“Hey!” Brooke’s voice called from one floor below. “That smells delicious! You have any extra?” Her boots thudded quickly up the stairs while I watched Dean grimace at the floor and try to even his breathing.
Brooke rushed in like a hurricane, attacking the pot of spaghetti and garlic bread like devouring rains. After shoving half a stick of bread in her mouth, she looked up for the first time. Her gaze darted back and forth between Dean and me, and she lifted a single eyebrow, “Oh, am I…interrupting something?”
It wasn’t the question that made me gasp—it was the deep black and purple ring of bruises that circled her right eye.
“What happened to you?” I yelped, grabbing for her arm. A sudden, icy sweat broke out across my chest. Was she in an accident? Did she get mugged on the way home? Did she call the… I stumbled drunkenly closer to her.
She waved me away as Dean reached into the freezer for a bag of frozen peas. “It’s no big deal. Happened at work.”
That’s when it dawned on me. She wouldn’t call the police. She was the police, and this was a normal thing. “What?” I squeaked, “How?”
“It must have happened when I was trying to cuff someone. I don’t even know. You guys look sweet, though.” She smirked and swished her finger between us. “Like you’re on a date,” she said, teasingly.
Dean stiffened, like it was the worst idea he’d ever heard—a date—with me.
A sweaty, tingly feeling crept up the back of my neck and across my face. Combine that with the smell of garlic and sauce, I instantly felt sick to my stomach.
“Jeeze, Dean relax. I was just kidding,” Brooke laughed, chewing on a mouthful of pasta. She swallowed quickly, “Anyway,” she continued, looking toward me, “I need to go get crazy. Want to go out tomorrow night? Get stupid?”
“You okay?” I asked.
“Shitty day at work,” she replied, shoving another mouthful of spaghetti between her lips.
“Did they find that kid?” Dean cut in, suddenly scraping out my plate in the garbage. I didn’t even see him take it off the table.I wasn’t even done eating.
“No. And now another one is missing. So, they’re probably together. I hope they get their asses back home soon, though, so I can kick them.”
“What happened with the female prisoner?” he grumbled, low.
Her face slackened, gaze dropping low. “Baby didn’t make it.”
“Shit,” he hissed, slamming my dish noisily onto the pile of pots and pans in the sink.
She swallowed another huge bite and slid her dish in the sink next to it. “Anyway, I’m going down to sleep for a million hours. Tomorrow is my day off and tomorrow night, I am going to find oblivion. Liv, you’re coming, right? I need to meet some men and flirt and be wild. Possibly get laid.”
“You have off in the middle of the week? It’s Wednesday? Wait, hold on, what happened to your almost-serious guy?” I asked, confused.
“This week, Wednesday and Thursday are my weekends. And he’s out.”
“Out? Out where?” I asked.
“Out of the picture,” she said.
Wow. She was crappy with relationships, just like me. “Uh. Okay, I’ll come,” I said quietly.
“Good. I miss how wild you were…And, I’m out. Goodnight world,” she called as she bounced back down the stairs.
Silence settled between Dean and me after Brooke’s apartment door slammed shut. I didn’t want to look at him. I was angry he took my food away. I was angry he got all morbid and righteous on me, even if he had the right to. I kind of wanted to throw something at him. And I definitely didn’t want to sleep with him any longer.Probably tomorrow, I’d want to again, but not tonight, definitely not tonight.
Wait. Did she say a baby didn’t make it?“Did she say a baby—?”
“Do you really want to know?” he growled.
I looked at him, blinking quickly. I probably didn’t want to know. I’d probably have trouble sleeping for days if I knew.
“Don’t think about it again, and don’t ask her about it tonight either. You’re going to go out with her tomorrow?” he asked.
“Yeah, why not.There’s nothing here for me,” I said slowly, understanding completely for the very first time how different we really were. I spun on my heels to leave, taking the last bottle of wine with me.
I wasn’t going to drink it, but I sure as hell wasn’t leaving it for him.
