Silence blanketed the room, broken only by Jules’s ragged breaths. Her earlier cool had evaporated, replaced with flushed cheeks and blazing eyes, but for once, I didn’t take pleasure in riling her up.
I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but I was too stunned to formulate an appropriate response.
Jules and I had exchanged more barbs than I could count over the years. She always gave as good as she got, but what happened just now…if I didn’t know better, I could’ve sworn she was actually hurt.
A hot poker of guilt stabbed at my chest.
I straightened and rubbed a hand over my face, wondering when the hell my life had gotten so complicated. I missed the days when Jules and I insulted each other with zero guilt or remorse, when my sister wasn’t in love with my ex-best friend, and when my best friend had still been my friend.
I missed the days when I was me.
Now here I was, about to do something old Josh would’ve rather cut off his arm than do.
“I shouldn’t have said that,” I finally conceded. “It was a low blow, and I…” A muscle worked in my jaw. Dammit. “I’m sorry.”
I spit out the words. It was the first time I’d ever apologized to Jules, and I wanted to get it over as quickly as possible.
Just because I did the right thing didn’t mean I had to like it.
I braced myself for Jules’s gloating, but none came. Instead, she just stared at me like I hadn’t spoken.
I forged ahead. “However, the clinic is important to me, and I don’t want our…differences to get in the way of our work. So I propose a truce.”
Proposing a truce might as well be surrendering, but I refused to let our animosity poison my time at the clinic. Everywhere else, fine. But not here.
Her brow wrinkled. “A truce.”
“Only when we’re in the clinic.” I wasn’t naive enough to think we could uphold any semblance of peace outside a work environment. “No insults, no snarky comments. We keep it professional. Deal?” I held out my hand.
Jules eyed it like it was a coiled-up cobra waiting to strike.
“Unless, of course, you don’t think you can do it.”
Satisfaction trickled through me when her lips thinned. I’d touched on a competitive nerve, as I knew I would.
She didn’t take her eyes off mine as she grasped my hand and squeezed. Hard.
Jesus.For someone so small, she was fucking strong.
“Deal,” she said with a smile.
I smiled back through gritted teeth and squeezed even harder, relishing the way her nostrils flared at the pressure.
“Excellent.”
Forget what I said about being bored.
This was going to be an interesting few months.