She was waiting for him at the locker room, visibly annoyed. "What's your problem, George? You've been avoiding me the whole day."

George opened his locker tentatively, then sat down on the bench. "Everybody saw you at the bar with Sloan last night."

"Yeah, I bought him a drink. So what?" Izzie shrugged her shoulders.

"You," George started, looking down on his shoes "started to get drunk. We were on call last night and were paged to come to the hospital so Mer and I left you with Sloan. He took you home, right?" He was hinting at something.

"Can I tell you a secret?" There was the look, the look after The Beast had been fed. A pleading look of the can-I-tell-you-since-you're-my-best friend kind.

George looked at her, dreading the worst. "You did, didn't you?" He faced Izzie, straddling the bench. "Did he take you to his hotel room?"

As if on cue, Cristina and Meredith entered the locker room. "Ooh. Izzie and McSteamy!" Cristina began unlacing her rubber shoe. "So did he?"

Izzie blew out some air in revulsion. I knew I hoped too much in keeping this a secret. "Okay, to set the record straight I brought McSteamy home to the house and did the McDeed. Happy now?"

"Aww, I lost my twenty bucks!" Alex came around the other side of the lockers. He handed over his twenty to George. "I can't believe you won, O'Malley."

"George!" was Izzie's outcry. "You guys made a bet about me sleeping with Sloan?!"

Nonchalantly, Cristina got another twenty-dollar bill Meredith handed her, added her own bill, and gave these to George who was too ashamed to look at Izzie. She sat down and snorted. "Yeah. I didn't know Bambi here would win."

Izzie's hands were on her hips. She was looking down at George who was still seated on the bench, his head bowed. "You placed a bet that I would bring McSteamy home?! You knew I couldn't stand being alone with that guy for five minutes!"

George looked up, stammered. "Honestly, I placed a bet on you that Sloan won't be able to convince you to go back to his hotel room." He pointed at Cristina. "She started it!"

Cristina mimicked what George said in a shrilly voice and slammed her locker shut. "Well, sore winner. You didn't specify that. Although we," she gestured towards Meredith and Alex, "thought you meant that Izzie would be able to resist McSteamy, you still win because McSteamy didn't get to bring Izzie back to his hotel room."

"Seriously!" Izzie stormed out of the locker room.

Taking a bite of his apple, Alex looked at Cristina, who shrugged at Meredith, who patted George's shoulder.

"What's the big fuss? So she fed The Beast?" Alex lied down on the bench, still munching on his apple.

"Because of all people, she did it with the one person she hated most," George replied.

Meredith frowned slightly. "You know what they say about 'hating' someone. It means Izzie feels something strongly for Sloan."

Cristina's eyes bulged out and made a silent "Oh."

"Okay," George interrupted their train of thought. "Not hate, but rather dislike."

"Alcohol takes away inhibition," Alex supplied. "Izzie must've been attracted to Sloan but, to use O'Malley's term, she just dislikes him because he is an ass."

Meredith and Cristina laughed out loud. Meredith pointed an accusing finger at Alex. "Speak for yourself, Alex."

"He is an ass but he is the best there is in his field," Alex stated. "And I do not normally say this but the dude's a man's man, you know. He's has his way with the women, has talented hands, and seriously loaded." Alex looked contented and wondered out loud. "I think I have the makings of becoming a 'Sloan' myself." He gestured with his hand. "Anyway, so when Izzie got drunk, her restraint vanished, and she took him home. Women usually do that to me."

Cristina seconded but ignored Alex's last remark. "Probably seduced McSteamy even." She wrinkled her nose. "Eew. I can't imagine Izzie seducing someone."

"Isn't that great, George," Meredith said happily. "I was getting worried about Izzie, you know. At least, this would take her mind off things for a while."

George was unconvinced. "Or maybe even digging a deeper hole for herself."

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And the winner is…(drum roll) O'Malley!

Wondering what Mark told Izzie? Up next!

Thanks for your very generous reviews! Happy holidays!