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Ford sighed and held his bag out to Ashe. Ashe sniffed at him and didn’t take it from his outstretched hand.
“Come on!” Ford growled. “I have to go get all the other shit that you thought was necessary for a party that was catered.”
Ashe reluctantly plucked the dead fish from Ford’s hands and took it out the door with her, leaving us all grinning our asses off.
“You’re ridiculous,” Carolina pointed out. “There’s nothing left of her food to take. Y’all ate it all.”
We all looked to the table that’d been heaping with food when we’d arrived. It was all dwindled down to almost nothing.
The only thing left was a weird looking cheese ball.
One that looked like it’d been hacked into tiny little pieces with the pretzel sticks that were right beside it, also uneaten.
“Who brought the cheese ball?” Ford asked, poking it.
“That was Connor,” Carolina supplied from next to me. “I wouldn’t suggest eating it. I heard my mom trying to explain to him how to make it today, and it wasn’t going well. I put a note on it not to eat it, but it looks like that note is gone.”
“I can’t believe you,” Connor hissed, making Carolina jump and swing a fist at her brother.
Connor easily caught her thrown punch and pulled her into his arms, burying his face into her hair as he breathed in her ear.
“Don’t you fucking dare, Connor!” Carolina ordered sharply.
Apparently, Connor dared.
He inhaled, then licked her from ear to ear.
“You’re so fucking sick.” Carolina glared as she wiped her face off with her forearm. “I hate you.”
“You don’t hate me.” Connor chuckled as his eyes once again met mine.
I hadn’t moved from where I was standing, but my eyes had stayed on him just in case I needed to intervene.
Connor’s eyes met mine in anger, and I raised my brows and leveled him with a look that clearly said ‘I love her. I’ll protect her with my life.’
His eyelid twitched and he looked away, but I knew better than to think I won.
As we all walked out to our respective vehicles later, it wasn’t lost on me that I didn’t want to leave. Because leaving meant that I had to allow Carolina to go home.
Also, leaving meant that I had to explain.
And I didn’t want to explain.
Explaining meant that I’d have to think about the last couple of days, and I didn’t want to do that, either.
But for her, I’d do anything.
“I…” I started to say once we’d reached her car.
Only, just as I was about to invite her to come to my place, every single member of the SWAT team that wasn’t gone had their phones go off.
I pulled my phone out and went to the app that indicated we had another SWAT call. This one a continuation of the one earlier that’d been ‘de-escalated.’ Apparently, the de-escalation hadn’t been so great after all.
Her eyes met mine over the top of her car door that she’d opened as I’d read over the call.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asked hopefully.
I licked my lips. “I have to work. I’m working the night shift. Can I see you when you get off? For an hour?”
She scrunched up her nose. “That’s no fun.”
My lips curled up into a smile and I walked closer, pulling her as close as I could with the car door between us.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I whispered against her lips.
Her eyes went hot as she pulled back. “Tomorrow? You’ll do some talking?”
I laughed and jogged away. But I said over my shoulder, “I’ll do some talking.”
But it was only later that I remembered that call from Brad and listened to the voicemail, and what I heard made me even more confused.CHAPTER 14Time to sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy out of socks.-Coffee CupSAINTI was almost dreading heading over to Carolina’s house two days after the party.
It was now the seventeenth of December and my pretend birthday. I always picked out a different day to celebrate my birthday. It was usually by myself.
I’d had one hell of a day at work last night, and this morning hadn’t started off any better thanks to trying to investigate more of Brad’s cryptic ass messages.
As I pulled up in front of Carolina’s house and got out, I didn’t go to the door but to the passenger side of my cruiser.
Once there, I helped Smoke out of the truck.
Smoke looked at me pitifully.
Instead of putting him on the ground, I walked him to the front door of Carolina’s place and tapped the door with the steel toe of my booted foot.
I heard her yell ‘coming’ from somewhere deep in the house, and what distinctly felt like a pinch near the vicinity of my heart when I heard her voice had me smiling despite my shitty day.
