Blue nodded when he saw how serious I was. Once my shirt was buttoned, I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight. He hugged me back like he was trying to smash all my pieces back together. Honestly, I could use a million more hugs just like it and pulling away was almost impossible.
“Are you sure? Because you can stay.”
“I’m sure. The offer is appreciated, but I’ll be okay. But hey, if you happen to know any single men who aren’t closeted assholes and who don’t hate sex workers, let me know.” The bar was on the floor. In Hell.
The lowest point of the whole night was getting home to Gumball and having no missed calls on my phone. No text messages from Darren begging me to reconsider. It was clear to me that Darren never gave a single shit about me.
I sat on the floor and Gumball came ambling over and he draped himself across my lap. Then opened his mouth and started to pant.
“You’re so fucking weird, Gumball. But you managed to find someone to love you, so maybe there’s hope for me yet. What do you think?”
Gumball kept his thoughts to himself. Asshole.
THREE
REX
“Tryto keep him calm and quiet for a few days so his sutures can heal.”
Tom, the owner of a beautiful but crazy Boxer puppy rolled his eyes. “Are you going to provide the tranquilizers? I don’t think Brutus knows what calm means.”
“He’ll be okay. He’s a good boy, aren’t you, Brutus?” I took Brutus’s head in my hands and gave him a good scratch. He had been in for a routine neutering, but Tom had a lot of anxiety about the health of his dog, and he’d insisted on speaking to me when he picked Brutus up, even though that was normally handled by the techs.
I didn’t mind, though. Brutus was a good boy.
“If he licks his sutures, you’ll have to put the collar on him, but he should heal up just fine and be back to his normal self in a week or so. If you have any concerns, feel free to call.”
“I will, thank you, Rex.”
After shaking Tom’s hand, I made my excuses and left the room. It was nearing the end of the day, and I still had a fewmore patients to see before I would be able to go home to my own pets. Except for Donut, an older, slightly fatter orange cat who lived at the office. He was unflappable. Calm in every situation, unbothered by dogs or other cats. He didn’t care about birds or other pets people would bring in. And when he wasn’t following me from room to room, he was up front sitting on the reception desk, overlooking his kingdom.
Blue popped his head around the corner and got my attention. “Rex, your brother is here? He insisted on speaking with you.”
I tried not to sigh, but Blue saw right through me. “I can tell him you’re busy.”
“It’s fine. Nigel is stubborn, and he’ll just wait around.” Pasting on my best fake smile, I stepped out into the front. Nigel turned when I entered, and I looked around him for any sign of my ex.
“I’ve told you a thousand times, Nigel, I’m a vet. If you have a weird rash, go see a people doctor.”
“Oh, fuck you.” Nigel grinned at me and thrust an envelope into my hand. “I wanted to hand deliver the invitation to my wedding, in front of witnesses, at your office so they know that you’re going to need to actually take a weekend off.”
“I’m not that bad.” I took the envelope and popped the seal. The wedding was taking place in a couple of months at a small lake town a few hours northwest of here. “This explains why you said weekend.”
“It’s going to be a small wedding, but it’s going to be amazing.”
“You could always elope. Just you and the fiance and a couple of witnesses?” I had to try, even though I knew from the look on his face that elopement wasn’t on the agenda.
“I know you, Rex. If I eloped, I wouldn’t get to meet your boyfriend.” Nigel looked like he wanted to say something elsebut his phone rang and he glanced at the screen. He was a real estate agent and was nearly always glued to his phone. “It’s one of my clients. I have to take this, but I’ll talk to you soon.” Nigel answered the call and stepped outside, and I retreated to the back.
When I rounded the corner, I nearly slammed into Blue, who took the invitation from me and looked at the date.
“I’ll make sure to touch base with one of the other clinics so they’ll have their emergency lines open that weekend instead of relying on you to cover everything all the time.” He handed the invitation back to me. “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”
I let out a groan and stuffed the envelope into my back pocket. “I don’t. It’s a whole fucking mess.”
“Tell me about it while we have a look at those stray kittens the shelter brought in for evaluation.” Blue led me into an exam room where a crate of kittens sat on the table, waiting to be seen.
He put gloves on, then opened the crate and took the first kitten out. He cradled it to his chest and closed the door to keep the other kittens from escaping.
