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“Rory?” Vivi’s voice came from behind Parker. It held annoyance but also worry in every syllable. “Is something wrong? Is Amelia okay?”
Was she? He wasn’t sure. “It’s not about her.” Not really. He didn’t need a psychologist to tell him this shit was his baggage, not hers.
Parker stepped into the hallway, turning away from him, but not before he noticed her eyes were red. Had she been crying?
Fucking Moe.
He touched her shoulder and she pulled up short, glancing back. “He’s a wanker,” Rory murmured quietly, using one of Moe’s favorite words, “but he loves you. He would do anything for you, including lay down his life to save yours. Keep that in mind when he’s being a bastard.”
Parker snorted and wiped at the corner of an eye. “Are you playing therapist?”
“The world would be in deep shit if I were,” he admitted.
Her chuckle was forced. “Unfortunately, it’s not about him.”
Roger that. Maybe Parker was doing her own soul-searching these days. He smiled at her in solidarity. It was good to know he wasn’t the only one riding the wildest roller coaster he’d ever been on. “I swear on my own grave I wasn’t spying on you.” He pointed at his temple. “I’ve got too much of my own shit going on in here at the moment to… Well, you know.”
“Don’t we all?” Parker patted his arm. “Go on in. We finished anyway.”
“If you need anything—”
She smiled. “Normally you would not be the first person I would call, but I do appreciate the offer.”
He pretended to be offended, placing a hand over his heart. “I hope I’m at least in the top five.”
She raised three fingers. “You’re after Trace and Savanah, but only because Trace and I’ve been through so much together, and well, she’s my sister.”
He winked at her, watched as she walked away, and then faced the devil glaring at him from behind her desk.
“Close the door,” Vivi ordered, motioning him forward. “Take a seat. I assume this is important.”
He did, squirming because of what he needed to ask. He gripped the armrests, forcing himself to be still.I do not squirm under any circumstance, he reminded himself.
The good doctor removed her reading glasses and tossed them on the desk. “Our session isn’t until tomorrow.”
He hadn’t even remembered. “I froze up.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “Why?” Her brows furrowed as she put two and two together. “You mean, in bed?”
He blanched. He’d always been so good at hiding things, keeping secrets. “It didn’t get that far, and please tell me that not everyone in the whole building realizes she and I were with each other last night.”
She pursed her lips, but he could see the smile in her eyes.Fuck me, they do. “Maybe you should start at the beginning,” she suggested, “and walk me through it.”
He tapped a thumb against his leg. At least his knee wasn’t swollen today. “After dinner, she had one of those hit-and-run headaches. I think she was starting to remember something and her brain must have slapped the vault shut again. I tried to get her to see Jax and she refused, but agreed to stay with me. I brought her down to Ops, and then the Ian fiasco happened, and I was trying to catch up on my work. After a bit we took a break.”
He rubbed a hand over his face, through his hair.
Vivi took out her notepad, put her reading glasses back on, and started writing. “Did she actually remember something from the mugging?”
“No.”
“Go on.”
“We were in her office and we were doing a few stretches and talking, nothing more, and then she wanted me to kiss her.”
Vivi stopped and peered over the top of her glasses at him. “And you couldn’t remember how to do that? Didn’t want to?”
Jesus, talking about this was going to kill him. He fumbled for the right words. “That’s just it, Idid. A lot. And I wanted to do more, and I think she wanted to as well, but then I started getting all up in my head. Every time I take a step forward, I have to think about my motivations, and there was no script for this. I mean, she went through a huge trauma, she has a concussion, and she’s obviously not thinking clearly.”
