“Forker,” I say. “Don’t call me that. Please.”
Her face softens with realization. It sounds wrong when she says it. Can’t explain why.
“Sorry.” She reaches over to pat my arm. “Carter. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone respected the boundaries we set regarding nicknames?”
I bite back a smile. “But ‘Red’ suits you.”
“The whole world calls you ‘Forker’.”
I let go of her hand and say the first thing that pops into my mind without taking a second to consider censoring myself. “You aren’t the whole world, Red.”
Her face breaks into a smile, but she shoots me a look of warning before I can read too much into that reaction. With another pat to the arm, she strolls through the crowd to our booth, where Sweets is waiting for us, and I watch her go. The whole way.
The whole fucking way.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
arden
I spendmy whole shift the next day filling Whitney and Autumn in on my date with Carter. They listen with eyes full of wonder and enormous smiles. I almost feel bad for lying to them, but then I remind myself it’s not a total lie. Iamgoing on dates with him. Wearespending time together. When I tell them how good of a kisser he is, I’m being honest.
I’m not going to tellhimthat, though. Never.
When I leave the hospital, exhausted and starving, I spot a familiar squad car parked outside the staff parking lot instead of outside the ER, where it usually is.
Noah is leaning against the passenger’s side door in full uniform. There was a time when I used to think he was cute, but after far too many years and way too many patients in cuffs passing through this hospital, I can’t see him in any other light besides friendship anymore.
I slow, smiling gently up at him. “Wrong side of the lot, Copper.”
He grins, thumbs hooked under his vest, and shrugs. “Susie told me you were on your way out.”
“Susie needs to learn about confidentiality.”
His smile only grows. “Susie is a sucker for a man in uniform.”
She’s a sucker for a good looking man, period. Carter was in a basic, humble outfit, and still, Susie was swapping my secrets for some smiles and smooth talking. Noah’s dark, tousled fade and clean face has always put him in Susie’s good books.
“What’s up?” I ask, because I’m tired and I want to go home and lay on the couch until I melt into it, but it’s very clear he’s been waiting for me.
His smile falters, dark eyes studying my face. “What’s up with you and Forkerro?”
“We’re seeing each other,” I say, letting that lie flow off my tongue easily. “Dating, I guess.”
“So, he’s…your boyfriend?” Noah asks slowly.
I suddenly feel like I should be in the back of his squad car, answering his questions through the grill that divides the seats. He’s looking at me like he already knows answers to questions he hasn’t yet asked, and it makes me oddly uncomfortable. I’m not one of his perps, and he isn’t allowed to scrutinize me like I am one.
“Looks like it.”
Noah stares at me for a second longer. He nods and then turns, opening the door to his cruiser. He pulls out a folder. Bland, brown, and no identifying information on it. There’s a second where he seems to debate whether this is a good idea, but reluctantly, he passes it to me anyway.
“What’s this?” I ask as I reach for it.
“Information,” he says. “After that night atIcebox, I ran a background check on Forkerro.”
My fingers tighten on the folder.
He holds up his hand before I can tell him off. “The guy isdangerous, Dolly. He’s got a few screws loose, at best. He’s going to kill someone someday, at worst. I didn’t mind when he was just knocking a little shithead around for touching you, but that was when you told me you two weren’t dating.”
