Unfriending the Dr by Piper Sullivan
Ryan
“We can’t just sit around like a bunch of women,” Antonio drawled, looking over his shoulder with caution just in case any women were listening and word got back to Gus. “If you want to talk, we shoot pool or darts while we drink. Period.”
Cal laughed and shook his head Antonio’s borderline sexist comments. “If anyone heard that, I’m totally throwing you under the bus. Just so we’re clear.”
The Outpost was crowded even though it was the middle of the week, but Antonio used his long legs and height advantage to clear a path to the last unoccupied dart board, seconds before Cal and I joined him.
“Throw me under the bus all you want, no one will believe you.” Antonio arched a dark brow at Cal before he turned to me. “Ryan, you’re up, man.”
I blinked at Antonio’s abrupt topic change because I thought I would have a beer or two before I had to start talking about the reason I had invited them out. “So soon?”
“None of us are getting any younger,” Cal said with a laugh.
And both of these guys were in new relationships, and probably as eager to get home to their women as I was to get home to Persephone. “Fine. I need advice for my next date. With Persephone.” I added the last part on a whisper just in case we had any ear hustlers looking for new gossip to share.
Cal’s brows dipped into a frown. “Was your last date terrible?”
“Not terrible, no,” I answered on a sigh before I launched into the disaster at the French restaurant.
“Wait a minute,” Antonio huffed with laughter, doubled over as he smacked his thigh. “The kitchen caught on fire?”
I nodded.
“And the waiter spilled wine all over you?” Cal asked, his laughter growing as loud and as obnoxious as Antonio’s.
“Yes,” I growled.
They continued to howl with laughter, drawing stares from nearby patrons. “That is damned priceless,” Antonio gasped with the force of his laughter, face red and nostrils flaring.
I wanted to punch him in the face, but we were civilized adult men, not animals. It was funny, I could see that now, and in hindsight I agreed with Persephone—it was the kind of perfect disaster we were used to over the years.
When his laughter finally died down, Antonio put his hands on his hips and sighed. “What’s the big deal? You and Persy have been friends forever, she’s programmed to like whatever you do for her.”
I shrugged at his words and raked a hand through my hair. “This is different. I’m trying to make her mine and I want her to see me as more than her good buddy, trusty, old, faithful Ryan. I need her to see me as a man. A real man. Her man.”
Cal let out a loud bark of laughter. “Have you tried sex? That tends to give women a lot of clarity about who’s the man.”
I rolled my eyes and gulped down my beer at Cal’s words. “If I recall right, Teddy hated your guts before you got together. What did you to do change that?”
Cal shrugged and grabbed three dart from the small round table. “I just charmed the hell out of her, that’s all.”
“Bullshit,” Antonio barked with a laugh and turned to me. “He forced his company onto her until she realized he wasn’t the callous dirtbag she thought he was. That’s not your problem, though. Persy knows who you are and she loves that guy. I don’t think romance is what you need, not exactly.”
“If not romance, then what?” The question came out on a sarcastic snort because I figured romance was exactly what Persephone needed and wanted. “She needs a man to put her first, to show her how amazing she is.”
“You already do that,” Cal added with a shake of his head. “You and Persephone are the only two people in all of Jackson’s Ridge who don’t know how perfect you are together.”
“You think so?” His words gave me hope.
“Hell yes.” Antonio hit three bullseyes and smiled. “You know that phrase fake it ‘til you make it? That’s what you need to do, treat Persy like she’s already yours. Not your best friend forever, not your movie night bestie, or a mother or a doctor. Show her that you see her as just a woman, your woman, the same way you want her to see you.”
“That sounds good,” I admitted, “but what in the hell does it mean?”
“It means take her somewhere fun, someplace adventurous. Take her on the kind of date none of her stuffed-shirt exes would ever think to suggest.”
Antonio’s words resonated with me. Maybe I was thinking of us in a way that was too traditional. I needed to think outside the box. “Thanks. Next round is on me.” I headed toward the bar.
“In that case, add a round of shots to the tab,” Cal called out.
I flipped him off and made my way to the bar, mind swirling with different ideas to impress Persephone. Maybe ‘impress’ wasn’t the right word, but I wanted—no, I needed her to see me in a new light.
Cy stopped in front of me, arms folded. “What can I get ya?”
“A pitcher of amber ale.”
“Drowning your sorrows?”
I shrugged at the bartender’s question. “Not exactly.”
“All right,” he answered with a shrug and turned to grab a plastic pitcher with The Outpost emblazoned on it in cowboy font.
“Add a round of shots to that order,” Gavin said and bumped his shoulder with mine. “Thank you.”
Cy looked up and arched a brow in recognition. “Gavin Ross?”
“That’s me. And you are?”
The bartender grinned. “I’m Cy, and a big fan.”
“In that case, add a shot for yourself.”
I snorted a laugh and shook my head. “So easy.”
“Hey, fans are why I’m rich and famous, and I love them for it. And Cy here seems like a genuine music lover, which is hard to come by.” Gavin flashed another of his easygoing smiles but I had a feeling he spoke the absolute truth.
“Here you go,” Cy grunted. “Thanks for the shot, man.” He lifted the glass and knocked back the shot with a smile.
“Come on, rock star. We’re in the back.” I made my way toward the dart boards with Gavin on my heels. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Thirsty,” he shouted over the jukebox.
“You’re a bad liar,” I shouted back. “Stick to singing.”
Gavin’s loud laughter sounded behind me, causing shocked stares from Antonio and Cal. Antonio clapped Cal on the shoulder. “Look who’s traveling in fancier circles these days.”
Cal laughed, too, but his curiosity won out. “New friend, Ryan?”
“Shut up. This is Cal, he works in the ER and that’s Antonio, a famous chef. Guys this is Gavin, as if you don’t know.”
“Ryan here was nice enough to pick me and my Bel-Air up off the side of the road.”
“Yeah, he drove the damn thing from Vegas without a tune-up. It was smoking when I found him pretending like he knew what he was doing under the hood.”
Cal and Antonio groaned as if they could feel the Bel-Air’s pain. “You don’t have someone who looks after your cars?” Cal, who’d spent the past year renovating his home, stared in shock at the rock star.
Gavin shrugged.
“He won it in a card game in Vegas.”
“Damn, that’s a baller move.” Antonio covered his mouth and looked at Gavin like he’d just found his new hero.
“Thanks. I would’ve rather had the money, but the looks I got on the highway were worth the breakdown.” Gavin flashed a smirk and picked up the darts. “Mind if I join?”
“You can take my turn,” I told him and poured the beers before I grabbed a shot for myself.
Gavin saluted me with the darts just as a trio of twenty-somethings came up to the table, smiling and giggling.
“Gavin Ross? You’re like our favorite rock star, ever. Think we can get a photo?”
“Sure.” He flashed a smile that wasn’t without tension. “I’m happy to take a photo with fans. What are your names?”
He was a natural, pulling answers from the giggling girls who were barely old enough to order a drink, posing for a friendly photo without touching either of them.
“You ladies drink safely.”
“Okay,” the said at the same time and giggled.
When they were gone, Gavin the rock star disappeared and Gavin the man returned. “So, what are we talking about? Ryan’s problems with the pretty doctor?”
Antonio laughed, practically spilling the pitcher as he poured it into three glasses. “Got it one, Gavin.”
Cal added his laughter to the chorus. “How did you know?”
Gavin shrugged. “I was there when she made a particularly indecent proposal.”
“Oh shit, seriously?”
“Oh yeah. It was entertaining as hell and I’m in need of an update.”
Laughter exploded out of me. “I guess small-town gossip is more addictive than I realized.”
Gavin shrugged.
Cal laughed again. “He’s hopeless.”
“Nah, just hopelessly in love.” Gavin threw three darts consecutively, narrowly missing a bullseye on the last throw. “I think they’ve got a good chance at making it.”
“If he doesn’t screw it up,” Antonio added around a cough.
“I won’t,” I growled at them all. The last thing I planned to do was make a mistake that would cost me this chance with Persephone. She wouldn’t be open to a second chance, especially if it posed even a small risk to our lifelong friendship. I had to tread carefully, but with a clear mind.
“See,” Gavin laughed, “he won’t screw it up. And if he does, I’ll swoop in and take her for myself.”
I knew he was joking but his words rankled because I knew Persephone was a huge fan and the guy wasn’t bad looking. “Gavin,” I grunted and glared at him.
Cal, Antonio, and Gavin all laughed, loud and long, until I flipped all three of them off, a move that only caused even more raucous laughter.
