“A hot doctor as a boss. What could go wrong?”
Theo laughed at my words. “I mean, who knows if he gets the job, but if the doc is open-minded enough for the tattoos and stuff, then I think it might be a good place for River, especially since the first one didn’t take.”
I grimaced. The interview he’d had the other day had been a bust. The place had been old school and there had even been crosses on the walls, something that irked River to no end. I could understand. I would never trust a practice where religion was mixed with science. I wasn’t wired that way, even though I knew it probably brought comfort to a lot of people.
“I hope he gets it. He wasn’t doing well in New York. I think he got to a point where he thought he might’ve made a mistake with his career choice, as much as he loves working with people, kids especially.”
“I prefer animals to people,” Theo said dryly.
“No shit, Sherlock,” I deadpanned, making him chuckle.
We drove in silence for maybe half an hour, I zoned out until we crossed into Indiana and highway 41.
“You really don’t like the bigger roads.” I scrolled through my phone, realizing we were pretty much parallel to Interstate 65, which would’ve likely been faster.
“Nope,” Theo said. After a moment, he sighed. “About six or so years ago, we had a close call in Iowa, on the 35. It was raining and some asshole trucker thought it was fine to pass us real close and fast.”
“Oh no.” My chest constricted at the thought of Theo getting in an accident.
“We were fine, but for a moment it was touch and go, and we were so lucky that when the trailer wheels on one side came off the road, there were no animals inside.”
“Jesus,” I breathed. “For what it’s worth, I’m really glad you’re in one piece and I don’t mind the slower pace, either. My dad used to drive like a lunatic and I much prefer this.” I gestured to the road in front and how the truck was traveling at an even speed on it.
We had decided to drive to Jules’ without stopping, since it was only four hours away. Around the three-hour mark, we both needed to take a leak, but instead of stopping, we started to play random games.
“Okay, so Never Have I Ever, but we get a point whenever we’ve done something the other hasn’t.”
Theo chuckled. “All right. But I start.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Fine. Go on.”
“Never have I ever been peed on by a goat.”
I snorted. “I hate you. Fine, you get a point.” It was obvious he’d heard me complain about one of the goats peeing on my foot the other day. Damn it.
“Never have I ever been passed out drunk.”
“That’s unfair,” Theo whined. “You know I had a fucked up phase.”
“It would appear that we’re tied and neither of us is above using things we’ve heard to our advantage,” I said primly.
“Never have I ever read a book with Fabio on the cover.”
I very pointedly turned to look at him, seeing the corner of his mouth twitch.
“I hate you even more now.”
“No, you just hate losing.”
I let out an outragedmeepand punched him on the arm. Then I realized what I’d done.
“Oh my Dog, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
His laughter cut me off. “You absolutely intended to punch me.” He glanced at me, grinning widely. “Hey, at least you don’t need to pee as badly.”
I stared at him, blinking like an owl, as my brain caught up with what he was saying and my bladder decided to let me know it hadn’t been emptied yet.
“Oh, you suck.” I turned away from him, pouting as I tried to think about anything else.
