Page 5 of Code Red Chemistry

“It was more than that,” I growl.

“Ooh, look who’s getting all lovey dovey now.” Mack’s falsetto is something no one should ever have to hear coming from a six-foot three, burly redhead who can bench three hundred pounds.

“Fuck you.”

Jake and Mack exchange an amused glance at my expense while Brock seems to take pity on me. Probably because, ever since he started officially dating his girlfriend a couple of months ago, he’s gone soft. Not that I’ve been jealous of his relationship status—until now.

“I may know when and where you can see her again—”

“When? Where?” Hell, I’ll do anything to get the details out of him.

He shoots another glance at me over his shoulder. “Promise me it’s only because you want to apologize—”

“I promise.”

There’s a long silence as we head up Sixth Avenue through stop-and-go Friday night traffic. My blood pressure is skyrocketing, but I grip the seat rather than press him. Finally, Brock sighs and glances at Mack in the front passenger seat, wholifts a shoulder as if to say, throw him a bone or we’ll never hear the end of it.

Brock clears his throat. “Chief gave me his two tickets to the department’s charity gala and auction next Saturday night.”

“And?”

“Since I’m not keen on spending an evening in a tux watching half-naked guys strut their stuff, even if it’s for a good cause, I asked Libby if she wanted to bring a friend instead.”

Hope flares in my chest, bright and dangerous. “She’s bringing Zoe?”

“They were texting about it just the other night.”

I nearly come out of my skin. “That would be perfect. Neutral ground with lots of people around. Black tie. Open bar…”

“Only one problem, Romeo,” Mack says, running a hand over his face.

Panic cinches my chest. “What?”

“You don’t have a ticket.”

Shit, he’s right.

“Yeah,” Jake adds. “And you’re not on the auction block. I am.”

I turn to him, not even trying to hide my desperation. “Switch with me.”

“What?” he blinks. “No way, man. I’ve been working on my routine for weeks.”

“I’ll cover your next three overnight shifts,” I offer without hesitation.

“Five,” he counters.

“Done.”

Mack lets out a low whistle. “Man, you’ve got it bad, Reyes.”

Maybe, I do. But walking away from Zoe tonight was almost as hard as the day after the wedding. And, just like that morning, it made one thing crystal clear. Except now, it’s that I’m not letting her go without a fight. Even if it means making a complete foolof myself half-naked on stage at The Plaza Hotel just for a chance to talk to her again.

Zoe

The sharp rap onmy apartment door rings out over John Legend’sAll of Meblaring from my speakers and nearly makes the stack of medical textbooks I’m pulling from the my bottom shelf of my bookcase slip out of my hands.

“Coming!” I call, dropping the stack, topped byHarrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, into the cardboard box at my side, then scrambled to my feet as another knock sounds.

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