He Ranked Her First, I Chose Myself novel · Chapter 2 of 24

Chapter 2: Your Turn

Judson spins and then lets slip what he really planned; Maura throws him out of her apartment with Jodie and a softball bat behind her, and at 2 a.m. Tatum posts Judson kissing her under a napkin that says ALL IN.

Judson laughed.

Then he looked at the ring and stopped laughing.

"What do you mean, a single line?"

"I mean I didn't change a single line."

"Lists locked at midnight, Maura."

"I know when they locked. I locked mine at eleven fifty-eight."

He set the water bottle down so hard it tipped over.

Neither of us picked it up.

"You saw Denver," he said. "You have my login. You always check."

"I checked."

"So why didn't you switch?"

I looked at him for a long time.

He had a smear of somebody's lip gloss on his collar.

Pink. I didn't own anything pink.

"I was at Mahaffey's at seven," I said. "In the hallway. The party room door doesn't latch."

His face did something fast.

Then it smoothed out.

"Okay," he said. "Okay. You heard guys talking."

"I heard you talking."

"That was a bit. Everybody was doing bits."

"Tell me the bit about the kitchen again."

"Babe. Tatum is a friend. She's a great surgeon in the making. Denver is the best fit for my career. That's all it is."

"Then why does your shirt smell like vanilla?"

"Because she hugged me. People hug on rank night."

"I didn't get a hug."

"You weren't there!"

"I was forty feet away putting six stitches in a man's thumb."

"Fine. So we're split. Couples get split all the time. We do a year long distance. You scramble into something out west next March and we fix it."

"Scramble," I said.

"Or reapply. Whatever. You're smart. You'll figure it out."

"I'm going to match at Riverside, Judson. Why would I scramble out of my first choice?"

"Because I'll be in Denver!"

It came out loud.

He lowered his voice.

"I need you out there. You know how I am. I don't eat when I'm on call. I forget to pay things. Who's going to keep my apartment from turning into a dumpster? Tatum?"

He actually laughed.

"Tatum can't boil pasta."

There it was.

Not the program.

The kitchen.

"So she gets the program," I said. "And I get the pasta."

"That's not what I said."

"It's exactly what you said. You said it twice tonight."

I picked up the ring and held it out to him.

He didn't take it.

"Put that back on. You're being dramatic."

"Then I'll leave it here."

I set it back on the counter.

"This is my apartment," I said. "My name's on the lease. You moved in with a duffel bag and a PlayStation. You can leave with the duffel bag tonight."

"It's one in the morning."

"Then call Tatum. She has a couch."

There was a knock on the front door.

Not a polite knock.

Three bangs with something wooden.

I opened it.

Jodie Lusk stood on the landing in Phillies pajama pants and a sports bra, with her softball bat over one shoulder.

"I heard yelling," she said. "And I heard a man. So I brought Gladys."

"You named the bat?"

"Everyone names their bat."

She looked past me at Judson.

She looked at the ring on the counter.

"Oh," she said. "Oh, we're doing this tonight. Great. I'm awake now."

"Jodie, go back to bed," Judson said. "This is between me and Maura."

"Sure, sure," Jodie said, and walked in anyway.

She sat on the arm of the couch with Gladys across her knees.

"Go ahead," she said. "Pack."

He looked at me.

I looked at the bedroom door.

He packed.

It took him ten minutes.

He took the duffel bag, his laptop, his good watch and a box of protein bars.

He left the PlayStation.

At the door he turned around.

"You're going to regret this in the morning," he said. "Keep the ring safe. You'll want it back."

"Goodnight, Judson."

"I mean it. You can't do residency without me. You've never done anything without me."

Jodie stood up.

She just stood.

Judson left.

I listened to him go down all three flights, and the street door slam.

Then I sat on the kitchen floor next to the water bottle.

Jodie sat down beside me.

"Do I get the long version or the short version?"

"He moved Denver to number one for Tatum Kirby. He told six guys I'd switch mine to follow him. Because I always do."

Jodie was quiet for one second.

"Do you always do?"

"I used to."

"And tonight?"

"Tonight I locked Riverside at number one."

She bumped my shoulder with hers.

"Look at you. Ranking yourself first."

I laughed, and it came out wet.

"I have nine thousand dollars sitting at a boathouse," I said. "Nonrefundable."

"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it."

"That's not the saying."

"It's my saying."

She got up and put the kettle on, because Jodie thinks tea fixes things she can't hit.

I picked up my phone to set an alarm for the morning.

It was one fifty-nine.

At two o'clock exactly, a notification slid down from the top of the screen.

Tatum Kirby had posted a story.

I opened it before I could stop myself.

Mahaffey's, the party room, the tin ceiling in gold light.

Judson with his arms around Tatum's waist.

Her face tipped up to his.

His mouth on hers.

Between them, held up to the camera in Tatum's hand, was a bar napkin with two words on it in black marker.

ALL IN.

The caption said, "Denver or bust."

← Chapter 1 · All chapters · Chapter 3 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend