“Hey, dumbass. Answer your phone once in a while.”

“Well, look who took the time to call. Ms. Drama.”

“Up yours.”

He grinned. “We still doing breakfast?” He heard a deep voice in the background. “Auggie, are you calling from a boy’s house?”

“You are such a pain.” Auggie snickered and must have muted her phone, because after a lengthy silence, she said, “Yeah, yeah. I’m here. I’ll meet you at Roxie’s at eight-thirty.”

“Okay, I—”

She disconnected.

“Rude.” He snorted and gave himself extra time since his sister had bumped their breakfast by half an hour.

After looking over his Aunt Truth work, he emailed it off to the editor and sat back, staring at an email from a friend from the office. Ava always made him smile, the psychologist both funny and amazingly balanced with a happy home and work life. He wanted to be more like her.

Apparently, they needed him back because another of their doctors planned on a month-long vacation while their other family therapist took a much-needed break. The nice thing about working at MYM Counseling was that the staff all worked hard to be mentally healthy themselves. And they all treated each other like equals, doctors or not. Something not every clinic could brag about.

He’d interned at one place where he’d been treated like dirt because he didn’t have a DR in front of his name. But Xavier had never aspired to that much schooling. He loved what he did, helping people. And he found more value in on-the-job learning. Plus, his peers and the doctors with so much experience had been invaluable in his practice.

“I’ve got to get back to it,” he admitted aloud. Enthused about the prospect of seeing clients again instead of stressed at the thought, he knew he had taken the right amount of time to relax himself. But now he worried about work cutting into his time with Justine.

Between his stint stepping in as Aunt Truth, his new “fake” girlfriend, and jumping back to MYM, he’d have his hands full handling everything. But Xavier thrived on challenging himself. He just hoped he could convince Justine to give them a real chance after the wedding was over. What if she only wanted him for a wedding date, after which they’d go their own way?

Part of him felt saddened, another part devasted, and just a slight bit of him felt relieved. Because if she pulled away, then he wouldn’t need to deal with the eventual drama when they parted. So why did that make him mourn what he didn’t even have?

By eight forty-five, he and Auggie sat at a back booth. He waited while his sister ordered the latkes and eggs before choosing the super deluxe homefries. Their server poured them both more coffee, flipped Auggie off with a grin, then left.

“Back at ya, Hermione!” Auggie called after her.

“I thought her name was Hetty.”

“She changed it the last time we were here. Didn’t you see her name tag? Just because she’s serving you doesn’t mean she’s not a real person, Xavier.” She shook her head. “Do better, Bro.”