“I didn’t think he was a loser when I met him. He was cute and fun and full of energy. Everybody liked him.”
“Seriously?”
“Wyatt can be charming when he chooses.” She took another drink. “And then there was me.”
“Whoa, wait a minute. Why did you just say that like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re no big deal.”
“Because I’m not. I never had big ambitions, never was the top of my class, never—”
“Stop already,” Alden said. “Where were you when they were handing out self-esteem.”
“Napping?”
“Must have been. You’ve got a lot going for you. You’ve got nursing skills, a good heart, a good kid. The guts to climb up on a rooftop in a Santa suit in the rain. What more could you want?”
She wiggled a foot back and forth. She was wearing flip-flops and her toenails were painted red. She had such cute, little feet. He didn’t know how they got her through a whole twelve-hour shift at the hospital.
“To be...enough.”
“For him?”
She bit her lip and nodded.
Alden shook his head in disgust. “Exes, they really mess with your head.”
“Yours, too?”
He snorted. “Oh, yeah. I guess I wasn’t enough. Never could do anything right for her. She always wanted more.”
“So, what happened?”
“We broke up,” he said and took a deep swig of his beer.
“Who broke it off?”
“I guess you could say it was mutual. She wasn’t good for me and I wasn’t enough for her. She wanted...a doctor.”
Getting those words out felt like coughing up phlegm during the worst chest cold on the planet. Damn painful. But maybe it was time he’d gotten them up.
Arianna nodded. “A doctor.”
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “That’s the top of the mountain.”
“There are all kinds of other great places on the mountain besides the top,” she said. “Do you want to be a doctor?”
“Not particularly. Thought I might go back to school and become a PA. Better money.”
“That’s a good reason. Better than going back to school to impress someone.”
He took in a deep breath, nodded. “I think I spent a lot of time trying to impress her. Maybe that’s why I spent a lot of time not being happy. I think people should want to be with you for who are.”
She nodded. “I agree.”
“So you’re not looking for a doctor?” he asked. Out of simple curiosity, of course.
