Page 35 of Fight

“Just not your type.”

“She’s hot—that’s my type.” Deep down, I know she’s more, but for the sake of this argument, it’s not like this was the first time I’ve done something similar.

“She’s married.”

“What the fuck are you on?” I laugh and take a sip of beer. “She’s not married.”

“Judy over at the municipal office processed the application. She and my momma had lunch and saidPrescott Timmonschecked the box marked married on her forms. On top of that, I heard she hooked up with Dave—your favorite person.”

My jaw clenches. There’s no way. He’s mistaken. “Nah. They’re talking about the wrong girl, then.” She’s not married—she doesn’t wear a ring, and she’s not hooking up with Dave. They work at the same firehouse, but she wouldn’t do that.

Doubt creeps into my thoughts.You worked with her too.

Still, I can’t picture her doing something like that with him.He hit on her the night we met at the bar and… She technically never turned him down. Dave was the one to walk away after Xander asked about their newborn. I shake my head. “I think you gotta check your sources, man.”

“Just tellin’ you what I heard.”

I raise my beer bottle to my lips and take a big swig. “You heard wrong.”

Fuck Dave. And fuck Dixon for spreading bullshit rumors.

“You could ask her.”

I glance down at my phone, my reflection peering back at me in the black glass, then tuck the device in my pocket. It’s not a matter of her sleeping with other guys, butinfidelityis a trigger for me. The idea of her sleeping with a married man when she’s a married woman, gets my hackles up, and Dave of all fuckin’ people—he’s the reason I’m not happily married with two and a half kids right now. I don’t want to think of him being the reason I can’t see Scottie again.

If there’s truth to these rumors, then I’m out. My stomach sours. To even engage in theideaI ruined some other poor bastard’s life the way Dave ruined mine, has my guts in knots.

Perhaps Ishouldask her about it… And if she comes clean? Fuck. A sweat breaks out across my forehead. Whatever, he can have her. I’m sure as hell not going to enter some fucked-up love triangle and break up two families.

I take a sip from my beer bottle. “She’s smarter than that.”

“How the fuck would you know?” Dixon rolls his eyes. “Just trying to watch your back. I don’t wanna see you go down that road again.”

Maybe it vibrated in my pocket and I didn’t feel it. I check my phone again. Nothing. I’ve already deep cleaned the rig to burn off some of this nervous energy. It wouldn’t be so bad if we had some damn calls to go to, but it’s been dead all morning. I read the last three messages over the last three days, and they’ve all been from me.

At the grocery store. Cheese balls are on sale.

Hope you’re having a good day.

Everything okay?

It’s not like he’s stopped texting me altogether, but he hasn’t been as talkative. Before the fire, we would text on and off throughout the day. I’m sure he’s just busy, but with his job, my mind automatically goes to the worst-case scenario. I grew accustomed to having a friend. Things didn’t feel so lonely in this small town.

Have I been using him as a crutch? I wince. “Goddamn it, Prescott,” I curse under my breath. I’m falling back into the routine of relying on somebody else. That’s not me. I’m out herebecause I’m on my own two feet. I angrily shove my phone back in my pocket. No more looking. Friends are everywhere. Go find them. I found the first one at the bar, that’s where all the locals seemed to hang out. Maybe I could find another one there? Or perhaps a coffee shop. There appeared to be a good one in town.

Trudging into the rec room where Matt is watching television, I slump down in one of the chairs. “I’m bored.”

“Whoa! Hey!” Matt shouts, darting his gaze around to check if anybody heard me. “Don’t say shit like that. It’ll piss off the gods, and we’ll be up to our eyeballs in calls.”

I roll my eyes. “The world doesn't work that way.”

“The hell it doesn’t.”

My elbows slip from the arms of my chair, and I tip my head back, staring at the ceiling tiles. I release a frustrated sigh. “Humans just like patterns. They find comfort in coincidences that are mistaken for proof of a higher power.”

Matt scoffs. “Well, aren’t you a delightful little ray of sunshine today…”

My head lolls to the side, then I sit up straighter. “Sorry, just feeling really?—”

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