Page 30 of Dr. Baby Daddy
Kate scoffs and tilts the neck of her bottle in my direction. “What was that about? Is he normally like that?”
I shrug and sip my own beer, trying to stuff down the queasy feeling in my stomach. “I don’t know. He can be gruff at times, but that seemed weird.”
“Well, maybe something happened between when you saw him this morning and now. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You know the man is moody.”
“I know.”
However, there is a little voice in the back of my mind that insists I’m pushing him too hard and too fast to be okay with whatever this is burning between us.
I hope I haven’t ruined everything.
CHAPTER 13
OLIVER
The on-call room has been my home for the last four days, and it shows.
It feels like a truck ran me over, backed up, and then did it again. I don’t know how I’m going to get through another shift, but it doesn’t feel like I can go back home yet.
If I go back home, then Izzy is going to see me. She’s going to want to talk about why I ditched her at The Gilded Raven the other night. Then, she’ll ask about why I haven’t been home since then.
I sigh and sit on the edge of the bed, my pager tossed on the sheets beside me. It won’t beep for a couple hours yet, giving me time to come up with some excuses.
At least, that’s what I’m trying to do when the door to the on-call room swings open and Victor walks in.
He doesn’t say a word as he takes a seat at the tiny table in the corner. He crosses his arms and drums his fingers, waiting for me to break the silence.
The look he gives me is the look of a disappointed parent. I take a deep breath and run my hands down my face, trying to figure out what to say to him.
Having to answer to people is wearing on me, and I know it’s starting to show. I’ve barely been sleeping. I spend my days surviving off coffee and quick meals eaten between patients. The only time I’ve left the hospital is when I take a morning run around the block.
I sigh and sit back. “I don’t know what you want me to say right now.”
Victor scoffs. “That’s a lie and we both know it. What I want is an answer for why you’re avoiding going home this time? The last time you were this bad, your grandmother had just died. That, I could understand, but this doesn’t make sense.”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t make sense to me either. I think some people like to call it self-sabotage.”
Victor nods, understanding shining in his eyes. “And now it’s all starting to make sense. You like Izzy, and it scares the hell out of you.”
“It feels like everything is moving too fast. She came into my life like a hurricane — which is the way she does everything, by the way — and then I just have to be fine with it all? Except, I don’t feel like I have to be fine with it. Iamfine with it because it means I get to spend time with her.”
“Would you look at that?” Victor’s tone is teasing as some of the tension in his shoulders relaxes. “You do have a heart. I was wondering when you were going to start showing interest in someone other than your patients.”
I toy with the badge at my hip. “It feels like it’s moving too fast. I haven’t been with anyone in nearly two years.”
“What determines if something is moving too fast?”
“I don’t know.” I tilt my head back and look up at the ceiling. “It feels like I should think that this is moving too fast, so I keep thinking that. And then I start thinking about all the things she’s going to want me to change about my life.”
Victor holds up a hand. “Slow down, Oliver. What makes you think that she’s going to want you to change anything about your life? Has she been calling you constantly and asking when you’re going to come home?”
“No. She sent me a message this morning saying she was making sure I hadn’t been mugged by one of New York’s massive rats, and that was it.” My stomach twists. It’s the only message she’s sent me in the last four days.
“Then why are you worrying about her pulling you away from your life? It sounds like she knows what your schedule is like and doesn’t mind.”
“Nobody ever minds until they find out what that actually means. You know what happened while I was a resident. I had girlfriends, and they all insisted that I should be home with them more.”
Victor shakes his head. “So, instead of just seeing where things go with Izzy and communicating with her, you think so lowly of her that you’re going to sit here and compare her to everyone else you’ve ever dated.”