Ross knew that he shouldn’t be doing this.

He really, really shouldn’t be doing this. Not that it was against the rules or anything, at least not technically. But it could so easily open the door up to gossip.

Maybe doctors’ lives weren’t as filled with clandestine hook-ups as the television shows said. But in a world where people’s lives were at stake, gossip could destroy someone’s career. He knew of one doctor, back during Ross’s residency, who’d lost a patient. Rumor spread that the man had been tipsy when he’d operated, even though the guy had been attending AA for six months. The guy’d had to switch hospitals.

Another doctor had been accused of having an affair with a nurse. Ross never found out if it was true or not, because there’d been no proof that he knew of. Proof hadn’t really been something that his coworkers had needed, though. The drama of it all was what they’d needed. The nurse had been fired (the woman, and Ross wasn’t even going to touch the misogyny that went with that) and the doctor had changed hospitals a few weeks later.

And really, he didn’t need to check up on Tom. Tom would have scheduled appointments with another doctor to do that. But Ross happened to know the physical therapist Tom was seeing, and if he happened to stop by while Tom was there, and checked up on him…

Okay, so this might be edging into stalker territory just a bit.

But it was on his way home, so after his shift ended, he stopped by Dr. Gupta’s office. Dr. Gupta was the sort of woman who made everyone else around her calm, just by virtue of her being in the room. It was why Ross always recommended her to people as a physical therapist. Recovering from an injury was a long and often frustrating process, and having a doctor who could help you when you were on the verge of a breakdown was a definite plus.

Ross waved at the secretary as he entered, peering into the workout area. There were a few different people doing the exercises assigned to them. After a few sessions, people could come in and do their exercises pretty much on their own, or at least the warmup ones, with Dr. Gupta walking around and checking on people periodically.

He spied Tom over in the corner and took a deep breath. Tom was going to look up any second and see him. Might as well walk over, now that he’d gone to all the trouble of coming here.

Tom looked up as he approached. “Hey.” He looked wary, for some reason.

“Hey.” Ross smiled. “You getting on okay?”

“Yeah, I mean, considering.” Tom glared down at his leg. “I long for the day when we have instantaneous healing.”

“Well, until then…” Ross gestured for Tom to continue.

“Any particular reason why you’re here?” Tom asked, his tone light in a way that made Ross instantly suspicious.

“I was hoping I’d get to see you,” Ross admitted. “I was worried about you; I wanted to check up on things.”

“Afraid you’d botched the job?” Tom replied, grinning.

Ross laughed a little. “Maybe,” he teased.

Tom looked at him for a moment, then nodded, as if deciding something. “So you’re not going to mention the fact that you paid my hospital bill?”

Ross felt his stomach knot a little. He’d honestly been hoping that Tom wouldn’t notice that he’d been the one who paid for it. He’d had to put his name on it — the administrator hadn’t been too keen on the idea of an anonymous donor — but he’d thought that maybe Tom would think his insurance had covered it. Or something like that.

Honestly, he hadn’t been thinking it through too thoroughly at all, which should have been some kind of warning sign that it was going to come back and bite him in the ass.

“Surprise?” Ross tried.

Tom shook his head. “Nuh-uh. If you wanted me to know it was you, you would’ve said something. Care to explain?”

“It was my fault that you were in that accident.”

“We already went over this. It’s nobody’s fault except for the guy who hit the car. Frankly, we’re lucky it wasn’t a worse hit; the driver was okay, and the car wasn’t totaled. Did you pay for the driver’s car to get fixed? Was that your fault too?”

“Um…”

“I didn’t think so.” Tom sighed. “Look, I’m not mad. I’m grateful for the assistance. I won’t lie; I was wondering about how to move things around financially to be able to afford everything.

“But I don’t want you to just buy things for me again. I know it’s probably stupid. I’m sure a lot of people would just accept the money and move along. But I don’t feel comfortable accepting a gift like that, not when we barely know each other.

“You’re a great guy and I know you don’t have any ulterior motives, but it’s not like we’re best friends or family or something, or like you’re paying me back for helping you in something similar. It makes me feel in your debt, and I don’t like that feeling.

“So if you’re going to do something like that again, could you maybe ask next time? I might have been open to the idea if you’d asked permission first. But it really wasn’t your fault what happened, and you’re literally the guy who fixed me up, so…”

Ross nodded. He could understand where Tom was coming from. Growing up, he and his mother hadn’t had a lot. And they’d accepted help when it was offered and they were in a position to take it. But he wouldn’t have wanted someone to just buy them an apartment or something without asking his or his mom’s permission.

It would’ve felt like a violation, or like control was being taken away from them. Independence still mattered to them.

And he’d done pretty much the same thing to Tom.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “That was wrong of me. I felt guilty, and I wanted to help you out, and I should’ve asked your permission first. I didn’t want you think that it was insulting or anything, and that seems to be how you took it, and I’m sorry.”

“Lucky you, I’m the forgiving type,” Tom said, winking at him. “I do appreciate it, and if you’d talked to me about it, I might’ve been persuaded to let you pay for it, for the record. Just … don’t do anything like that without asking me first, okay?”

“That’s fair.” Ross grinned. “Now I’m feeling even worse, so … can I buy you dinner to make up for it?”

“You want to buy me something to make up for buying me something,” Tom said, deadpan.

“Sounds backwards, I know.”

Tom laughed. “Okay, sure. I’m starving.”

Ross honestly didn’t know why he was buying Tom dinner. It could so easily be construed as a date, and he normally went the extra mile to make sure that nobody mistakenly thought anything he did was romantic.

But he genuinely enjoyed the energy and personality he saw in Tom, the easy way that he felt around him. And he’d told Tom that he didn’t do relationships, so surely Tom would understand that it was just friends, right?

Ross didn’t want Tom to have to try to get far, so he asked about Tom’s favorite place near his apartment and drove him there. It was a small Thai place, a mom and pop kind of operation.

He kept expecting Tom to bring something up about it being a date, but Tom never said anything. Instead he helped Ross order—turned out Tom had picked up a few Thai phrases, after eating there so many times—and talked to him about how the physical therapy was going. He ranted about his favorite TV show and explained some of the ins and outs of legal work.

Never once did he try to pressure Ross for information, or for anything romantic. He didn’t even seem to be trying to be flirty, keeping the kind of distance that Ross would expect from a friend.

It was … nice. He knew he probably shouldn’t be comparing Tom to Jeremy, but he couldn’t help it. And Jeremy had pushed with everything. He’d wanted to know everything about Ross, and right away.

At the time, Ross had thought it was romantic that someone cared so much about him and wanted to know so much. He’d seen it as a sign of how much Jeremy was invested in the relationship.

Now he knew that when someone was going that fast, it was a warning sign. That he needed to be careful about how fast he dove into a relationship. But Tom seemed to be taking the whole “just a hookup” thing to heart. In fact, at one point he even mentioned it.

“I admit, I was kind of worried it was a romantic overture.”

“What was?”

“The paying for my bills thing.”

“I’m not sure I would think of that as … romantic.”

Tom laughed. “Yeah, I was panicking a little. It’s good, though. I really don’t have time to date.” He rolled his eyes. “Not that Adam or Enid believe that. But they already had steady relationships when they started up their firm.”

“Won’t you always work the long hours, though?” Ross pointed out. He’d claimed that he didn’t have time for a relationship, but he’d been a surgeon when he’d dated Jeremy. The being too busy was just an excuse in case anyone asked. He didn’t know how to tell the real story, the full story—and he especially didn’t feel like telling it to someone he’d just met, no matter how much he liked Tom.

Not even Luke and the others knew, anyway, although they probably suspected something had happened, given Ross’s behavior throughout the whole thing.

“Probably,” Tom admitted.

“There’s always going to be another case, and another piece of work,” Ross said. “I don’t think you should let work stop you from finding someone, if that’s what you want. The right person will know how important your work is to you, and you two will find a way to make it work.”

“I think you’re being a little optimistic. And hypocritical, Mr. I Don’t Do Relationships,” Tom pointed out, waggling his eyebrows comically.

Ross laughed. “Fair point, but just because I’m that way doesn’t mean you have to be that way. Maybe I want better for you.”

Tom shrugged. “I’ll think about it, how’s that sound for you?”

“I’ll take it. For now.”

Tom chuckled.

Ross helped Tom get up the stairs to his apartment after they finished dinner—Tom protested that he was fine, but Ross was a doctor; he couldn’t see someone on crutches and not help get the door for them.

The whole time, though, he couldn’t stop reflecting on how nice it had been to just spend time with Tom.

Maybe … Tom said he was too busy for a relationship anyway, right? And the sex was good, although they’d now have to get a little creative on the positions, given his leg. Maybe he could propose a casual, but regular little arrangement.

It would be slow, and casual, and nothing at all like the whirlwind, awful experience he’d last had. He’d be careful, going into it with his eyes open. And Tom was as unlike Jeremy as it was possible to get—a little awkward, letting Ross take the lead on things, principled, honest.

Shit, Ross thought, getting into his car. Did he really like Tom that much? Was he seriously considering this?

After getting his heart stomped on, and getting screwed over, he’d promised himself that he wasn’t going to do that again. That he wouldn’t put himself through another relationship and that actually, hey, screw relationships in general.

But now he was … actually contemplating this? Considering at least dipping his toe back into the water?

Tom hadn’t gotten clingy, hadn’t been mad when Ross said it was just a hookup. He’d even been so worried about overstepping boundaries that he hadn’t stayed the night. He’d kept his distance and let Ross reach out to him, and he’d objected to Ross paying for his treatment. Jeremy would’ve jumped for fucking joy if Ross had paid for it.

And Tom came with Adam’s seal of approval. Adam wouldn’t keep the kind of backstabbing, gossiping person that Jeremy was around his office, not at all. If Adam had kept Tom on all these years, had him be in his wedding, invited him to meet his friends—that said a lot.

Ross didn’t get to see the whole gang as much as he might’ve liked, but he got to see the most of Eric, Hank, and Adam, and he definitely trusted Adam’s judgment. Adam hadn’t come up to him and said “Hey, Tom’s a great person to date,” but the fact that he kept Tom around and in his life was enough for Ross.

Maybe this would be a good way to break himself in, so to speak, get back into the dating pool. Keep things casual. Tom was too busy, or so he said, for anything serious anyway. So why not give it a shot? See how it went?

Ross was an adult. He knew how not to get in too deep, how to maintain a sense of control in his relationships. He wasn’t going to let someone else control his relationship or his life, not again, and he’d be in the driver’s seat.

He just had to convince Tom of it, that was all.

That idea was a little daunting. Tom was a stubborn person, clearly. But Ross thought he could present his case well.

The one thing was, they had to be careful. He’d paid for Tom’s medical bill, had operated on him, and had just visited his physical therapy appointment. Technically it could all be explained away, but it would look fishy to anyone who was just casually observing.

It would probably be easier if nobody at Ross’s work knew about it, and if he and Tom were a little quiet about the relationship, if they started one, until Tom had recovered and didn’t need to see his doctor anymore. Just to be on the safe side. Office gossip was awful, whether that office was at a papermaking company or a grocery store or a hospital, and the last thing he needed in his competitive work environment was people saying that he was having an affair with a patient, even if that wasn’t strictly true.

But the more he thought about it as he drove home, the more he thought that he could make it work. A nice, casual relationship. No strings attached, just someone to hang out with—Tom clearly needed more friends, anyway—and someone to take the edge off.

Easy.

And if his chest warmed at the thought of getting to see Tom all the time—well, that was just between himself and his car, wasn’t it?