Chapter 18
Ash
Sarah’s dropping a chart into the slot on the door just as I open it. Her expression quickly turns from surprise to sadness when she sees me.
“This is your next patient, doctor.”
She doesn’t need to say that. We both know what the file’s for. I hate this awkwardness that’s sprung up between us ever since she walked out on Cory and I.
He and I have both tried talking to her to see if there is anything that we can do to fix things. But she’s holding firm. And so are we. I can’t think of a way around this situation. It’s too soon for me to come out about being in a threesome. I’m a lot less concerned about coming out about being with a guy. Cory has the opposite problem. And neither one of us can figure out what to do.
So here we are. Sarah and I, trying to work together in spite of being broken up now. It’s really unpleasant and uncomfortable. It really hits home now why it’s a bad idea to get involved with someone you work with.
It’s all I can do to hold back from gathering her up in my arms and making her feel better. It’s torture knowing I won’t be seeing her outside of the clinic anymore. And that I can’t kiss her or hug her again. Or have insanely mind-blowing sex with her and Cory.
At least it’s really busy today. Working hard helps keep my mind off of her. And I’m progressing with plans for opening up my new clinic. I wish I could tell Sarah all about it. I hate that even if I ask her to come and work for me there, she’ll more than likely turn me down.
After I’ve treated a few patients, I glance at my phone. There’s a text from Cory. He needs to get his leg checked out after last night’s game, since he had a slight twist to it. He’s on his way, nearly here. I was about to take a short break, but I’ll wait until I can examine him.
And of course Sarah’s the one to bring him back. She’s trying to keep a poker face, but I can tell that it’s even worse for her that he’s here now too.
Cory’s jaw is set as I close the exam room door behind us. “Do you ever get a chance to talk to her? About us, I mean.”
I shake my head as I start to manipulate his leg. “No. Not here at work. Things are awkward enough as it is.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think you would. I was just hoping. No change in her?”
“None. Her mind’s made up. Even though she’s upset about it.”
Cory raises his eyebrows. “And that’s a good thing?”
“No. Except that it shows she cares. Or at least, used to care about us.”
“Does that make it better, or worse?”
I shrug. That’s an impossible question to answer. “I don’t know. Okay. Your leg’s in pretty good shape. But you should give it a rest as much as possible before your next game. I’ll give you a prescription for anti-inflammatories that you should start today.”
Cory takes the paper from me after I print it out. “You’re done soon, aren’t you? Do you want to get some dinner? I’m guessing you haven’t eaten much today, if anything.”
“You guessed right. It’s been nonstop.” I check the time. “We’re officially closed now. There’s probably a couple more patients left to take care of, and then I’ll be free.”
“I’ll be out in the waiting room.”
Cory heads off and I get through the next couple of patients pretty quickly. The final one is already with the other doctor who’s working tonight.
I take off my white coat and hang it up carefully. Automatically I’m about to go find Sarah to say good night, and then I change my mind. If we’re over, we’re over. It’s time to leave it be.
The waiting room is empty except for Cory. Even the front desk staff have left.
“You need some new magazines in here, man.” He sets aside the one he was flipping through. “These are getting way too old.”
I snort. “Most people are happy to mess around on their phones while they’re waiting. But yeah. I’ll have to get on that anyway.”
Cory gets up and comes over. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me in close to him. I lean in and we kiss. It feels so good to be with him like this after a day like today. Everything falls away. The problematic patients I’ve seen. The tension between Sarah and I. It all disappears and all that matters is the way our kiss feels. The way Cory’s masculine body feels against mine.
We come up for air. “Let’s get going. The sooner we get to dinner, the sooner we can get back to my place.”
“Sounds good to me.” Cory grabs his jacket as I turn around to head for the door.
And I catch sight of Sarah.
She’s just come out with a stack of folders in her hands. From the way she’s standing and staring at us, it’s clear that she caught us kissing. And she must’ve heard what I said to Cory too.
She looks even more upset than she did before. I can’t think why.
“Sarah.” Cory glances at me. “We’re going to go get some dinner now. Would you like to join us?”
“No. Thanks. I have to get back home and study.”
“Are you sure?” I can’t help but asking. “You need to eat too.”
“I’m good.”
“Is something wrong? You look a little unhappy.”
“I’m just surprised that you two are still together. I mean, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be. I guess I just didn’t think that you would be.”
“Sarah.” Cory takes a step closer to her. “It’s not that we don’t want you with us too. Because we do. I miss you a lot.”
“We want you with us just as much as we want to be with each other,” I add. “But since you made it clear you don’t want to be with us anymore, yes. Cory and I are still together.”
“So that worked out pretty well for you then. You can stay in the closet if you want to about seeing a man. But now there’s no more threesome to get in the way of your careers.”
“Sarah, it’s not like that. You know that. We want you with us,” Cory says. “You were the one that walked away. Not us. Come on. Come out and eat with us. Then we can talk. It’s just dinner. Just the three of us having a meal. It doesn’t have to mean anything more than that. We both know you don’t want to get back with us.”
“I need to finish my work and get going.” Her voice is firm. “Thank you for inviting me along, but I can’t make it.”
She sets the files down on the front desk and turns to head into the back.
“Let’s go. There’s nothing more to say now.”
Cory and I walk the couple blocks to a nearby restaurant in silence. Once we’re seated, Cory speaks up.
“She’s stubborn, isn’t she.”
I set down the menu. “More than we are?”
Cory snorts. “Good point. Do you think there’s any chance we can work this out so all three of us can be together again?”
That’s all I’ve been thinking about since the night we went to his game. I haven’t come up with anything. “Maybe Sarah’s right. Maybe we should be more open.”
“Yeah, maybe. Or maybe she’ll come around once more time has passed. Maybe it’ll become less important to her to be open about our relationship.” Cory sounds about as convinced of that as I am.
“Sure. Could happen. I think there’s about zero chance of it though.”
“Yeah, I know.” He picks up his beer glass glumly. “I’m surprised she didn’t expect us to still be together.”
“Me too. I never thought Sarah would think we’d break up as well. Maybe she believes that we aren’t serious about any of this. Each other or her.”
It’s the first time I’ve had that thought. Could that be true?
“You might be right.” Cory looks thoughtful as the waiter brings our food to us. “Maybe we should tell her that we are.”
“I think it wouldn’t do any good. Now she knows were together. And she already knows she can come back to us anytime she wants to.” I stare at the plate of pasta sitting in front of me. “If Sarah wanted to, she’d be here right now. And she’s not.”
“Ah, you’re right. I know it. It’s just hard to accept sometimes, you know?”
“I know.” Boy, do I know. I never thought things would turn out this way. I thought everything was so perfect and so great that there was no chance it wouldn’t last forever. I can tell Cory feels the same way.
This sucks. Big time. Like nothing ever before. And there’s nothing to be done. It’s all up to Sarah. And she’s made her choice.