The Way I Loved You︱Open Heart AU Series ︱ Book 2 Rewrite
Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC Josie Kingsley x M!OC Jackson Montgomery
Summary: Ethan returns from the Amazon to find Josie has moved on with another. But as the cracks begin to show, some hearts refuse to hide.
Prologue | Ethan can’t stop thinking about Josie. She tempts him with reckless indulgence and she waits… for the last time.
Exile | Ethan returns from the Amazon prepared to put distance between him and Josie but finds she’s already done it, in the worst possible way.
Fine Line | Josie’s first day on the team should have been easy with Dr. Ramsey, her mentor, her superior. But every glance is Ethan.
Back To December | Ethan can’t escape thoughts of Josie. Leaving her had felt necessary but now seeing her with someone else threatens to shatter him all over again.
Dinner & Diatribes | A night meant for appearances leaves everything exposed. Josie clings to what feels safe, while Ethan carries the weight of what he wants, what he’s done, and what he’s already sacrificed.
Wrong Direction | Josie chooses the safety of Jackson’s arms, while Ethan drives into the night carrying the quiet certainty that wanting her is a loss he’s already accepted.
Motion Sickness | Josie rides along with Ethan on a case. While searching a patient’s home every moment, every slip, every glance feels heavier and charged with what they can’t say and can’t have.
Through The Dark | A patient’s sudden blindness unravels Josie and Ethan’s restraint and ignites the truths they’ve been holding back.
Hard Feelings | Josie goes behind Ethan’s back and forces the hospital to pivot, proving him wrong. What starts as a professional clash turns personal fast, blurring authority, control, and everything they refuse to name.
Dangerous Woman | Josie tests Ethan at every turn during a high stakes case. Under watchful observation, he struggles to maintain composure as authority and control begin to slip.
The Exit | While treating a patient who refuses urgency, Ethan and Josie are forced into stillness where personal history, buried tension, and unspoken truths surface.
End Game | At the Edenbrook vs Mass Kenmore softball game, the real game is played off the field. As Josie makes her move, Ethan falters, and Jackson starts to notice all isn’t what it seems.
literally what would we do without gif makers thank you gif makers THANK YOU GIFMAKERS i love nothing more than to watch a tiny moment of a scene loop over and over and over the world is so beautiful
Summary: Karaoke night at Donahue’s spirals into emotional warfare when Josie decides Ethan deserves a reminder.
Rating: Teen (a curse word or two, nothing much)
Word Count: 1.7k
A/N: l've been in such a writing slump recently, but watching Off Campus and the karaoke scene gave me some unhinged Josie inspiration lol. So this is just pure, pointless chaos because I’m still mad about the Amazon stunt which Dr Terminator got off way too lightly btw and both Josie and I will never get over it
And yes Josie’s song is absolutely You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette. My girl has a point to make lmao
Donahue’s was loud, not regular Friday night loud, not even post-shift loud. Karaoke night loud.
The crowd was still screaming when Bryce climbed off the stage after the worst rendition of ‘SexyBack’ Boston has ever seen.
“Josie!” Bryce beamed, pointing dramatically at Josie across the table. “You’re up next.”
Josie shook her head. “Oh no.”
“Oh yes.” Sienna chimed in. “Jos, you were a theatre kid. This is literally your natural habitat.”
“No.”
“Counterpoint.” Bryce pointed toward the stage. “Yes.”
“Please, we’ve all heard you sing ‘Defying Gravity’ in the shower,” Jackie added. “Nothing in this bar can scare you.”
Josie opened her mouth, fully prepared to tell them all exactly where they could shove their karaoke machine. Then she looked up. Across the bar, her eyes caught Ethan nursing a drink. The tie he’d clearly never gotten around to removing hung slightly loose around his neck, and his sleeves rolled up as though he’d come straight from the hospital.
Josie paused, a slow smile spreading across her face.
Sienna immediately frowned. “That’s the face you make before you do something.”
“What face?” Josie asked, almost innocently.
“The one that usually ends with me saying ‘in her defence, it seemed funny at the time.’”
Josie’s smile only widened as she stood up, taking the microphone out of Bryce’s hand.
The table erupted immediately. Bryce shot both arms into the air. “Yes! Atta girl!”
Elijah lifted his beer toward Josie. “No pressure, but you’re representing all of us now.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Rafael smiles. “You’ll be amazing.”
Josie flashed them one last smile before turning toward the stage. Sienna watched her go, unease twisting in her stomach. There was nothing outwardly suspicious about it. Josie looked relaxed. Happy, even. Which was exactly the problem.
Slowly, Sienna’s eyes drifted across the bar and landed on Ethan Ramsey. Then flicked back to Josie. Then back to Ethan. The karaoke screen flickered to life and her face fell as the song appeared. “No.”
“What?” Aurora asked, confused.
Sienna pointed at the screen. “She’s doing Alanis Morissette.”
Rafael frowned. “And?”
Sienna looked at Ethan. “And ‘You Oughta Know.’”
“And? It’s a good song.”
“Never mind.” Sienna sighed and reached for her drink. “I’m going to need this.”
Josie stepped into the spotlight, rolling the microphone once through her fingers. And across the room, Ethan finally looked up and immediately regretted it. Not because he wanted to look away, but because he knew he wouldn’t.
The stage lights caught in the loose, dark waves of her hair, brushing her shoulders now instead of the middle of her back. Ethan had been back from the Amazon for weeks now, and yet he still caught himself expecting it to be longer.
The leather jacket she’d arrived in had long since been abandoned at the table, leaving only dark denim, black lace and enough confidence to bring a man to his knees.
And for one brief, reckless second, Ethan forgot there was anyone else in the room.
“I want you to know,” Josie began singing, cutting cleanly through the noise of the bar. “That I’m happy for you.”
Heads turned, a laugh died halfway through, the bartender looked up, even the television above the bar suddenly seemed less interesting. It happened table by table, until most of Donahue’s was looking at Josie Kingsley.
“Damn, she’s good.” Elijah said.
“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Sienna murmured, eyes cautiously fixed on Josie.
“Is she perverted like me?” Josie sang, pointing toward Bryce with a wink. And the grin that spread across his face was immediate. “Would she go down on you in a theatre?”
Bryce let out a scream then launched himself at Rafael hard enough to nearly knock him over and laughing, he grabbed the back of Bryce’s shirt to stop them both from toppling to the floor.
Josie just grinned at them and kept singing. Within seconds she’d abandoned the centre of the stage entirely, drifting toward the nearest tables, singing directly to strangers and dragging them into the performance as though she’d known them for years.
Every table she passed seemed to come alive, strangers sang along, drinks were raised, laughter followed her through the room. By now, the entire bar was with her. Which was exactly why nobody noticed when her attention settled on one person in particular.
Josie smiled as she sang, drawing another laugh from a nearby table. Then she turned, slowly and deliberately. From the bar, Ethan’s eyes were fixed on her. And for the first time all night, Josie held his gaze and refused to look away.
“And I’m here, to remind you,” Josie continued singing, taking a step closer, the smile never leaving her face. Ethan’s eyes followed her automatically, lifting his glass up to his lips. “Of the mess you left when you went away.”
Ethan’s glass froze halfway to his lips. He exhaled slowly, all the amusement dropping from his expression because he knew exactly why she’d chosen this song now. And there was only guilt.
Josie saw every second of it. Saw the exact moment the lyric stopped being funny. Then her smile sharpened, because now she had his full attention.
Satisfied, Josie headed straight back toward her table, still singing the next line. As she passed, she hooked an arm through Sienna’s and dragged her to her feet.
Josie just shrugged with a smile, spinning Sienna in a circle and she kept singing.
Whatever remained of the group’s dignity disappeared completely. Bryce was singing, Jackie was pretending she wasn’t singing, Rafael was laughing, Aurora had given up trying to stop any of them, and Elijah was filming the whole thing as Josie continued to dance with Sienna.
The rest of the bar saw drunken karaoke, but Sienna saw psychological warfare. And Ethan was beginning to reach the same conclusion.
Which was unfortunate for him. Because Josie wasn’t finished.
She looked back over her shoulder, straight at him again. “Did you forget about me?” Her head tilted slightly. “Mr. Duplicity.”
Ethan closed his eyes briefly and pinched the bridge of his nose, reconsidering every decision that had brought him to this bar. And God help him, that damn woman knew exactly what she was doing. Worse, she knew it was working.
Sienna followed her gaze across the room where Ethan was trying very hard not to look at Josie. “Make good choices.”
“No.” Josie shook her head as the music dropped into the instrumental and spun away from Sienna before anyone could stop her and headed straight for the bar.
Ethan looked up. Their eyes met and he knew exactly where she was going. He shook his head in warning but Josie’s smile only widened as she kept walking until she stopped in front of him.
“Bad idea.” Ethan sighed.
“Probably.”
“Josie.”
“Ethan.” She teased as she stepped forward, closing the distance between them and settled between his knees.
Ethan exhaled slowly and tipped his head back for a moment before looking at her again. And Josie’s smile only widened, her gaze dropped briefly between them. His eyes followed hers and quickly shifted back slightly on the stool.
Josie’s gaze dropped to the space he’d just created, then back to his eyes. Her smile became unbearable as her eyes lit up. Reaching up, she sighed dramatically and hooked a finger through his tie and tugged.
“Still running from me, Ramsey?” She laughed, tugging him closer, leaving no space between them. And she held him there. Close enough that every breath was shared.
Ethan’s breath caught and he swallowed once, hard enough for Josie to notice. His blue eyes darkened instantly, and for a moment, the noise of the bar seemed to disappear entirely. His gaze dropping briefly to her lips before returning to her eyes.
Josie’s grin turned positively triumphant. Releasing his tie, she pressed a hand lightly against his chest and nudged him back against the bar. Laughing as she slipped from him and lifted the microphone again.
She disappeared back into the crowd. Somehow, despite the number of people between them, Ethan never lost sight of her. Or maybe she never let him. Every time he looked up, she was already looking back. The knowing smile she shot him over her shoulder made Ethan immediately reach for his drink and tip the rest of his scotch back in one go.
It didn’t help.
She was practically glowing now, entirely in her element. Josie danced backwards through the crowd, laughing as strangers joined in around her. Every cheer seemed to spark another, every laugh spreading through the crowd until the whole bar felt electric.
Josie’s eyes found Ethan’s once more, still smiling. “And every time I scratch my nails down someone else’s back, I hope you feel it.” She held his gaze. The corner of her mouth curved upward into a wicked smirk and threw the next line straight at him, half laugh, half challenge. “Well, can you feel it?”
Ethan stared at her for a long moment as she continued the song. All he could see was that damn, beautiful, infuriating smile. Then he let out a sharp laugh. Shaking his head, he lifted his empty glass toward her in acknowledgment. “Well played, Rookie.”
Josie’s grin widened instinctively.
Rookie.
Oh, how she’d missed that.
Then she laughed and turned back to the crowd before the thought could do any real damage, launching straight into the final verse.
The room exploded around her, half the bar was singing along and the other half was simply yelling. By the time the last note faded, the crowd was already cheering.
Josie handed the microphone back and hopped down from the stage, but before she could make it back to the table, an all too familiar voice stopped her.
“Kingsley.” She turned as Ethan looked at her for a long moment. “Feel better?”
“A little.”
“Good.” He nodded then started to walk away.
“Ethan.” Josie said quietly, stopping him. “I’m still pissed off with you.”
“Yeah.” For a second, something softened in his expression, then he huffed a quiet laugh. “Don’t I know it.”
A/N: Thank you for reading!
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