Dante opened the metal screen door and walked inside without knocking.He got a beer out of the fridge and sat at the table, shifting to accommodate the gun in his holster.He looked from Drew to me and back to Drew.Dramatically, he put his cuffs on the table between us.“Do I need to be the deputy or are we drinking beer?”
“Arguable on this being beer.”I held up my can.
Dante cast his eyes heavenward.“There’s nothing wrong with Blue Ribbon.”
“That’s what I said,” Drew muttered.
Dante cracked his can and took a long swig.“So, Josh, what brings you out here?”
“Aren’t you on duty?”I cast a judgmental glare at the can he sipped.
He raised his beer in a toast.“I am.I’m toning down a domestic dispute.”
“He’s got his balls in a twist because Erika prefers me,” Drew said.
“I asked Josh, not you,” Dante cut in, slipping into his officer voice, the one that made grown men behave.“How about you don’t poke the bear right now, Drew?”
“We all know whose side you’re on.”Drew tapped his fingers on the table.
Dante leaned across the table.“I’m not taking sides.I’m preventing one of you from shooting the other.”
“If we pulled guns, it might finally give you a chance to shoot someone,” Drew mumbled.
“No one’s shooting anyone.”Dante blinked slowly as if patience was draining from his soul.“Because if we do, guess who gets buried alive in paperwork?Me.And guess who cleans up the mess?Also me.And Drew, if you shoot him, you can kiss your precious vet hookup goodbye.Erika will shut down the large-animal side so fast your fingers won’t finish snapping.Hell, she might nuke the whole practice.Without Josh, she has zero reason to come back.”
“What does that mean?”I asked.
“Yeah, what the hell does that mean?”Drew echoed.
Dante lifted his beer as if making a toast.“Let’s drink.We’re not going to let a woman get between us.It’s not worth it.You both need to let her go.And if she comes back?”He took a slow sip.“She’ll let y’all know which one of you was the reason.”
ChapterEighteen
ERIKA
We’d driven all day,which gave me far too much time to replay the argument with Josh on an endless loop.I was angry that he still had the power to unravel me with one kiss, a kiss that felt nothing like any other man’s.How could I have responded to it like that after all the years of working to forget about him?I melted into him like no time had passed at all.
And yet, I was stupidly flattered that he’d been jealous at the mere idea of me and Drew.Warmed by the fact that some protective instinct over me still lived in him, buried under all that history and hurt.
That was the worst part.The warmth.Because it might just mean I wasn’t over him.
By the time the miles finally ran out, nothing in my head was resolved.If anything, the drive had only stirred everything up—anger, longing, pride, regret—until I couldn’t tell which emotion was steering anymore.
Bottom line?I was a hot, tangled mess by the time Vinny and I walked through the doors of the Philly emergency clinic at 8:15 on Sunday night.
The aroma of bloody diarrhea immediately punched me in the face.Nothing says “you’re late for work” like a full-scale fecal massacre in the lobby.
“Eww.”Vinny pinched his nose.He looked over at the six dogs waiting with their owners in the lobby.He whispered, “I think the greyhound over there took a dump in the flowerpot.Is it a real tree?”
“I think it’s a fake ficus.We better get out of here before they rope us into cleaning it up.”I led him to the back, to the shared doctors’ office.Tracker stayed right next to him, even off leash.“For now, wait here with Tracker while I figure out if it’s okay for you to stay in the break room.There’s a couch in there.”
“Am I supposed to go to school up here tomorrow?”He looked like he might throw up.
“Probably not.”I tried to figure that out in my head on the drive up, but I didn’t know the first thing about enrolling a kid in a school.I didn’t even know what school district Vinny would be in.And as for private school?I didn’t know if there was a wait list or if I could even afford it.I’d start by calling the local elementary in the morning.
“I’m hungry,” he whined.
“You slept through dinner.I’ll have something delivered, I promise.”
