“Yeah. Well, she was. She obviously had to stop when she became a supervisor herself.”
“What happened?”
Amil let out a long sigh and rested an elbow on the desk. He pressed his cheek against the back of his hand and carried on staring out the window. “There was a time when I… I was trying for promotion. Back in Falkington. I passed the exam and I was getting ready for my interview panel. I had… I had a mentor. An inspector who was supposed to support me through it all. He put up with my shitty attitude and seemed genuinely interested in developing my career, but then he?—”
Taylor’s stomach dropped at what he guessed was coming next. “He was an alpha-hole?”
“Yeah. Mistook my gratitude for romantic interest. He didn’t take it well when I told him I’m only attracted to omegas. Said I should try it with an alpha at least once, but when I said no he…” Amil squeezed his eyes shut. “Well, he made my life hell, to be honest.”
Taylor studied the back of Amil’s head, watching the way he pulled at strands of his hair with his fingers. He had red nail marks down his neck from where he’d been scratching.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Amil continued, slowly turning to face Taylor. “I was an arsehole before any of that. Never had anyfriends, and then when you came I knew I had to make sure you understood my boundaries.”
Taylor smothered a smile. “There’s putting up boundaries and there’s threatening to put someone through a windscreen, dude.”
Amil huffed out a laugh. “I know. But it worked, right? Because, no offence, you can be dumb as shit sometimes.”
Taylor nodded. “Ain’t that the fucking truth.”
Amil pressed a thumb to his top lip. “But, can I be honest?”
“Sure.”
“I was also really jealous of what you and Johnny have. The way you are together—the way you talk, the way you move around each other, just… your friendship. It’s natural, like you don’t even need to think about it. You finish each other’s sentences for God’s sake.”
Taylor shuffled in his seat. “We don’t, do we?”
“Yeah, it’s cringy as hell.”
“Wow, thatisfucking cringy.”
“Yeah, and weirdly cute.” Amil opened his mouth and made a gagging sound. “Which is why, when yesterday happened, I knew we had to get there as fast as possible, because there was a real chance you might actually kill someone. I’ve never… I’ll never have a friend like that, and if I ever want kids I’ll probably just do IVF or something because the thought of having someone inside me—” He shuddered.
Taylor studied Amil’s face, noticing the worry lines next to his eyes. Narrowing his own eyes, Taylor said, “Which inspector was it?”
Amil frowned. “Why?”
“Because although we might not be on an ‘I’d kill a man for you’ level of friendship just yet, I’d definitely shit on someone’s car.”
Amil folded his arms, giving him a bemused look. “You’re fucking disgusting, you know that?”
Taylor tipped his head. “I am well aware.”
Amil seemed to consider his offer for several moments before throwing his arms in the air and pushing out of the chair. “Look, the hedgehogs aren’t going to feed themselves. What do you say we do a few laps of the town, drop off some more grapes foryour man,then pick Wendy and Isla up for lunch.”
Taylor’s mouth split into a wide grin. “Now you’re speaking my language.”
Johnny wasn’t in his cubicle when they arrived at the hospital. His bed was there, so was the copy ofCosmo, but no Johnny. Huffing, Taylor dropped the bag of grapes and a shiny new phone onto the plastic chair and stepped back out into the medical bay.
“Sorry,” a different matron from the previous night said, turning him around and pointing towards the door. “He’s having some scans on his arm. Won’t be back for a while.”
“But you’ll call me when he’s ready, yeah?”
The matron shooed him away. “Yes!”
Taylor grunted as he stalked back across the car park and towards the patrol car.
“We’ve got a call coming in,” Amil said, carefully watching Taylor. “You’re not gonna like it.”
