Chapter 2 OR YOUR VIRGINITY...

LILY'S POV

"Are you okay?"

Jean touches my arm softly, but it's enough to make me jump in surprise. She gives me a mischievous grin when I turn to look at her. "I love when I accidentally manage to prank you. I wasn't even trying."

I shoot her a dirty look. I'm not in the mood for any of her shenanigans today. Don't get me wrong, I love how fun Jean is. That's why we hang out a lot since we were in nursing school together, and also why we decided to get an apartment together.

Turns out she sucks as a roommate; she's messy, loud, and makes a habit of bringing home men into her room-a different one every weekend.

But she's my best friend, and my surrogate family. The only family I have, other than Jason.

"What happened? You look like you want to stab those potatoes to death." Jean drops her plastic tray on the table and pulls out the chair across from me, the metal legs dragging noisily against the tiled floor.

She ignores the annoyed stares of other hospital workers around us in the cafeteria.

"An asshole happened," I say curtly as I impale another piece of potato with my fork and put it in my mouth.

"Oh, that's right. I heard you met Damien Anderson."

"Yeah." I'm not surprised Jean knows his name. Apparently, I'm the only person in the entire hospital who hadn't heard about that guy.

Damien Anderson, everybody says, his name always mentioned in full and in a voice full of admiration.

"Tell me all about it." Jean picks up her ham and cheese sandwich and looks at me with anticipation.

"There's nothing to tell. An asshole came. He was rude. That's all."

"Damn. Everybody else is raving about how hot he is and how lucky you are to have talked to him. And here you are, acting like it was nothing."

"It was nothing." I shrug.

"Yeah, sure. That's why you're fuming. Because it was nothing." Jean takes a big bite of her sandwich and raises her eyebrows.

"Okay, fine. It wasn't nothing. He was condescending and entitled. He acted like he's superior. He treated me like an idiot." The red-hot anger in my chest flares up again, the fire kindled by Jean's comment.

Now I remember all the infuriating things he said, the words I've been trying to forget all day. Good girl. Like I'm his damn dog.

"Well, he is superior, if you think about it. Let's see. Damien Anderson is rich, hot, and he practically holds Dr. James' balls in his hands. In what way is he not superior?"

"Why would he have Dr. James'... Why would he have anything to do with Dr. James?"

"Oh, Lily. You sweet summer child. You can't even say balls." Jean grins. "It's not even technically a bad word. Even kids say balls all the time. Hell, they play with balls."

I grimace. "That's...disturbing."

"What? That kids play with balls?" The grin on Jean's face widens.

"You know exactly what I mean."

"Oh, Lily!" Jean gasps and places a hand over her mouth.

"Honestly, that is nasty. Get your mind out of the gutter, young lady." I give Jean a flat stare. With impatience, I ask, "What's the connection between the Chief of Medicine and the asshole?"

"You're no fun today." Jean sighs. In a low, gossipy tone, she says, "The hospital got into big debt when we built the new wing, which was Dr. James' idea. We almost had to abandon the project halfway through because the construction ended up costing way more than expected. The Anderson family bailed us out."

"That's crazy, that a family can be that rich."

"Right?"

I nod. "I feel bad for Dr. James now." I know how it feels to be chained down by debt and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

"Why? It's not like he has to pay them back. They saved his ass."

"Yeah. And now they own his ass." I know how debts work. They're never free.

"I guess," Jean admits.

"But all he has to do is give them preferential treatment occasionally, when they need medical attention. It's a small price to pay for a new hospital wing, don't you think?"

"No, he just sold the dignity of the entire hospital. Now we have to do what they say, no matter how crazy the request, or how rude they are."

Jean narrows her eyes at me. "What exactly did Damien Anderson ask you to do?"

I pause, hesitant. I know Jean's not going to get it. She had to be there to see it for herself to get it. "He skipped the line, and he wanted me to call someone who's in charge," I say.

"That's it? Jesus, the way you act, I thought he wanted your firstborn." Jean breaks into another grin and adds, "Or your virginity."

"Hey! Not so loud." I look around to check that nobody's heard what Jean has just said. I'm already twenty-one, and it's embarrassing that I'm still a virgin. I feel like people would treat me differently if they knew.

"Word on the street is, Damien Anderson is an absolute beast in bed. He knows what he's doing, if you know what I mean." Jean moves her eyebrows up and down to emphasize her point. She takes a deep breath, stares into the distance, and lets out a dreamy sigh.

"Oh, what I wouldn't give to have my first time be with a guy like Damien Anderson." I roll my eyes.

"That ship has sailed, a long time ago."

"Ouch!" Jean winces and looks me in the eyes.

"Words hurt, Lily."

It's my turn to grin. I don't know when it happened, but talking to Jean has cheered me up after all.

I still hate Damien Anderson's guts, but now I'm mostly wondering how nice it would be to have that kind of money.

"God, the number of problems I could solve if I just had enough money..."