Page 45 of When Sky Breaks

My stomach flips.

Is he jealous?

His phone must buzz because he quickly pulls it from his pocket, releasing the daggers he has pinned to Johnny to answer it as he walks away.

Johnny’s voice rumbles near my ear. “After my meeting at the hospital, I was thinking you might want to join me for dinner tonight. There’s a little place I found?—”

“She can’t,” Trek interrupts as he stands, shoving the hammer into the tool belt he’s wearing. Said he wanted to look the part, and I try not to laugh. “We have plans with our dad, and well, you know, cancer kind of trumps any dates.”

“Trek,” I admonish under my breath and send Johnny an apologetic smile.

He arches a brow and says drily, “You never said your brother was a comedian.”

Trek wipes his sawdust and sweat-covered hands on his pants. “Didn’t know you took women to the beach only to make them swim with sharks.”

Why did I tell him that story?

Johnny laughs. “She loved it. Nothing wrong with living a little while you can, man. My patients taught me that.”

Trek squints, clearly hearing the lie in Johnny’s statement, and I send him a little shake of my head. He sighs and scratches the back of his neck. “Well, you’re no good if you’re dead, Doc.”

Johnny fashions on a smirk. “Touché.”

Wiggling out from under his arm, I turn around and back up toward the building, holding my hands out apologetically. “Hate to stop this fun little exchange between you two, but I’m thirsty, so I’ll be back. Need anything?”

Trek tosses out a request and Johnny shakes his head, putting his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “I gotta run to the hospital. Just wanted to check on you after this morning when you didn’t respond to my text.”

I wince and wave it away. “I’m fine. It was nothing, really. Just part of what I’m dealing with.”

“Didn’t look like nothing to me, Sky.”

I sigh. “I’ll explain everything soon, but not right now, okay?”

The light dims slightly in his eyes, but he inclines his head. “Yep,” he clips before turning and giving Trek a chin nod on his way out.

Before heading to the firehouse for water, I groan and fire at Trek. “Do you get off on busting his balls?”

Trek grins. “Do you?”

“Gross, no. We haven’t even had sex.”

“Okay, lalala, I walked into that one. Two waters, please, and thank you.”

Rolling my eyes and fighting a grin myself, I clomp through the grass toward the firehouse. I gotta admit, watching Trek razz Johnny was funny and helped with my mood.

The smile wipes clean off my face when I see August facing away from me while on the phone in one of the firehouse bays. I know I shouldn’t listen, but I cling to the cool stone of the building and crane my neck and ears.

His laugh carries across the open space, and my stomach clenches. It used to be deep at nineteen, but now it’s deeper and throatier.

He sounds happy with whomever he’s talking to.

Why do I care who’s making him sound so carefree? It’s none of my business who August associates with.

“Lina, you don’t even have to ask me that. Of course, I’ll come over tonight.”

Lina?

My fingers dig into the stone as I keep listening to an obviously private phone call.

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