claw her way to be there while they had family names on the pediatric pavilion.
“I never gave you—”
“You did. And you watched me study it for weeks.”
He kept walking, clearing her living room, descending the second set of steps again.
“You know what, who the fuck cares? I don’t.
It was one rotation, Trapp. I grew up in a two-room trailer.
My mother cleaned hotel rooms, and my father didn’t show up for my high school graduation because he was in the drunk tank for the night.
I earned my way to Mercy, and I did what I had to do for my placement.
I scored higher than you on one rotation—”
“It wasn’t about the score, Adi!” He whirled to face her again, radiating fury.
The pitch-black scent of his wolf was so close to the surface now, a building growl that vibrated against her.
“It was never about the score! I couldn’t trust you, Adriana.
And I liked you. I thought we had something real together. And you showed me how wrong I was.”
She was shaking in fury. And remorse? She wasn’t sure, but she sure as fuck wasn’t going to soften enough to contemplate it with him.
She’d choke before she apologized for staying one step ahead.
“You went out of your way to poison people against me! All you had to do was crack a joke, and you had the attendings eating out of your hand. And you made sure they all hated me.”
“Guess what, Adi. You’re not all that likable. It didn’t take much.”
He was already through the front door, jogging down her front steps.
She hated herself for the furious tears that burned their way into existence.
Avrille was outside across the street, talking to her neighbor, a smartly dressed satyr, their mouths open as they watched perfect Trapp Hemming storm out of her house.
“You are a horrible person, Trapp.”
“I guess that’s another thing we have in common, then,” he spat back at her, just before she slammed the door, shutting him out, sinking to the floor as the sobs overtook her.