“To not getting killed,” Chaz and I repeated before we laughed.
“I was kind of hoping you were going to say something about getting laid,” Chaz told her. “It’s been a long dry spell for all of us.”
“You got that right,” Mere agreed.
I didn’t dare say a word, choosing to keep forking savory food into my mouth. Apparently, my silence spoke volumes because I could feel their intense focus on me right then. I risked a glance at their faces and wished I hadn’t. I could feel my face starting to turn red like it had when I nearly bowled the lady over at the pet store.
“Is there something you want to share with us?” Chaz asked primly.
“No,” I said around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.
“Oh, I think there is,” Mere commented. “That is the face of a man who’s been keeping a secret from his so-called best friends.”
“I agree, Mere,” Chaz said, a bright smile spreading across his face. “I think he wants to confess that he’s doing it with the detective.”
“Doing it?” Meredith repeated his phrase questioningly. “No, that sexy hunk of man meat doesn’t ‘do it,’” she told Chaz and then turned her shrewd gaze on me. “Honey, tell us the truth. You got your freak on with that detective, didn’t you?”
I was busted; I knew it and they did too. The arrogant smiles they wore on their faces told me so. I neither confirmed nor denied their accusation. I wasn’t sure I could if I wanted to since it felt like the last forkful of mashed potatoes was stuck in my throat. I reached for my wine glass and gulped down half of the glass.
Meredith leaned over and placed her elbows on the table. “It was good, right?” I knew she was talking about the sex I had with Detective Hot Lips and not the damn wine I just chugged.
“Soooooo good,” I admitted, but then added, “which is why it can’t ever happen again.” And I meant it.
Meredith and Chaz looked at each other and then burst into raucous laughter. They laughed so hard they had tears running down their faces. I debated spitting in their pudding when I served it, but even I couldn’t be so cruel.
“Twenty bucks says he holds out for two weeks,” Chaz said.
“I got fifty that he doesn’t make it past another week,” Meredith said.
“Fuck you both,” I replied but couldn’t keep a smile off my face. I thought about betting with them, but then my mind conjured up a memory of the way Gabe looked in the pet store as he fretted about making the right purchases for his new furry friend, Buddy, and wasn’t so sure I could resist him if I found myself alone with him again. Instead of placing a bet, I looked at them and said, “Traitors.”
AS COLD AS ITwas, it didn’t take Buddy long to go outside and do his business before he wanted back in the house. When I first rented the house on Jasper Street, I liked the fenced-in back yard but didn’t really think I’d have a need for it beyond keeping people out of my yard. Well, I was pretty damn grateful for it on my second morning as a dog owner when there was frost on the ground. I was able to let Buddy out to do his business while watching him through the windowpane on my back door and drinking coffee. He was safe in his fenced-in back yard and I was warm.
I knew it was cowardly, but I still hadn’t adjusted to the colder weather in the Midwest after living there for two years. I was a Florida boy, born and raised. Kyle had gone to graduate school for veterinary medicine at the University of Florida and then had stayed there to work. It wasn’t until his grandfather announced his retirement that Kyle decided to move back to Ohio. Looking back, it was probably his way of trying to break things off with me. Back then, I thought he was happy I was moving with him, but it didn’t take me long to realize I had been wrong.
As much as I disliked the cold weather, Josh appeared to embrace it. It was pretty pathetic that I timed my dog doody supervision at the same time that he would run by my home. It wasn’t hard to time because the guy was like clockwork. He ran by my house at the same time on the days he ran, regardless of the weather conditions outside. To say he had me tied in knots was putting it mildly. What was more pathetic was me pressing my nose to the window to get a better view as he ran along the chain-link fence. Cold glass and hot breath equaled a steamed-up window so I had to wipe off the glass with the sleeve of my navy dress shirt.At least I wasn’t drawing fucking hearts in the condensation.
I had noticed him jogging by before and even admired the way his legs looked in the shorts he wore during warm months or the running tights he wore in the cold months. What was equally as predictable as the time he would run was that whatever ensemble he wore would be bright and captivating. That morning was no different. His jacket was neon orange and his running tights were dark gray with ribbons of that same neon orange running up the leg of his tights, which made his legs look even longer.
Woof! Woof!Buddy’s bark grabbed my attention and I realized that Josh had already passed by and I was still staring out the window like a lovesick fool. I shook my head in frustration and let my new bestie in the door. I looked at my watch and saw it was almost time for me to leave. Whoever invented remote start, heated steering wheels and leather seats for cars were some of my favorite people. A garage didn’t come with my rental house, but those three modern conveniences at my fingertips made the loss bearable.
Most garages in the neighborhood were only large enough for one car, if that. Had there been a garage on the property, it would be occupied by my 1970 Dodge Charger I affectionately named Charlotte. Instead, Charlotte was stored in a rental unit not too far out of town.
After clicking my car on, I put up the dog gate so that Buddy would stay in the kitchen with his new fluffy dog bed, toys, and his food and water bowls. Brook recommended that I confine Buddy to one room rather than a crate to see how he did. It was obvious he was no longer a puppy; I hoped he had outgrown his instincts to destroy. Could I be so lucky? I’d see how he did for a week and then I’d risk letting him have the full run of the house.
I squatted down to give him a good ear scratching and tried to ignore the tug at my heart when I saw sadness in his eyes that I was leaving. In such a short time, he’d become my dog and I honestly hoped his former owners didn’t call and claim him. If so, I’d have to give him back no matter how much I didn’t like it. I tried to assure Buddy I’d be back and then I forced myself to leave or I’d never do it. Hell, I wasn’t even to my car yet and I was already looking forward to returning home and spending time with him.
I figured that must be what a happy relationship felt like. Adrian always looked forward to heading home to Sally Ann each day. I think I would’ve felt the same about heading home to Kyle in the beginning, but our careers had us home at different times from the very start. Other couples seemed to make that work, but we didn’t. I stopped feeling sad about the end of our relationship quite some time ago, but I still carried doubts that I had what it took to be in a happy, healthy relationship.
I got another glimpse of Josh as he turned a corner a few blocks down heading in the opposite direction from the way I needed to turn. Thoughts of my failed past with Kyle disappeared and were replaced with very indecent ones of Josh. That afternoon we spent together ended quicker than I had hoped and I sure as hell didn’t like waking up to find that he had left without a goodbye. I liked even less hearing that he thought it was a mistake when I thought it was the best thing to happen to me in ages.
He seemed to be thawing out towards me a bit. The look in his eyes at the pet store was nothing like the distant one I had become used to receiving from him. I wanted to think it was progress and that there was a tiny sliver of hope that just maybe I’d get a chance with him – not just for sex either. That aloofness he wrapped around him like a cloak intrigued me and I wanted to know what made him tick. I got a glimpse of the vulnerabilities he hid beneath his confident veneer when the alcohol loosened his tongue at Vibe.
My goals for the week were to wrap up the Georgia Beaumont case and then I could see just how thawed toward me Josh had become. Well, those plans crashed and burned as soon as the M.E. report landed on my desk not ten minutes after I arrived. It wasn’t the pathology or lab reports that shocked me to the core, it was a photo of the scissors that had been removed from Georgia’s neck once she arrived at the morgue. At first glance, they appeared to be a regular pair of sheers that a hair stylist would use. It was exactly what was discussed at the crime scene, so having that confirmed wasn’t the problem. No, it was the engraved name on the scissors that made me feel like I could vomit.
I couldn’t help but reach out and touch the photo, my finger tracing over the letters that spelledJazz.It didn’t matter that I knew in my gut – my heart – that he wasn’t a killer. I had to take this seriously and do my job, which meant we had to bring him in for formal questioning on video.
“Fuck,” I said beneath my breath. “Just fucking great.”
