I glance at Leigh, and the look on her face takes my breath away. It’s a life-altering moment when you see the woman you love looking back at you with admiration.
When Sebastian calms down, he gives me another hug.
“Our baby-girl did good,” he whispers hoarsely. “She saved my ass. Poor Ryan would’ve been devastated if I died. I mean, it’s a really great ass.”
Sebastian turns and shows me his ass which makes me laugh.
“Yeah, Ryan is a lucky man,” I say between bouts of laughter.
“Thank you for taking care of Dr. Pussy-deprived,” Sebastian says, returning to his usual sassy self.
I’m still recovering from laughing when the next fit hits. “Pussy-deprived?” I ask as I try to gasp for air.
“Yeah, it’s actually sad. I think he’s so grumpy because he doesn’t get laid. Then again, he’s so sour I bet his dick is all shriveled.”
When I finally stop laughing, I take hold of his shoulder and pull him to my chest.
“Are you okay?”
He hugs me back and nods against my chest.
“I am. My make-up is ruined, but that can be fixed.”
He pulls back, and excitement makes his eyes shine.
“You know what this calls for?”
I shake my head.
“A double date,” he shrieks while clapping his hands. “I’ll call Ryan and tell him to get ready.”
“I need to check on Marcus before you call him. If Marcus is stable, we can go out to dinner.”
Sebastian pushes Leigh out the door. “What are you waiting for? Go do your rounds.”
When the door closes behind Leigh, Sebastian turns back to me. A tear rolls down his cheek, which makes me step closer.
Placing a hand on his shoulder, I ask, “You okay?”
He nods and looks up at me with such a sincere expression, it hits me right in the gut.
“Thank you, Jaxson.”
“For what? I didn’t do much.”
“Dr. Langley makes it abundantly clear every chance he gets, that he’s homophobic. You treated me like a human. To me, it makes all the difference in the world. People don’t always understand what it’s like to be a woman trapped in a man’s body. They tend to judge me because I’m different.”
I make a promise right here to never treat Sebastian and Ryan any different from the way I would treat the other women in my life.
I pull him to my chest and press a kiss to the top of his head. “It’s because they don’t bother to see the amazing person you are.” I look down at him so he can see that I mean what I say. “It doesn’t matter what sex you are, Sebastian. You have a beautiful soul, babe. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Go fix your make-up while I check on Marcus.”
∞∞∞
LEIGH
Marcus looks better than I expected.
“I have your surgery scheduled for the twenty-ninth at five pm. Dr. Magliato will assist me. You’ll be in good hands, Marcus,” I say as I complete the chart.
“Thanks, Doc.”
I smile at him. “You’re welcome. Relax until then.”
I walk out just as Jaxson is coming in. We meet in the doorway, and he presses a kiss to my forehead.
“Is he okay?” he whispers.
“Yes, he just needs to rest. Is Sebastian okay?”
Jaxson smiles reassuringly at me. “He is. I’ll be here while you finish up.”
“I’ll come get you.” I squeeze his arm before returning to my rounds.
When I’m done, and I peek into Marcus’ room, I smile widely. Jaxson is playing cards with him.
“Dude, just because you’re sick doesn’t mean I’ll let you cheat. Take back that card.”
“It slipped,” Marcus grumbles.
“Hey guys.” I walk in and it’s only then that I realize Willow isn’t here. “Where’s Willow? I thought she was coming?”
“I don’t want her here,” Marcus snaps coldly.
“I’m taking my girl out to dinner. Try to get some sleep,” Jaxson says as he gets up.
He takes hold of my arm and starts to pull me from the room.
“Night, Marcus,” I say over my shoulder before the door shuts behind us.
“Sorry about that,” I apologize. “I thought they were back together.”
Jaxson links our hands and brings the back of my hand to his mouth. He presses a kiss to my skin.
“It’s okay, Doc. I swear those two are giving me whiplash. I really thought they would last this time, but Marcus broke it off this morning.”
“I need to phone her later to hear how she’s handling it.”
Jaxson presses the button for the elevator, and I lean into his side as we wait. It’s nice to have him here. I didn’t think he would fit into my world, but after seeing him with Sebastian, it’s clear that I was worried for no reason.
“Sebastian went to pick up Ryan. They’ll meet us at the restaurant.”
We step into the elevator and I turn my body into his. I place my hand on his jaw, wanting to feel the bristliness on my skin.
“Thank you for being such an incredible man and for comforting Sebastian. I know he can get quite emotional, but I love him.”
“He’s my friend too. Sebastian and I have something pretty remarkable in common.”
“What? It’s definitely not your sense of style. I can’t imagine you wearing pink lipstick.”
He lets out a burst of laughter before he whispers, “You. We have you.” He turns his face into my hand and presses a kiss to my palm.
“You’re never getting rid of me.”
“Oh yeah?” I tease as I curl my fingers into his shirt. “Not even when I start spouting facts?”
He shakes his head. “Not even when you throw equations at me.”
His hands slip to my butt, and he grabs me tightly, lifting me up against his body. His mouth trails over my jaw, until it reaches my ear.
“I need to get the dating out of the way, so we can get to the sex part of this relationship.”
I can feel his hard length pressing into me, and it makes me groan.
“I can’t wait either,” I admit.
Chapter 12
JAXSON
When we get to the restaurant, Sebastian and Ryan are already waiting. When we get to the table, Ryan gets out of his seat and hugs me.
He doesn’t need to say anything, as the grateful look he gives me says it all.
After we’ve placed our order, I ask, “So how long have you been married?”
“We celebrated our fifth anniversary this past October. My delicious chunk of hunk can’t get enough of me,” Sebastian says, placing his hand over Ryan’s.
“Oh wow, congrats.”
The waitress brings our drinks, and I lift my glass to the men across from me.
“Here’s to another fifty years.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Ryan says. He presses a tender kiss to Sebastian’s mouth, and when I look at Leigh, it’s to catch her smiling up at me.
“How did you and Leigh meet,” Sebastian asks.
“She spilled soda all over herself and then called me an asshole.”
“You were laughing at me,” Leigh says, pretending to look offended.
“Yeah, I guess I deserved it.”
Everyone laughs, and the conversation flows smoothly, the only interruption being when the waitress brings our orders.
I learn that Sebastian and Ryan were best friends in school. They were both in love with each other, but neither had the guts to make the first move until they moved in together. Ryan liked to sleep in the nude, and when Sebastian brought him some coffee, it turned into an X-rated movie.
“I didn’t go to the prom because I was hung up on this ass next to me,” Sebastian says. “He took a date. I was jealous as hell and let me tell you, green is so not my color.”
“Did you go to your prom?” Leigh asks me, and it reminds me she never attended school and had missed out on those experiences.
“No, I didn’t. I think Logan was the only one… oh wait, that was for Mia’s prom. None of us went to ours.”
“Willow once told me you had tutors. At what age did you graduate from school?”
“Thirteen. I spent six years in Boston and then I met you. You know the rest.”
“What’s your favorite memory of when you were a kid?” I need to hear her tell me something normal.
“Let me think.” She takes a sip of her wine and smiles. “I was four. Mom gave me my very own first aid bag. It had a real stethoscope in it. That night I fell asleep listening to her heart beating. That’s when I realized I wanted to learn everything I could about the heart.”
I watch her eyes light up at the memory, and I make a promise to myself to do my best to keep that light shining inside of her.
“What’s your favorite memory?” she asks, resting her chin on the palm of her hand.
“That’s easy,” I say, smiling as the memory flashes through my mind. “I had anger issues during my senior year. One day a kid pissed me off, and I punched him. So there I was, waiting to have my ass handed to me by the principal when Mr. Hayes walked in. He drove me to our local gym and took out a contract for me. He spent the entire afternoon punching a bag with me. He always had time for me. I can’t remember him ever saying no to anything.”
“I’m sorry you lost him,” she whispers.
“I didn’t lose him, Doc. He’s everywhere I look. He’s in every lesson he taught me. Whenever something bad happens, I hear his patient voice telling me what to do.”