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“No.” I snarl at him.
He smiles. “Yes, you are.” He hands the file back to me. “I won’t be the one to stand in the way of true love.”
“We’re not in love, Mitch. I don’t think we’re even friends anymore.”
He smiles at me. “If that man isn’t in love with you, then I’ll turn in my bro club membership card. Just go talk to him. He’s being a jerk. Call him on it.”
I take my file and leave Mitch’s office.Bro club? Men are so dumb.
Mitch is right about one thing though. Link is being a jerk and I need to confront him about it.
I go to the precinct and I’m there an hour without running into Link. He must be on a call, and I’m relieved. But that doesn’t let him off the hook. I’ll go to his house tonight if I have to. As I’m leaving the building, I hear a dog barking and I turn to see Rosie and Link coming down the sidewalk.
I smile at them and wait for Link to approach. He nods. “Hey.”
“Hello, stranger.” I rub Rosie’s ears.
“I’m not avoiding you. I’ve just been busy.”
“Yeah. Me too. Can you spare five minutes to take a quick walk with me?”
He sighs and looks at Rosie. “I guess Rosie could use a walk.”
There’s a small park next to the police station and we start walking toward it. “Just talk to me, Link. What’s going on?”
He takes a moment to answer. “The reunion. I let things go too far and I don’t know how to walk it back to how it used to be.”
I glance at him. “Do you want it to go back to how it used to be?”
“I miss my friend.”
“I’m still your friend, Link. I’ll always be your friend. No matter what.”
He motions at a bench. “Can we sit?”
I nod and we both sit on the bench, leaving a foot of space between us. I turn and look at him. “If you don’t want to continue what we started the other night. I can live with that. But you need to tell me why. Because I thought it was pretty special. And I don’t think I was the only one.”
“It was. It was…great. And that’s the problem.”
“Why is that a problem?”
He stands and moves a few feet away from the bench. “Because I’m me and you’re you. And you deserve so much better than getting involved with a cop.”
I study him for a moment. “So it’s about my rule?”
“Yeah. But it’s more than that. Cops make terrible boyfriends and worse husbands. I can’t do that to you.”
I stand and go to him. “That may be generally true. It comes with the job and I understand that. But I know you. I’ve known you since I was ten. And I know you wouldn’t let your job interfere with whatever we have going on. Our…friendship and whatever feelings we may share are stronger than the pressures of your job. I truly believe that together, we can handle anything.”
He looks at me for a moment and I think he’s going to give in, but then he looks away and takes a step back. “It’s not fair to you.”
Now he’s making me mad. “And why does it get to be your decision to make? It’s my life, my choice. If I choose to be with you, then that’s on me.”
He finally smiles. “You’re mad at me. I love it when you’re mad at me. It makes your freckles stand out.”
I back away from him. “You don’t get to be cute now. That’s not going to save you.”
He loses his smile. “I’m not trying to be cute. I miss you, Lyssie. And I want to continue being your friend because I can’t imagine getting through a week without harassing you and being harassed by you. But I can’t in good conscience be more than that. Will you be my friend? I’ll be devastated if I messed that up.”
