Page 74 of Renegade

“David—let’s leave your truck here. Just come back to my place—”

He cut me off, “No, I don’t want to be around anybody right now. I need a fuckin’ minute, okay?”

I nodded. I got it, I did. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

As I watched him drive away, I wondered if Lauren knew that Elizabeth had set all this in motion.

I sat on the stairs by Lauren’s front door, eating French fries, and wishing she’d come home.

“Mmm…McDonald’s. Dinner of champions.”

I looked up guiltily from the bag to see her smiling at the foot of the stairs. I fished the extra burger out and waved it in the air. “You hungry? I cooked.”

Lauren smiled, but something was wrong. She just seemed off. “I’m okay for now. Have you been waiting long?”

I gathered up the food and joined her at the door. “No, just a couple of minutes. Rough night?”

She nodded and hung up her purse and keys on the hook next to the front door. “You could say that. Would it be alright if I just laid my head on your shoulder and tried to forget this day ever happened?”

Food forgotten, I led her over to the couch. “Start at the beginning.”

She brought her knees up to her chest, making her appear even smaller than she already was, and laid against my arm. “Work was just…difficult. We had a patient that arrived a half-hour late for their first appointment and when I tried to explain why we would need to reschedule, he copped an attitude with me and blamed it on all the paperwork we emailed over for him to fill out. It was emailed out three days ago and apparently, he’s been working on it since then.”

Lauren rubbed her temple as if reliving it gave her a headache. I turned her until she was nestled between my legs and began rubbing her neck and shoulders, while trying not to question who I’d become.

Comfortable again, she continued, “That’s not the half of it. He told me that if I refused to see his daughter then I’d be sorry—said he’d wait for me in the parking lot and work the ‘uppity bitch’ right out of me. So, I had to dismiss them from the practice.”

I didn’t realize I was taking it out on her shoulders until she cried out. I was livid. It was like David getting served times a thousand. “I’m sorry, Darlin’.” I rubbed her back softly to make up for it.

She shrugged. “I think they just forget they’re dealing with actual people sometimes. It’s fine now; I was just stressed out in the moment.”

I was going to find this guy and work the douchebag out of him—I doubt there’d be anything left by the time I was done. I took a deep breath and calmly asked, “What was his name?”

She tilted her head back and looked up at me. “Why? You gonna arrest him?”

I shook my head, using every ounce of willpower to keep my voice calm. “Nah, you handled it fine—I just like to know these things in case he ever ends up getting booked down the road. We can make his stay…unpleasant.”

I was absolutely going to go after him.

She gave me an upside-down smile and I tapped her nose with my index finger. “Andrew Vierling, but that’s only to be used if he ends up in the slammer.”

I nodded dramatically. “Yes, Red. For official police use only.”

I was gonna give him to Grey. The thought made me smile.

She sat up and turned around to face me. “Anyway, I thought the day couldn’t get any worse and then I got to Elizabeth’s. Mike, she’s pregnant, and understandably freaking out.”

I sat there in shock. “So, she’s pregnant. Jess is pregnant. Wait—you’re not pregnant, are you?”

I playfully poked her in the ribs and she smirked. “Not even the slightest bit. Are you disappointed?”

I gave a mock sigh, still trying to cheer her up. “I guess we’ll just have to keep practicing until we get it right. Did you know that David was getting served tonight?”

Her eyes widened and she sighed, “No. I mean, I knew she was looking into her options. So, how does that work? Did they just find him on a job site?”

“They found him at the restaurant. He’s still hung up on this whole Landon thing and looked like absolute shit—I just felt awful for him. We’re fucking lucky they didn’t call it in since he was disturbing the peace…to put it mildly.”

She leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss against my chin. “It makes me feel so guilty. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and I can’t share it with my best friend. I just wish there was some way for them to work this out.”

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