Page 40 of Breaking Bristol

“Why not?” I pouted. “We did it before.”

She rolled her eyes. “That was because we were locked in.”

“I’ve got a deadbolt, baby.”

“Shut up.” She smacked me on the stomach. I loved this playful side to her. Loved that she brought out the same in me. “I’m hungry.”

Right. I needed to take care of her. “Okay. Let’s go feed you.”

My head was held high as we walked into the restaurant. I had a beautiful woman on my arm and I was happier than I ever thought I would be again. Happier than I ever was.

We were seated at a booth by a window that faced the sparkling lights downtown. Lawless had a pretty good nightlife with a lot of different clubs and bars, and more recently some chain-type entertainment places were built. At first, I wasn’t a fan of losing the land, but having batting cages or a place to go hit some golf balls and have drinks made me change my mind.

I ordered a bottle of red wine, that she surprisingly liked, to pair with the steaks, and while we were waiting, conversation between us was easy and natural. Like always.

“What made you want to be a school counselor?” I asked as I refilled her glass.

“My dad was a principal at my elementary school, so I spent a lot of time hanging around the administrators. The counselor there, Ms. Swanson, she always had treats and the neatest toys in her office, so I already thought she was cool.” Her face gleamed as she talked. “Anyway, I really liked this boy, and I thought he liked me, but when I saw him holding hands with another girl, I wanted to die.”

“What a dick.”

She laughed quietly. “He was ten.”

“Still.”

“Ms. Swanson caught me crying about it at recess, and after I told her what happened, she just… validated my emotions. The next day, we were on the playground again when she found me and pointed out two first graders who were fighting and asked if I could go help them work it out, which I did. Same thing the day after, and the next. I didn’t realize it at the time, but she was clearly doing it on purpose.”

“Distracting you from your heartbreak?” I surmised.

“Yes and no.” She swirled her wine around in her glass. “Sure, I forgot about the stupid boy, but I gained a lot of confidence and learned that I was really good at helping them. I carried that with me and knew by the time I entered high school that counseling was exactly what I wanted to do.”

This woman continued to amaze me even though I knew there was so much more to her than I was privy to. “That’s really cool, Bristol. I bet that counselor would be thrilled she had such an impact on you.”

“I had my dad track her down, and after I got my master’s, I reached out to her.” She smiled softly. “Yeah, she was thrilled.”

“I’m sure.”

“What about you?” she asked. “What made you want to become a doctor?”

I knew this was coming. And subconsciously, I think maybe that’s why I brought her work up with her. I owed her more than what I had been giving, but bringing up the shadows from my past seemed almost presumptuous. “My brother. His name was Michael, but I called him Mikey. He was my best friend, my idol, and I looked up to him for everything. He was about four years older than me and so much cooler than I’d ever be. He was the best at whatever sport he did, knew how to talk to girls, and had a ton of friends. Even though I was his younger, dorky brother, he never treated me that way.” I got choked up just thinking about him and had to clear my throat so I didn’t break down in front of her.

“I can’t picture you being a dork.”

I grunted. “I was. What you see here took well over thirty years to work up to.”

“Well, whatever you did works because you’re the hottest doctor I’ve ever seen.”

“I’ve got plenty of colleagues who look like me, Bristol. I’m nothing special.”

Her palm flew to her chest, and she gasped dramatically. “Have you looked in a mirror? You could be on a calendar, and it’d make enough money for a lifetime supply of lingerie.”

A lifetime. I liked how that sounded. “I wasn’t saying that for you to—”

She slashed her hand in the air. “You’re tall, muscular, your voice is seductive, you’ve got that little bit of gray when your scruff grows out that only screams sexy, and you somehow manage to make scrubs look good.” Flashing me a come-hither look, she added, “And I know your patients don’t see you in a hat, but when you wear one backward like you do, it does something to my lady parts that makes me want to jump you.”

My shoulders shook. “Your lady parts?”

“We’re in a nice place. I don’t want someone to overhear me say you make my pussy wet.”