“Sorry,” I said on a sigh. “Just on edge.”
“I get it.” She smiled. “Men’ll do that to you.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” I retorted just as our receptionist, Jennifer, walked in.
The rest of the morning continued without incident, but that should have been an indication of how my afternoon was going to go. It had been way too easy.
“Katie, emergency in exam room one,” Jennifer said. “They didn’t give me a name.”
I nodded. This wasn’t unusual. It was how Gina had set up her practice long ago. We treatedbikers, after all. Everyone was welcome and they didn’t have to give a name, and when we hired people, we trained them to know that.
“Thanks, Jenn,” I said and after grabbing the file, headed into the room.
I squirted sanitizer into my hands and closed the door, then looked up and froze.
“Hey, beautiful,” Rooster said with a grin from his place on the end of the clinic bed.
“Uh, no.”
I turned to leave, but he said, “Wait, I’ve got a pretty nasty burn. Are you really going to leave me here without treating me?”
I faced him again and frowned. “How did you get a burn?”
He rolled up his sleeve and exposed his forearm, pulling away the bandage to reveal he did, in fact, have a burn, although, it was minor. I leaned in for a closer inspection and then grabbed gloves and slid them on. “Rooster, what happened?”
“Hot pipe got me.”
“Of your bike?” I squeaked.
“Yeah.”
“How the hell did your pipes even get you?” I demanded. “I would understand a brand new rider might catch their leg, but how the hell did your arm get anywhere near your pipes?” He didn’t answer me right away, so I met his eyes. “Kam? How did your arm get burned?”
“Your mom said—”
“You talked to my mother? When?”
“On Saturday.” He sighed. “I needed a reason to see you.”
“You did this onpurpose?”
He at least had the good sense to look contrite. “It’s a first-degree burn, no biggie.”
“Beckham Walter Cahill, you are the dumbest fucking dumb fuck on the planet,” I hissed, grabbing a few things in order to clean and treat the burn.
His good arm snaked out to grab me gently and pull me to him. “You’ve been ghosting me.”
“Doesn’t feel good, does it?” I hissed. “Let me go.”
He sighed, but he did release me. “Please, honey, will you just talk to me?”
“Stop squirming so I can treat your arm.” I looked at him. “Or should I go get Gina to do it?”
Looking at him was a rookie mistake because he managed to put all of his love and affection in his eyes as he stared back at me.
“I’d like you to talk to me, Katie. The burn’s gonna heal on its own and you know it.”
I focused back on his arm. “I can’t.”
