Saving the Doctor Pt. 08

Part 8. Confidence vs. Competence.

2 weeks later,

Chloe gave a mischievous smile at Jon's sweat covered face. Her dark eyes met his with a twinkle as they both took heaving breaths of exhaustion that mingled in the few inches between their faces.

"This too much for ya?" she whispered teasingly.

"No I got lots left in the tank. If you're hoping this is gonna ease-up you're outta luck," he muttered back between breaths with a smirk.

She smiled wide in amusement, "Not a chance. Bring it on big guy I can take it," she winked at him.

Jon shut his mouth realizing they were flirting, and backed away a bit from the volleyball net.

"Service! Match Point!"

Chloe's teammate hit the ball in a fast curving serve.

Jon backed away into position to admire Beth diving spectacularly and bumping it back to the setter, sliding across the floor like it was nothing. A set was arched up perfectly in front of the net and Jon jumped for all he was worth and spiked it, ricocheting off of someone's fingers and out to the side. The other team scrambled to keep it in play only barely getting the ball back across the net in a slow easy arch. Jenna passed it easily back to the setter, who relayed it to Ben this time. He faked out a spike and tipped it over the blockers fingers. Their player dove desperately to save it from hitting the ground, but knocked it out of bounds.

They cheered and high-fived, having tied the game to stay alive. Beth grasped his hands above her head and pecked him a quick kiss with a smile.

"You can do it," she whispered and gave him a subtle pat on the ass as he turned around to catch the ball.

It was his serve. If they got the next two points they would win.

He bounced it in front of him trying not to feel too nervous. He let out a deep breath.

The whistle blew. "Service!"

He focused his mind and tossed the ball up to give a hard overhand serve flying over the net and curving down, but maybe not far enough. His stomach sank as he watched it fly back and the other team backed away, confident that it was out.

To his relief he watched their disappointed faces as they saw it hit dead on the line. The ref pointed down to confirm the point and his team cheered.

"Ace!"

A couple of high fives and Jon caught the ball again.

One more point to win it. They had achieved a comeback from 5 points down earlier in the game. He let another breath out and bounced the ball a few times to focus again.

"Service! Match point!"

Jon put everything out of his mind except his physical movements. He tossed up the ball and hit it hard. It flew fast, just missing the top of the net and curving down. Jon honestly thought it was going too fast and probably would have been out this time, but the other team was taking no chances and a player jumped and stretched to reach it in time. The pass to the setter was off by a lot but she managed to get it up in a decent volley to their hitter who gave a surprisingly strong spike, aimed between Jon and Jenna. Jon dove without thinking and somehow managed to save it, but his lack of recent experience showed and he landed awkwardly with a hard 'bang' on his elbow afterwards. He groaned on the ground at the pain but was relieved the ball made it to their setter. The set went to Beth. Even after playing with her for 2 games already, Jon still marveled at her athleticism, as she jumped and hung high in the air and yelled out as she spiked it hard through the blockers hands.

Jon was sure that would be the game winner, but watched in disbelief as their player somehow lunged in time to dig it up and the ball almost flew into the ceiling. Their setter had to run fast to hit it back to the net, but managed to set it up perfectly. The pass had gone to Chloe, who didn't have nearly the vertical that Beth did, but managed an impressive spike nonetheless. Beth was right there though, and her block stuffed it right back into their faces bouncing off their bodies and into the net and eventually through flailing hands on to the floor.

Beth screamed out in victory and the rest of them cheered. They laughed as they all came together for a big group hug.

"Woohoo!" Jenna shouted.

"First win!" Ben exclaimed in excitement.

Beth found Jon immediately after and wrapped her arms around him for a kiss and a proud smile. She was being much more affectionate with him compared to their last game, and wondered if Chloe being there had anything to do with it. The other team was actually Beth's old team that she had left a few months ago, and he didn't blame her for relishing in the revenge-win this had turned into.

They let out a 'hip hip hooray!' and went to shake hands. Beth was in front of him in the line and he watched Chloe give her a polite 'good game' with a very neutral face, before turning to him and curving her lips into a naughty smile as his hand met hers.

"Nice work out there," she said breathily, as she let her fingers trail away. He kept a straight face as he looked away and put her out of his mind. She evidently thought she was having more of an effect on him than she was. In reality he only had eyes for one girl tonight and there was no comparison.

Beth's tight voluptuous body spun around at the end of the handshake line and looked up at him with a beautiful smile.

"You were awesome out there tonight!" she pecked him another kiss. "Now I can definitely tell you used to play a lot, you just had to brush a few cobwebs off I guess hey?"

He chuckled, "Yeah I guess. You were still the star out there. My biggest problem is keeping my eyes off you."

Beth gave his arm an affectionate squeeze. "I'm just glad we beat them, that felt so good."

She took his hand to walk back to the bench.

"Great game guys!" Jenna said. "Beth you were a machine out there."

Beth giggled, "Thanks, you guys are so fun to play with."

"I'm just glad we won a game finally, I was starting to worry," Ben chuckled.

"Oh whatever, this is only our 3rd game, and we just barely lost the last one," Ally said defensively.

She was a friend of Beth's, and she and her boyfriend Nathan rounded out their new 6 player rec-league team. It was definitely a more competitive league than he had thought, and at first he was worried about what he had roped Jenna and Ben into, but they had impressed him too, and seemed to be having a blast.

"Hey, Jeff texted me and he's still up for beer and wings tonight if you guys feel like celebrating?" Ben asked, as they gathered up their things from the bench.

"Yeah totally!" Beth said excitedly.

"Sweet," Jenna said. "We figure if we got a babysitter we might as well use her. What about you guys Ally?"

"Naw, sorry we got a ton of stuff to do, it was tricky to even make the game work. Next time though for sure, you guys have fun!" she said, with a smile as they headed off to the change rooms.

"How's the pathology department these days?" Jon asked Ben as they left the change room.

"The same," Ben chuckled. "It's extremely consistent work, that's part of why I like it."

"Fair enough," Jon laughed back. "I don't know how you do it honestly, but I can sort of appreciate that."

"I mean things change a bit, you get to see patterns of what comes in. We're getting more autopsies on younger ones these days. Mostly meth, some fentanyl. It's a shame to see."

"Ugh, yeah I know that's going around more. I've been working at the clinic at St. Augustine's a bit, for the last little while. ...like the shelter downtown, Liz Hartman runs it mainly."

"Right," Ben nodded.

The girls walked up with a wave.

"...and we see a lot of addiction issues with that stuff there, it's affecting a lot of people."

"Now I don't honestly know how you do THAT. Like I'm impressed, and it's good work you're doing, but there's no way I'd have the patience for that crowd."

"It's tougher than I remember, honestly. I did a lot of that stuff in residency, but I've had to really push myself to thicken my skin again, and stretch my comfort zone. I didn't think I'd gotten that used to middle-class suburban medicine, but it was almost a bit of a culture shock," Jon admitted with a smirk.

"You're AMAZING for it though," Beth said affectionately putting her arm around him as they walked down the hall. "They don't realize how lucky they are to have you."

Jon put an arm around her and squeezed her back happily.

"Some of them do," Jon said reassuringly. "Some just need some time. ...and some others you just can't help, but you gotta try. Sometimes they surprise you."

She squeezed him tighter, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Where are we heading then?" Jon asked, changing the subject.

"Grace said they're at the Hop'n Hammer," Jenna replied.

"Nice! Yeah it's their wing-night tonight, it's usually really good," Beth said eagerly.

"K see you guys there!"

...

Beth held his hand as she drove them to the bar.

"What was Chloe saying to you during the game there?" Beth asked offhandedly, clearly trying to keep her voice from sounding jealous.

Jon sighed, "Just teasing me that I looked exhausted. It was mostly innocent ribbing."

Beth rolled her eyes.

"But I mean, she WAS being kinda flirty about it, you're not just being paranoid," he reassured her. "She gets off on it obviously, but you've got no reason to worry Beth."

"I know," she said, almost sounding embarrassed, and squeezing his hand tighter. "She just... has a way of getting under my skin every time I see her. I hate it."

Jon caressed her hand back. "Yeah I get it. You've got more than enough reason honestly, between Jared and me and... yeah, sorry I know we've talked about this."

"It's alright," she reassured him. "I won out in the end. That's all that matters." She squeezed his hand hard and smiled at him.

"And you won tonight..." Jon said, smiling back at her admiringly.

She laughed, "Fuck, that felt SO good! I'm sorry I know I was probably getting too competitive out there, but stuffing that last one back in her face was just... ugh!"

Jon laughed, "No it was awesome, I was proud of you!"

She let out a satisfied sigh and caressed his hand in comfortable silence.

...

"Hey!!" Jeff and Grace both stood up excitedly and exchanged a round of hugs with Jon and Beth as they took their coats off and sat down at the table.

"Long time no see," Ben joked as they settled in.

The server took their drink orders right away and they perused the menu.

"So big ski weekend finally, are you guys excited?" Grace asked Jenna and Ben.

"I CANNOT fucking wait!" Jenna giggled. "I can't remember the last time we had a kid-free weekend, it's gonna be SO fun. Ben's mom was so awesome to take Ava for us."

"How old is she again?" Jon asked.

"2, she'll be 3 in May." Ben replied.

"Hey I've never seen a picture of her do you have any?" Beth asked.

"Too many," Jenna giggled. "Here," she said sliding her phone over to Beth.

"Oh my GOD she's so cute! Look at that little DRESS!" Beth gushed over the pictures.

"Hey speaking of pics you saw the ones I sent of the cabin right?" Jeff asked.

"'Cabin? More like mansion, I couldn't believe it!" Ben said.

"Where are you guys going?" Beth said, sounding intrigued.

"Silver Lake. It's a bit of a drive, but we've heard good things."

"No SHIT! I loved that place! I've only been once, but I've wanted to go back ever since. The slopes are incredible there! They even got a half-pipe!" Beth said excitedly.

"Did Jon not mention it?" Jeff asked.

Jon shrugged, "It never came up since you and me talked about it a few weeks ago. I assumed you'd filled the spot."

"No, there's still two extra rooms in the cabin-mansion." Grace said with a smile.

"They called it a 'chalet' on the website," Jeff laughed.

"Waitwaitwait, are you like, inviting us?!" Beth said, perking up excitedly.

"Yes! Jon was supposed to come from the beginning, but he had dropped out," Grace said. "You guys should totally come!"

Beth looked at Jon with wide eyes and grasped both his hands across the table.

"Baby-what-the-fuck? Why aren't we going? Come on, please!" Beth said, her voice fast and pleading. Jon couldn't help but smile at how cute she was.

"Are you sure? It'd be kinda last minute."

"Yes! Who cares? We got nothing up this weekend anyway."

"I... okay. When are you guys leaving?" Jon said, still feeling unsure.

"Friday afternoon," Jeff said. "I shortened my clinic, but if you can't move stuff around you could just meet us there later. It's like a... 3 and a half, maybe 4 hour drive."

"Oh you can free up the time, it's no problem, I'll talk to Roberta, you guys can make it work," Beth persisted excitedly.

Jon sighed and laughed, "Okay I guess we're going."

Everyone gave a cheers and a 'woohoo!' in celebration.

At the end of the night they said a friendly goodbye with another round of hugs, and Beth said she couldn't wait to see them again on Friday.

As she drove him home though she looked over at Jon holding his hand again.

"Baby it's... okay that we're going this weekend right? Like I thought you seemed kinda reluctant but I can't decide why."

"No don't worry about it I'm glad we're going, I just felt awkward cause I had backed out already, and they HAD invited me again, but it was a few weeks ago, just before we got together, and they had left it open, but I dunno... it's fine. It'll be fun."

She looked over at him unconvinced. "Look I know I've asked you this before but... are you uncomfortable with me around your friends? Cause of the age gap? ...or somethings else? Cause I swear to you I'M not, and from what I can tell they aren't either. Like, I always have fun with them, they're cool, interesting people, and they're super nice to me."

Jon sighed, knowing she'd hit the nail on the head. He was the next youngest in the group, with the rest of them spread throughout their thirties. "I know, and it's awesome to see. I guess I was just so nervous that you WOULDN'T mesh with them my brain's having a hard time accepting it."

"That's fair I guess. Just try to let it go and know that we're all good, okay babe?"

"Yeah. I'll try. Sorry Beth," he said. "Honestly this last month has just felt too good to be true, like it's too easy and there must be some kind of problem I'm missing, but I think I just have to accept that you're just that amazing and we're just that good together."

Beth ran her hand up his arm and squeezed his shoulder tightly.

There was a few seconds of silence and he heard her sniffle.

"That means a lot baby. I've felt the same way," she said, sounding choked up.

They held hands in comfortable silence.

They eventually pulled up to his house. He hadn't moved yet. Elaina hadn't been happy with the offers, and if he was honest he hadn't been either. He was content for them to bide their time at this point, feeling like he didn't fear having to see her again.

Elaina seemed to have changed, and accepted things, to his relief. She was oddly cordial and good-natured at the last meeting with the real-estate agent. She was apparently dating one of their old acquaintances from residency, and he was honestly happy for her. There didn't seem to be any tension, of any kind, when they last saw each other. He had politely declined her offer to get a coffee and have a chat, but she didn't seem offended or pushy. He suspected it was an act, but either way he was relieved she had backed off. So he told himself that he wanted to know what the house was selling for before deciding on a condo to buy, but part of him had to admit he had grown used to the house, and wasn't as eager to leave as he thought he would be.

He looked over at Beth as she stopped the car.

"Wanna come in for a bit?"

She pouted, "Only a bit?"

He laughed, "Or more than a bit."

She smiled beautifully, "Yeah."

She walked arm in arm with him down the path to the door. It was a getting a bit warmer finally in the last few days of February, but only a bit.

"I thought the hot tub might feel nice on the muscles after that game..." she said suggestively.

Jon's attention perked up. "Yes. That's a VERY good idea."

Beth giggled, "Thought you'd agree."

"Oh FUCK that's cold!" Beth whimpered cutely as she tip toed across the snow-covered deck completely naked under a towel.

Jon groaned and chuckled in agreement as he slid the door closed and followed behind her.

He drank in her incredible shape as she dropped the towel, and watched the goosebumps on her pristine, nude skin slide gracefully into the water with a moan of relief.

He set the two beers down on the snow and saw her eyes flit over his naked body as he sank in beside her with a sigh.

She immediately floated over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him and nuzzling his nose affectionately as she straddled his lap and her nipples pressed against his chest.

"Actually on second thought I don't think I need to bother keeping a swim suit here," she said slyly, cracking one of the beers and taking a sip.

He did the same and took a swig while sliding his hand down the curve of her waist and the smooth skin of her ass.

"Maybe in case we invite guests over," he shrugged.

She squinted her eyes at him and smirked. He wasn't sure if she was blushing or just warming up from the water.

"Can you massage me?" she asked.

"Sure," Jon said, moving his hands up to her breasts and squeezing and kneading into them with a smirk.

She giggled, "I mean my back and neck." She leaned down and kissed him again and then slid off of him, reaching down to tickle his already engorged cock with a smile as she turned around and slid back onto his lap.

She moaned in appreciation as he worked his fingers into her neck and shoulders, and his cock hardened against her ass.

"You know that's not the first time you've referred to this as like, OUR place," Beth said after a minute.

"Hmm?"

"Like, the way you said, 'If we invite guests over'. It just had that vibe, or am I imagining things?" she said, sounding amused.

"I mean... It's almost felt that way lately. You left a few of your things here from last weekend and I'm not sure how accidental that really was."

She giggled and pressed her ass back into him. "Was it that obvious?" she said, turning her head to smile back at him.

"I don't mind," he said, smiling back and working his hands down her back. "You're over here around half the time anyway these days."

She leaned back into him and moaned as his fingers massaged her lower back, rotating her ass against his throbbing cock.

"You're sure I'm not smothering you? Like we're not going too fast with all this?" she said, arching her back to lean her head back onto his shoulder.

"Do you think we are?" he asked, turning his head down to kiss her neck and admiring her breasts half-emerged from the steaming water.

"Mmm, I feel like I SHOULD think that, but it just feels too natural, too right. I just don't care," she said, opening her eyes and seeming to search his face.

He smiled down at her, "That's basically how I've been feeling too, honestly. It's why I've been a bit reluctant with things, like you'd noticed, but I don't really want to slow down. I feel like I SHOULD think it's crazy, but I don't."

She stretched up and kissed him, "Well I mean yeah we've only been together a month, but we've known each other for a lot longer, maybe it's not THAT crazy."

He chuckled, "Don't worry, if it is, it's a really good kind of crazy."

He slid his fingers around her waist and pulled her against his hard cock and she purred in appreciation and smiled.

"Can you do my legs too?" she whispered.

He nodded and she slid off of him and leaned back against the opposite wall of the hot tub, splaying her arms out and looking deeply into his eyes with a lustful smile as she extended a long smooth muscular leg out to him.