Page 39 of Cop Blocked

“Whose side are you on?”

“Always your side, Logan. I’m merely pointing out the truth. She was far from perfect, and I know she wasn’t right for you. So yeah, it’s best that it ended. But you need to do a little soul searching, brother, and realize what’s right in front of you.”

“Oh yeah, and what’s right in front of me, oh wise one?”

Ryker smacks me on the back of my head and laughs. “You are dense. Does the name, Rachel, ring a bell?”

I roll my eyes, “Right, Rachel.”

“Yep. The girl with the kid, who terrifies you.”

“Terrifies me? Hardly.” If I’ve learned anything in the last week, it’s that Piper is mostly harmless. “This is why I don’t talk to you about my personal life. You’re a pain in the ass.” I flip him the middle finger.

“I’m also right, and you know it.” He takes a drink of his beer before continuing. “All I’m saying is, let go of this preconceived notion that you’re an evil person. Man, you ran into danger – more than once, I might add, to save a small child. You’ve sat with a little kid and comforted them until they could be reunited with their parents. That asshole sperm donor of ours never so much as hugged us when we had a nightmare. And, before things went to shit with Ensley, I saw you love her…hard. Fearlessly. And unless I missed something, I know for a fact you never laid a hand on her. Ever.”

He might be right, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. Besides, none of that is what’s holding me back with Rachel.

“Are you done now, Dr. Phil? You’re killing my buzz.”

“Think about what I said, dickhead.” Ryker stands and takes a handful of trash to the kitchen. “I’m going to make a phone call; then I’m hitting the hay.”

TWENTY-ONE

Rachel

Fifteen minutes till nine, I’m still trying to put on some comfortable clothes though I’m pretty limited with this ugly cast on halfway up my leg.

The distinct knock on the front door followed by the sound of the door opening and lzzy’s excited bark tells me Logan’s here. Piper goes flying past my door, still in her princess pajamas, screaming his name. I hear him making his way through my house. Too slow to beat him to my bedroom door, he catches me - literally with my pants down.

“Uhm, morning,” he says, nervously. “Everything okay in here?”

“No. No, it’s not actually! The only pants that will fit over this damn cast are my scrub pants. I tried sweatpants, but as you can see, I’m stuck.”

I give him credit, he smirks but doesn’t laugh in my face.

“I underestimated the effort needed to dress or undress myself for that matter.”

“Come on, move out of the way and let me in. I’ll help.”

“It’s fine. You should probably see what Piper’s doing. I’ll figure this out.”

“Rachel, it’s only been a week. Your body’s still recovering, and I know you’re hurting. What did we say about your stubborn streak? Besides, I brought donuts and gave Pipe one before I came to check on you, I’m sure she’s…”

Cutting a warning glare at him sends him slowly backing away.

“Message received. I’ll go check on Piper.”

My shoulders slump in relief. “Thank you.”

Defeated by the silly sweatpants, I pull a pair of scissors from the vanity in my ensuite and cut the left leg off. Okay, so I look totally ridiculous. At least I can get the pants up and down now with ease. Deciding that I don’t care, I take my morning dose of meds as the pain is already starting to flare up. Better than last week, though, it still hasn’t gone away.

“Piper, honey. What happened to the donut I gave you?” I hear Logan talking to my little girl as I hobble down the hall.

“I ate it. I was still hungry, so I got another one.”

“I’m glad you found one that you liked. After taste testing them all.” Logan grumbles the last part under his breath.

Leaning against the kitchen entryway, I snicker, and he turns around with a box of donuts in his hand. Almost every single one has a bite taken out of it.

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