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I didn’t expect the conversation with Ben to be easy, but he offered all the pushback of a gentle wind. Hell, he almost seemed relieved.
Why wasn’t I relieved?
CHAPTER16
Ben
The rodents spilledout of the fireplace and into the tavern we’d found abandoned.
“Fuck,” Len swore. “Are we trapped in here?”
“I told you to leave the door open,” I shrugged as I placed another rat into the room.
“How many are there?”
“Eight.” I consulted the game guide. “Nope. Scratch that. Ten.”
“I was just checking behind the door.” Len raked his hands through his hair. “How the hell was I supposed to know we’d get overrun?”
“You suck at meta gaming.” I picked up my beer and took a pull, my eyes flitting to the actual fireplace, which roared in the living room. “It’s fine. We probably won’t die.”
Setting down the beer, I scanned ahead in the scenario and spotted the words “Rat King,” deciding to keep that bit of information to myself.
“Alright, I can’t right now. Let’s warm up that dip Millie made and deal with these things later.” Len pushed himself away from the table and crossed into the kitchen. He pre-heated the oven and set the casserole dish inside, opening a bag of chips and eating one. “Are we going to have time for a second mission?”
I shook my head. “I’d love to but I can’t. There’s a vet coming out in the morning to look around. Seven A.M.”
“Why so early?”
“She’s interviewing for Whitney’s old job with Dr. Roberts. If I had to guess, he doesn’t want her to interview here, too.”
Dr. Roberts had been inching toward retirement for decades now. Even if he wouldn’t say it aloud, he resented Whitney splitting her time between his practice and the rescue. He probably wasn’t happy that Whitney had set up a meeting between me and this new vet and I could only hope she’d be interested in the rescue.
“I can’t say I’m surprised. Who the hell would be dumb enough to get that close to wild animals?” Len smirked.
“I’m half-considering going to vet school myself. It’d probably speed up the process of finding a replacement. I don’t know what I’m going to do if Doug gets shipped out somewhere after the wedding. There’s one guy in Bangor willing to come out, but he charges nearly a thousand bucks just to get here. And my funding is going to get all messed up if I don’t have a vet. It’s just a nightmare.”
“That sounds really stressful.” Len shifted uncomfortably behind the kitchen island, eyes dipping to the oven and to the fireplace. “Do you…um…want to talk about it?”
I cocked my head, eyes narrowing in confusion. “Are you asking about what’s going on? With me?”
Len and I had formed a friendship over a natural reticence, though Len’s was borne out of a lifetime of shit luck and mine was just a personality trait. We could sit quietly for hours, splitting a six-pack and staring into the distance. We bonded over board games and beers, not feelings and check ins.
I had Thea for that.
Or rather, normally I had Thea for that.
His expression clouded. “Millie has been hounding me to be more ‘engaged’ so, fuck, I’m trying it. You can answer or not. I don’t give a shit.”
He pushed himself off the counter and opened the oven to check the still ice-cold dip.
“Sorry, I just didn’t expect that response.”
He slammed the oven closed. “Well, don’t say shit then.”
I chuckled, holding up my hands. “Okay. Relax.” I took a deep breath. Len’s face contorted into an annoyed pout. But the guy was trying, and I actually wanted to talk to someone. Someone other than Thea. “Last weekend, Thea and I slept together.”
“Okay, and…?”
