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“Are you sleeping over at his place?”
“Are you okay with that?” I ask instead of answering her question.
She rolls her eyes as she slides off her stool. “Of course. Plus, I have to be up early to get to the hospital.”
“Could you take an extra day off?”
“No, two weeks is even more than the hospital wanted to give me.” She goes to the fridge and pulls out a jug of water, then grabs a glass from the cupboard. Seeing the exhaustion in her features I shut my computer.
“You should go to bed.” I slide off my stool and Skye, who’s been stuck to my side like glue since Clay left, gets up and does a doggy stretch.
“I will. I’m gonna shower, then watch some TV until I pass out.”
“What’s your schedule this week?”
“Hectic.” She sighs. “Dr. Nice Bottom is taking a few days off to go golfing, so I’ll be covering his workload.”
I smile, Dr. Nice Bottom’s name is not actually that but when Leah first started working at the hospital, he came in every day wearing bicycle shorts and so that’s the nickname he was gifted.
“When is your next day off?”
“Next Monday.”
“Ewww.” My nose scrunches.
“I couldn’t agree more.” She starts to help me as I close up the containers from our dinner. “Will you be home at all this week, or have you traded me in for unlimited orgasms?”
“I love you, but orgasms are pretty amazing.”
“I bet they are.” She laughs.
“Honestly, I’m not sure what this week will look like, but I’ll definitely see you at the memorial Saturday.”
“Yes, you will.” She tips her head to the side and asks, “Is Annie coming for that?”
“No, but she’s going to do something similar with her sons and her husband.” I say quietly and she nods. “Hopefully with your sketch, Tucker and Miles will be able to find Matthew and get some answers.
“I hope so.” She walks to where I am and wraps her arms around me. “I love you.”
“Where is this coming from?” I hug her back.
“I just want you to know, you’re a great friend—the best kind of friend.”
My throat gets tight, and I squeeze my eyes closed to keep from crying. The truth is I wish I had been a better friend to Carly, that I had spent more time with her that I had gotten to know her better. But I can’t change that now. “You’re going to make me cry.”
“No crying.” She leans back to meet my eyes. “I just hope you know that you’re amazing.”
“Thanks,” I whisper, letting her go so that I can press the sleeves of my shirt into my eyes and cut off the tears.
“Now, I need to shower, and you need to go get an orgasm, and while you’re at it get one for me too.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works.” I give her a watery smile.
“Sucks that it doesn’t.” She steps out of the kitchen and stops to bend over and give Skye a rub down before looking at me. “While I’m in bed I’ll keep scrolling the site, eventually we’ll come across him.”
“I hope so,” I say, and she rubs her lips together before standing to her full height.
“I’ll see you Saturday, but if you need me, call.”
“I will. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” she calls over her shoulder, then a second later I hear her door close.
Going to my room I pack a bag with my shower stuff, something to sleep in and clothes for work tomorrow, then head out of my bedroom and grab Sky’s leash off the door handle. Once I have her hooked up, I make sure that everything is shut down, and since I can hear the shower on in Leah’s bathroom, I lock up and head out with my bag over my shoulder. When I get downstairs to the lobby, I push the door open and lead Skye over to the small grassy area that’s designated for dogs.
As I watch her sniff around, my cell starts to ring, causing a flutter to fill the pit of my stomach when I take it out of my pocket and see Clay’s name on the screen. He’s called me a lot over the last few days, way more than I expected him to, and I appreciated him putting in the effort to keep in touch. Even if we were only to talk for a couple of minutes, those couple of minutes reassured me that he was missing me as much as I was missing him.
“Hey,” I answer and can hear a shuffling sound in the background.
“Hey baby, getting off the plane now. Are you at home?”
“Not yet, I’m waiting for Skye to potty then we will be on our way.”
“All right. I need to pick up my car from valet, so you’ll probably still beat me. Did you eat?”
