Chapter 2 #2
“Hey! How’re things?”
“Good, Phoenix is with Maxie.”
“Thanks,” I replied.
He nodded and went on his way, and I did the same, the two of us going in opposite directions. In the kitchen, I found Phoenix coaxing Maxie to drink from a steaming mug that held chicken broth, if my nose was to be believed.
Maxie’s nose wrinkled, and he pushed the mug away. “Yeah. No. I’m not drinking chicken juice.”
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Sounds like someone is being a bad patient.”
Maxie gasped and turned, his butt spinning on the chair seat beneath him. His eyes grew round as saucers, making him look like a Kewpie doll.
“Oh no! Nuh-uh. Not you.”
That cracked me up even more. Maxie was a little too stinking cute for words. He was adorable. Not my type, but even if he were, I wouldn’t pursue him. He needed a Daddy who could devote more time to him than I ever could.
“Oh yes. Me. The last thing this house needs is you spreading around your cooties.”
His mouth fell open with another gasp. “I don’t have cooties!”
I grinned as I pulled out my stethoscope. “I think the doctor would know that better than the little who refuses to drink his chicken broth so he can feel better.”
He pouted and huffed while I listened to his lungs.
“Well, your lungs sound fine, but you’re nasally, and you sound like your sinuses are congested. Diagnosis: head cold. Drink plenty of fluids, and yes, chicken broth—”
“It’s yucky—”
“Drink it. You need calories and fluids. Otherwise, you could get sicker and need poking to get better.”
I smiled as he grumbled while picking up the mug. The broth had to be cold or lukewarm now, which was indeed yucky.
Once Maxie finally downed his chicken juice and took some meds, I followed Phoenix to the office.
“Thank you,” Phoenix said, taking a seat behind his desk.
“You’re welcome.”
With a sigh, he said, “You know I’ll pay you for the visit, right? Even though I joked I wouldn’t.”
“No. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it. I’m not taking money from you or residents.”
“Thad…”
“I mean it, Phoenix. If I can’t provide it for free, or get someone else to, I’ll cover it myself.”
“There’s a gathering before the event…” he said, shifting to the next charity event Halo House would be hosting after staring at me for several moments.
I sighed. “Phoenix…we’ve talked about you trying to hook me up with a boy.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re too busy,” he mocked.
Leaning forward, my forearms braced on my knees, I took a deep breath and stared at him through my lashes as I reminded him, “I work sixteen-hour days.”
“You just don’t want to risk—”
I cut him off. “Phoenix, risk isn’t what holds me back. No matter what you might believe.”
“I’m so sorry for what happened to you, Thad, but you must return to the land of the living.”
“I am living, Phoenix.”
He scoffed. “You’re no more alive than the handle on that door behind you. You’re existing. That is all. And that’s no way to spend your life.”
“Hello, pot. Meet kettle.”
“I lived a long, full life with the love of my life…”
“And he wouldn’t want you to be lonely and isolated.”
“You’re a smart cookie, Doc, but now you’re stretching the limits of your knowledge.”
He stood, and I knew I had touched a nerve. I wouldn’t apologize. I probably should, but I wouldn’t. And neither would Phoenix.
A hand fell on my shoulder when he paused next to me. I didn’t bother looking at him. And the mirror on the wall showed he didn’t bother looking at me either. “You deserve so much more than a life of work.”
“I like my work.”
“Yes. I’m aware, but remember, all work and no play makes Thad a very dull sack of sad.”
I swallowed the laugh, and he left me sitting there, my hands clasped between my splayed knees. Phoenix wasn’t wrong, no matter how much I wanted to contest his assessment.
After a few moments, I got up, walked out to my car, and slid behind the wheel. The engine purred as I shifted into gear and pulled away from Halo House. Phoenix’s voice calling me a sack of sad played on repeat in my head.
My ex chewed me up and spat me out years ago.
Chelly was the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on.
Until she fell into my lap, literally, I would’ve sworn I was gay.
Like full-on gay. Super gay. I’d never even looked at a woman sexually.
But then Chelly—tall, leggy, blond-haired, blue-eyed beach volleyball player—set my heart racing, and before I knew it, she and I were living together.
The sex…fuck…it blew my mind. Explosive came to mind. So compatible in bed that I questioned my sexuality. I knew I was gay. Yes, super gay. Of that, there was no doubt. I’d taken enough men to bed to know for certain I liked having a man under me, but something about Chelly drew me in.
And I loved it.
Until I didn’t.
The headlights lit up my house—a gorgeous cliff side modern home built into the rocky bluffs overlooking the Pacific—as my car rounded the last turn on the drive up toward the property.
The garage door lifted out of the way automatically, and I pulled forward, waiting for it to lower before going into the house.
The low lighting triggered by the garage door provided a soft, warm glow bright enough that I could navigate my way through the open floor plan.
The place was too big for just me. Especially considering how often I slept on the couch in my office or in an on-call room at the hospital.
But I loved it despite how lonely it could get.
Phoenix’s earlier statements echoed as I stood at the kitchen island with a glass of whiskey in hand and stared through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the vast, expensive space toward the ocean.
Closing my eyes, I lifted the glass to my mouth and swallowed the liquor.
My lips pulled into a wince against the bite and burn.
The glass empty, I set it in the sink and walked—alone, always alone—up the stairs to the primary suite. A place designed for two.
The only problem…? I’d built my life for one.