We’d been in competition with each other then too, both on a trajectory for top of class. My only mistake had been falling asleep in the library with my notes beside me. When I woke up, my notes were gone. All that work. I managed to pass the exam, but Kairo aced it, of course.
Oh, and almost right on cue, on the day of the exam, he brought the notes right up to me with some ridiculous excuse that he’d found them.
I snorted as I waited for the elevator. Some hero coming to my rescue with last minute notes. Clearly, he’d lied so he could get ahead, but taking my notes so he could get ahead of me was…well, it was far lower than I’d ever thought he would sink.
I hadn’t trusted him since, and by the time this ridiculous contest for a promotion was over, I planned to expose him for the fake he was. Dr. Crow and the rest of the committee would have no illusions as to who Kairo Caldwell really was, and they’d never recommend him for chief of surgery over me.
The elevator doors swooshed open, and I stepped inside as I refocused my mind on the rest of my shift. I didn’t need Kairo Caldwell in there disrupting my thoughts.
Even if a small, infinitesimal part of me had – just for a second – wished his compliment had been sincere.
5
Kairo
“What do you think, Kai?”
“Hm?” I glanced up from trying to twirl my spaghetti onto my fork and met Jamie’s questioning gaze.
My brothers and I were having an extra family dinner in our favorite Italian restaurant, but Mom and Dad had begged off. Probably once per week surrounded by all of us was enough for them. For a moment, I gleaned the method in Mom’s madness. She had a set day when she saw all of us in one fell swoop, and the meeting was completely under her control.
I grinned a little. Fair play, Mom.
Although it probably wasn’t like that at all, but the idea of being quite so properly managed amused me.
“I was just saying Grady needs to lighten up a little. What do you think?” Jamie chuckled, and I held my hands up.
“Pleading the fifth.”
I hadn’t spent enough time with my brothers lately seeing as I was chasing this damn promotion so hard, but if they were just going to entrap me in matters of sibling rivalry and petty but amusing arguments, maybe I was better off focusing on my meal.
“Hey now.” Grady was always good-natured, and he grinned at Jamie even now. “I’m plenty light about shit.”
Jamie laughed. “In my experience, college professors are rarely light about anything.”
Grady tutted. “That’s only when you insist on studying heavy subjects like law, dumbass.”
“He’s got you there, Jamie.” Adrian leaned into their conversation and pointed his breadstick at them.
Jamie shrugged. “I’m not regretting my choice.”
Saint looked up. “I should think not. You work in the best place in the world.”
I glanced at Leo as he made a scoffing noise.
“I think you might find the best place in the world is your own house. Where else can you see your guy in the middle of the day?” He stopped talking and looked at both Saint and Jamie. “Oh, never mind. You two have that nailed down as well.”
I grinned at the general air of happiness at the table. Each of my brothers had found his guy, and their contentment radiated from them. The noise level of our family meals had increased with each new addition, but today it was just my brothers and me.
Watching them, I almost wondered if I was missing out. Even Adrian seemed to have a new certain something about him. He’d grown up a little or found a new confidence, not that I would have ever said Adrian lacked confidence. Perhaps it was sophistication that he’d missed before, or just a new level of security with himself. I eyed him thoughtfully. Whatever it was, it looked good on him.
Something similar shone from Leo, like he’d found a new ease in his own skin—and that had been missing for too long, so Leo’s transformation probably meant the most to me. For him to know other people could truly value him—people not genetically predisposed to at least like him—had made a huge difference to his…not confidence. That was the wrong word, because he’d fought like hell to regain his confidence. But he wasn’t so prickly now. He was more trusting and his smile was quicker to show.
Each of my brothers had been on a journey, and frankly, I was exhausted. I almost laughed at the realization. I was always there for any of them any time they needed advice, and that would never change, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit, at least to myself, that being the responsible brother and the voice of reason wasn’t at least a little bit of a burden.
I’d always tried so hard to be a good role model for them. Perhaps to be perfect—but that was always the responsibility of the firstborn, pretty much. And there was no breaking out of that mold now. There was no way I could steer away from the position I’d cast myself in. It was well established—at least as much as Adrian’s baby brother status, although he still seemed to get some of his biggest kicks from the unspoken permission to be exuberant, even when a situation didn’t necessarily call for it.
I smiled as I cut into a meatball. I wouldn’t really change anything.
“What are you smiling at over there, Kai?” Apparently, I only needed to think of Adrian and he made himself known. “How are things going with you?”
“Yeah. How’s that promotion going?” Leo took a bite of his chicken parm after he spoke.
I sighed, and jabbed my fork in a little harder. “Ugh. It’s turned into a full-on series of The Apprentice, I think. Seriously, it’s like being on a reality TV show. Just a general feeling of being watched and compared all the time.”
“How so?” Saint shot me a confused glance as he lifted his red wine.
“Two words—Jun Park.” I wrinkled my nose a little after I said Jun’s name.
“He interested in the position, too?” Jamie spoke, and as he did, I noticed I had the sole attention of all of my brothers, which was a rare moment indeed.
“He’s my only competition.”
Saint laughed. “Man, that sounds familiar.”
I laughed a little. “Tell me about it. He was on my heels the whole way through medical school. I guess it stands to reason he’d be the one on my heels now.”
“Bad luck, though.” Grady pushed his hair from his face. “I mean, bad enough that it’s a competition, but of all the hospitals in all the world, he had to work in yours?”
“Yeah. It’s like fate or something,” Adrian added.
I blew out a quick sound of disgust. “I wish he’d find his own fate somewhere else.”
But then Adrian waved his hand dismissively, his breadstick moving through the air across his meal. “But you’ve got this. You’ve always won against Jun before. This time won’t be any different, right?”
“Right,” Saint said, his gaze locking on mine. “After all, this is Kairo we’re talking about. He doesn’t do anything half-assed or unless he can’t guarantee the outcome as perfect.”
I nodded along, falling into my usual role because that was where I was comfortable.