“You're a bartender,” she countered.
“I said I’ll handle it.”
Too stunned to really process anything, she turned toward the bar to find Jess and asked if she could get a plate to go. She very rarely ordered after a shift. She considered it a luxury and only did it once a month or so. She had already eaten here last week, but she knew she was too physically and mentally drained to fix anything when she got home.
She hadn't even officially clocked out, but went straight to the already closed section of the bar and sat down. She didn't even notice that another person sat down beside her until the bill fold slid into view.
“The tip is in there. It’s only a dollar, so don’t worry about plugging it into the system. I went ahead and logged you out for the night.” Callum’s voice was surprisingly comforting. He took a deep breath before he pulled his hand back, leaving the billfold in front of her. “Don’t worry about people like that. She was being a complete ass.”
“Takes one to know one.” She cringed, not having meant for the retort to come out as harshly as it did.
He flinched at her words.
“Dr. Sam, huh?”
She chose to ignore his remark and silently begged for him not to start now. She just wanted to walk out. She just wanted to go home and forget she’d let that woman get the better of her.
“Is that why I’ve never seen you with Kristin before? You’re always tucked away somewhere studying?”
She couldn’t tell whether this was an actual conversation with no ill will attached, or if he was about to live up to his nickname.
Sam decided to hope for the best.
“Yes, I am. Next year I’ll be a senior, and then hopefully the year after that I’ll be off to medical school. At least that’s the plan.” She still refused to meet his gaze.
“I didn’t have you pegged as a med student. Actually, I kind of thought you might be a ditzy, entitled college girl just getting a degree to please mommy and daddy.” He laughed a little and, while
she could tell he hadn’t meant it in a mean way, his words still stung.
Again, she didn’t respond.
She gave Jess a quick smile as she passed over Sam’s drink and plate. She had hoped Jess would stick around and maybe alleviate some of the tension. Sadly, Jess was gone before Sam even unrolled her silverware.
“What made you want to be a doctor?”
This time she turned toward him.
“Why all the sudden interest in my life?”
“Like you said, we are going to be around each other regularly now that Drew and I are back in town, so I figured–”
“Are y'all a couple?” she blurted out without thinking.
“What?” His brows creased in confusion.
“You and Drew? Are y'all a couple?” It was a perfectly logical question. They did almost everything together. Callum rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Nope. He’s just my best friend and we share the same passion.”
“Don’t get all fussy. It was an honest question.” She started to dig into her dinner, hoping he would get the cue to leave her alone.
“We own a business together, hence why we travel together. Drew has a girlfriend and he mostly stays with her when we’re in Charleston.”
“What about you?” she asked between sips of her drink.
“What do you mean, ‘what about me?’”
“Do you have a girlfriend?” Sam swallowed. She hadnotplanned on asking that and it took all her self control not to curl into a ball and hurl herself outside to get away from him.
“Why do you want to know?”