I try to scratch my beard, but it pulls the line inserted on the top of my hand.Ouch.
“Uh, not really? I think I may have overreacted, if I’m honest. He kinda flirted with me, which was weird. And he apparently likes bears now.”
Ashley starts to laugh, and I pout to the extent that my puffy face will allow. “That explains why he was so eager to help. Look, just keep in mind that you and Ronan made the decision to ditch the toxic parents, to be better men, and youare. Based on what little I’ve seen, Roly’s made a similar decision to ditch his own toxic behavior, and he’s trying to be a better person.”
“But am I a bad person if I just don’t like the guy?”
She sighs and pats my shoulder. “Hon, you and I just got divorced, we just split our householdsandmoved, and you nearly died,” she says, biting her lip. “Even if he’s not the same asshole anymore, the timing of seeing him right now is gonna kick up some dander. So, no. You don’t have to like him.”
“Knock, knock, one unintentionally murderous asshole at your service,” Roly says with a nervous smile as he walks in, bearing a ridiculously huge bouquet of flowers and a clutch of balloons so numerous that he might take flight at any moment.
Roly and his fucking timing. God knows how much of that he heard.
“Where are my children? Aren’t you supposed to be taking care of them?” I say, my heart monitor starting to beep more rapidly.
He stutters for a bit and then spits out, “J-Jules and I went to Ashley’s house and, um, jumped on the trampoline with them until we’d exhausted them, so now they’re sleeping. Jules has years of experience babysitting kids. I promise, they’re in good hands.”
“Yeah, but I don’t know who she is,” I say, snapping at him.
Ashley puts her hand on my arm. “Yes, you do. Jules is Scout’s trans sister, and she looked different in high school. She’s fine to watch the kids.”
“Wait, she’s the one who likes to dress like a ’50s housewife slash sex kitten?”
“The very same.” Turning to Roly, she asks, “So, are you disappointed that you weren’t able to kill him?”God, I love my best friend.
Roly assumes a military position, arms clasped behind him, shoulders back, eyes on the ground. “I amhorrifiedthat I gave him my latte.” Looking back up at me, he pleads, “Honestly, Heav—Heath.Heath. It was a really awful mistake, and I am terribly sorry. Obviously, I’m going to insist that you send your bills to me.”
I make a grunting sound and jut my chin over to the windowsill to indicate where he can set the flowers and the armada of balloons. “For fuck’s sake, there’s a helium shortage. No one needs to deplete the helium reserves on my account.”
Roly’s mouth twitches, wanting to say more, but he stifles himself. Quietly, he drops the flowers and the balloons onto the windowsill and exits the room without any further angst.
Good. I don’t need his apology. I just need him to stay the hell out of my way.
Chapter Four
Roly
I’m super aware that Heath hates my guts, but hearing it confirmed in his voice makes my stomach flip. I swear, it’s not just about the fact that I find him ridiculously irresistible. I made a vow in the desert to be a better person, and it feels like I’m failing pretty miserably.
So, the only thing I can really do at this point is just get and stay busy. Thankfully, there’s plenty to do. I head over to the pizza shop, where Evie has a handful of pizzas ready for me to deliver to the Bluebonnet offices as soon as I can. They’re going through an audit, and that is such a pain in the ass, so I’m happy to bring them some additional sustenance.
I get there and am welcomed like a returning hero, and that’s actually pretty nice. Then, I go to the gym, where I have several training sessions, mostly with newer people. Nick’s boyfriend, Elijah, has a ton of new initiatives, and it’s fun to see how much they’ve taken off. Everybody makes fun of me because I enjoy Bear Night so much, but I love what it means, namely that there’s no right or wrong way to be a bear, just like Moms’ Night Out shows people there’s no right or wrong way to be a mom.
In a practical sense what it means is that there are more vets in the gym who look like regular, everyday people, and they usually need a bit more guidance and support. I love this because it’s why we started the gym in the first place, to have a good, safe place for vets to improve their fitness and hang out with people who understand each other.
Unfortunately, it also means that I can no longer multitask the way I could before. For instance, I could always do the books during business hours because I could work in those tasks around the people who needed help. Now, I’m pretty much busy door to door, so things like the accounting have to be done after hours. Which is difficult since most of my after hours are dedicated to the pizza shop. I know that Nick or Elijah would help me with the books, but their relationship is so new and I want to make sure that they have as much time to themselves as possible. And, yeah, at some point I should talk to Scout and Evie about their staffing situation, but… I just want to make sure they’re okay for the expansion.
Anyway, it keeps me out of trouble, which,clearly, is good for all involved.
By the time I return to the pizza shop, the dinner rush is in full swing. I sneak in under the pass-through, slide in next to Evie, and we get to work. The crotchety old Mr. Castlebridge comes in and orders his usual anchovy pizza, which thankfully I field.
“Thanks for taking Mr. C’s order. I can’t stand that man, and I can’t stand that pizza,” Evie says, knocking into my shoulder.
“No problem,prima.Happyto make sure that it doesn’t smell like burning fish in here.”
She snaps her towel at me and retorts, “I can’t be good at everything, Roly.”
I smile at one of my favorite people on the planet. “That’s why you’ve got me here.”
