“I was thinking it would be a fun third date,” I said, playing along with Asher. “We could hit up the saunas and the hot tubs at the pool. I definitely wouldn’t mind a date that involved less clothes.”
Jax shot me a look through narrowed eyes. “Basketball shorts are bad, but you want more skin. Make up your mind, Blue.”
“Oh, believe me.” I looked at him, then Asher, then him again, letting my gaze linger so they would hopefully catch the weight of my words. “I have.”
It was as I was reaching for Jax’s hand and hooking my foot around Asher’s ankle that our drinks arrived, and my phone buzzed to life in my pocket. I had it locked down in do not disturb mode, except for my boss, Rex. I always let his number ring through in case of emergency.
Oh, shit.
THIRTY
ASHER
Blue’s face fell,and he was already apologizing as he yanked his phone from his pocket.
“I’m so sorry. It’s my boss. Rex only calls me off hours if it’s a real emergency.”
“Take the call, Blue,” Jax told him, and instead of grabbing Blue’s hand, he took mine, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
Blue answered the phone in a hushed voice. “Rex? What’s going on?”
As Blue listened, his face got paler, and his expression got tighter around the mouth, then all at once he got this sad look on his face that just about broke my heart. I was nearly desperate to know what was going on, but I made myself act like an adult and wait until he was off the call before bombarding him with questions.
“What’s going on? Is everything okay? Do you have to leave?”
Blue took a breath and nodded sadly. “Rex has been called by animal control. The police have responded to a situation at ahome. I don’t know exactly what went on, but they have a lot of animals. And they’re not in the best shape.” He looked up from his phone. “I’m going to get a cab over to the clinic and help Rex prepare for the influx of animals. You two should stay here and continue as we’d planned.”
We couldn’t have our first date without Blue. We had plans. Maybe if it were down the road, somewhere in the future, I wouldn’t mind if plans had to change and one of us had to step away for whatever reason, but not the first date. It was both of them or neither of them.
“No,” I said, sounding a lot less hysterical than I felt. Go me. I looked at Blue and plucked the phone out of his hands. Setting it aside, I grabbed both his hands in mine. “We’re not having our first date without you.”
“I can’t stay. Rex—all those animals—they need me.”
I glanced over at Jax, who I think must have read my mind, because when I raised my eyebrow, he seemed to understand what I was silently trying to convey.
“We can do this another time, Blue. At least let us drive you to the clinic. Ash and I will find some other way to occupy our time.”
I could have asked what he meant, but I wanted to trust that we were on the same page, so I stayed quiet instead. Andy chose that moment to return and Jax took control of the situation.
“We’ve had an emergency come up, and we won’t be able to stay.” Jax pulled some money out of his wallet and handed it to Andy. “That’s for our drinks and the trouble.”
“Is there anything I can do?” Andy asked, looking at us for signs of distress.
“No, but thank you,” Jax replied. “You have a good evening.”
Blue was already on his feet, and we followed him through the restaurant out to the car. He climbed into the front seatwithout argument, and the minute the car was in motion, he was apologizing again.
“I’m sorry I ruined our date.”
I hated how upset he sounded. “You didn’t ruin anything. I think it says a lot about the kind of person you are that you will drop everything for something you care about.”
I was sitting behind Jax, who was driving, so I could see Blue. He looked genuinely upset he had to bail on our date, but I understood. And so did Jax. Some things were more important than dinner dates. Like tiny, defenseless animals.
“Did Rex say how many animals to expect?” Jax asked, like he was reading my mind.
“He doesn’t know for sure because they don’t know for sure. The property they’re at is a rescue someone was running on their own.” Blue let out a sigh that sounded like it came from the depth of despair. “People mean well, but they bite off more than they can chew. Or sometimes they start small, but people who don’t want to drop their animals off at a real shelter will take advantage. And before they know what’s happening, they’re the hot new place to dump unwanted animals.”
I didn’t bring up my plan on purpose because I didn’t want Blue to have time to argue about it or try and talk me out of it. And I had a good feeling that Jax would be on board, but just in case he wasn’t, I didn’t want him to feel pressured into doing anything that he didn’t want to do.
