Katie waved a chip at Rick. “You might be right about that. So we should just start ignoring him.”

Aubry laughed and took a sip of her cocktail. “Ignore him. Right. Good luck with that.”

“Does he quiz you when you’re working with a patient?” David asked them.

“Oh, my God,” Katie said. “All the time.” She settled into her best impression of Dr. Chen, because Katie did him best. She sat up straight in her chair and put on a sour face. “ ‘Dr. Murphy, what is the proper treatment plan for a patient presenting with acute diverticulitis?’ Keep in mind, all the while I’ve got the patient screaming in pain in the bed and I’m supposed to answer questions?”

Katie rolled her eyes. “Like I didn’t learn that during medical school? I mean come on. Ask me some hard questions.”

“He just wants us to be the best, you know.”

Katie pinned Aubry with a look. “Oh, come on. He’s a pain in the ass and I don’t think he’s busy enough. We were swamped in the ER tonight. Two car accidents with multiple injuries, two heart attacks, three fractures, multiple sutures and several gastric cases.”

“And a partridge in a pear tree,” David added.

“Exactly,” Katie said. “One would have thought he might have directed his attention to patient care instead of poking first-year questions at us like his residents were a bunch of imbeciles.”

Rick took a sip of his beer and nodded. “I’m with Katie on this. We could have used a hand, not a pop quiz.”

Aubry sighed. “Maybe you’re all right about that.” She rolled her head, trying to ease the tension in her neck. “Either way, we got through another night.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Katie said, and signaled their waitress for another round. As she did, she looked up at the bar and turned to Aubry. “Hey, Aubry, your hot baseball guy is on TV tonight.”

Aubry twisted in her chair to check out the television. “He’s not pitching. The camera just panned to him watching the game. Walter Segundo is up tonight.”

“What hot guy is that?” David asked.

“Aubry’s dating one of the players on the Rivers,” Katie said.

Aubry pinned Katie with a look before redirecting. “I’m not exactly dating him.”

“Fine. Whatever.” Katie scooped up the last of the spinach dip. “Aubry’s having sex with one of the Rivers’ players.”

“That clarifies things so nicely. Thank you so much, Katie.” Aubry shot her friend a scathing look.

Katie just grinned. “You’re welcome.”

“Which player?” Rick asked.

She hadn’t wanted anyone to know. But now they did, so she supposed there was no point in trying to hide anything. “Tucker Cassidy.”

Rick nodded. “Good pitcher. He was a great acquisition for the Rivers.”

She knew all about his acquisition, but she never told people about her father, and very few people made the connection. Katie knew, but that was about it. “Was he?”

“Yeah.” Rick went into a deep explanation of Tucker’s earned run average and his curveball while they watched the game.

“So,” David said. “Tucker Cassidy, huh? Never figured you were the type to date a baseball player.”

Aubry leaned back in her chair, so not happy to be the topic of conversation. “I never figured you were the type to date a stripper.”

David flashed a glare at Rick.

Rick raised his hand. “Don’t look at me, man. I didn’t tell her.”

David shrugged. “She’s a nice girl. Working her way through college by dancing. And I burn off steam sometimes by going to strip clubs.”

“So is it serious?” Aubry asked.

David shook his head. “Nah. She’s busy with school and I’m busy with work. We’re just having some fun together.”

“Honey, we never judge,” Katie said. “I would totally date a stripper. Of the male variety, just to be clear. And I won’t keep it a secret should that ever happen. Not that anyone can keep a secret around the hospital. It’s like gossip central, especially at the main station.”

Aubry took a look swallow of her drink. “Speaking of gossip—Rick—word’s out about you and Felicia.”

Rick gave them all a blank stare. “What about me and Felicia?”

“You’re dating Felicia?” David asked. “How come I didn’t know that?”

“Probably because you spend all your time practicing medicine instead of listening to the gossip at the main station,” Aubry said.

David nodded. “That must be.” He turned to Rick. “Felicia, huh?”

Rick shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. It’s kind of touchy since she’s one of the nurses on shift. We’ll see how it goes.”

Aubry laid her hand on his arm. “She’s amazing. Sharp, funny, gorgeous.”

Rick’s lips curved as he took a drink of his beer. “Yeah, I know.”

“Our friend might be falling in love,” Katie said with a shake of her head.

“Hey now,” Rick said. “No one said anything about love. We’re just dating.”

Katie offered up a smug smile. “And now we have confirmation.”

Aubry laughed, glad the topic of conversation had turned to someone other than her. It gave her time to glance up at the television, hoping for another glimpse of Tucker.