“Not for you, maybe.” She laughed and pushed me away then took my hand in hers. “Come on, big boy. Get me something to drink. You’d better start now if you want a chance to get me up to that room of yours.”
I grinned at her and tugged her over to the bar.
Four men stood gathered in a loose group. I spotted Dean and nodded to him as we approached. The others turned, and I got a range of looks, some of them happy to see me, and at least one skeptical frown. These were the four youngest doctors in the hospital, the four men I came up with. We were both rivals and friends, and we spent a lot of time pushing each other, making jokes, and working together to save as many lives as we could.
Brian Prestige shook my hand. “Gavin, I wondered when you’d show up.” He smiled at Erica. “Is this the wife?”
“Erica, this is Brian.” I gestured at him then pointed to the tall, blond, blue-eyed man next to him. “And that’s Wayne Castle. And the quiet one down there is Dean Coarse. Last but not least, we have Richard Foster.”
“Hello there,” Richard said, still looking skeptical. He was tall, dark hair, dark eyes, all smiles and cocky laughter. “I halfway thought you didn’t exist.”
“We figured he was bringing a life-sized pillow with him tonight,” Wayne said.
“Pillow? I thought it would be an anatomically accurate doll,” Brian said. “You know, one of the ones you can—”
“We don’t need details of your sex life, Brian,” I said.
Erica laughed and leaned against me. “I’m very much real and it’s nice to meet you all. I wish I could say I’ve heard good things, but—” She shrugged.
Dean laughed and waved her over. “Let me get you a drink. What do you like?”
“Champagne, please, if you’re buying.”
“Oh, I like her,” Brian said.
I waved down the bartender, ordered a whiskey, and watched as Erica spent the next ten minutes laughing and listening to the same old stories I’d heard a thousand times, like the one about the patient we all thought was dead—until he sat up and screamed. There were a million stories like that, funny and sad, tragic and hilarious, and these guys loved to tell them over, and over, and over again.
I got along best with Dean. Then Brian and Wayne were friendly enough. Richard was a bit stranger than the others, a bit harder to get to know, and though I tried to keep things civil, sometimes he drove me fucking wild.
Fortunately, tonight he decided to keep his usually asshole comments and bad jokes to himself as he brooded over a gin and tonic.
“Tell me, what’s married life like?” Brian asked. “I’ve always wondered. You know, I’m a young, handsome doctor, so being single just seems like a good idea.”
“He’s asking you how you can stand to be with one woman for more than a night or two at a time,” Wayne said, laughing.
I glanced at Erica. She seemed immersed in whatever Dean was saying and didn’t hear them being douchebags.
Although to be fair, their questions were exactly what I would’ve asked if I were in their place. Before Erica, marriage didn’t make any sense to me—I didn’t want to get too involved with someone else and risk getting hurt. Besides, my job was all that mattered, and there seemed to be an endless supply of young, beautiful women that were willing to give their bodies to me for a night at a time, and it was hard for me to pass that up.
I didn’t know how to explain it though. It was like being with one woman took away the burden that followed me around all the time. I didn’t worry about anything but how she felt, what she wanted, and I didn’t have to obsess about dates, or finding the next girl, or anything like that.
Of course, my marriage was fake, so there was that.
“It’s easy,” I said. “Once you find the right one.”
Wayne made a gagging sound and Brian laughed. “Come on,” Brian said. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I’m not joking.” I shrugged, sipped my drink. “Call me a hopeless romantic—”
“Something I’d never say,” Brian muttered.
“—but when you find the right one, it’s just easy.”
“Bullshit,” Richard snapped, looking up from his quiet spot at the bar. “Come on, Gavin. You’ve known her for, what, a few weeks at most? I call bullshit.”
Wayne and Brian gave him an uncomfortable look. I glanced over and Erica was watching, and I saw the uncertainty in her eyes.
I didn’t take the bait though. I stayed calm and shrugged slightly, gesturing vaguely into the air with my drink. “I know it’s hard for a misanthropic prick such as yourself to imagine, Richard, but finding the right woman makes all the difference.”
He rolled his eyes. “Listen to you, getting all preachy. The Gavin I know has been through the whole nursing staff not once, not twice, but three times—and I’m pretty sure you’re the source of more than one STD outbreak.”