Page 92 of Her Paramedic
“I will,” Nova volunteered.
It didn’t last long. Maximus signaled for them to go, and Nova yanked the rope, immediately pulling the flag to her side. Alivia protested, claiming she hadn’t been ready. They went again. She still lost, and Slate couldn’t help the snort that escaped him.
Slate was coming down the hall an hour later to grab more paper towels when he found Alivia in the kitchen. She was leaning against the counter, arms crossed, waiting. Considering, to his knowledge, they were the only two in the house; he assumed she was waiting on him. How she knew he would come into the house was beyond him.
“I appreciate you like Talia, and you treat her right,” Alivia stated, apparently wanting to get down to business. “What I don’t appreciate is you coming between plans that we make because you want her to stay with you instead.”
Slate raised a brow. “What are you talking about?”
“A couple of weeks ago, we were supposed to have dinner. She stood me up to stay with you.”
Slate refrained from rolling his eyes because she was talking about the weekend of the fire and he’d gotten hurt. He hadn’t asked Talia to stay with him; she’d volunteered, and he knew from asking Talia as they’d eaten that she’d called and texted Alivia to ask for a raincheck. Either his girlfriend hadn’t told Alivia what happened, or she had, and Alivia still felt like it was his fault.
“She’s allowed to spend time with someone other than you.”
“I never said she wasn’t,” Slate responded. “And you’re wrong. I don’t like Talia. I love her, and I don’t just treat her right, I treat her the way she deserves.”
Alivia narrowed her eyes. “Whatever you say. As long as she’s happy, I have no reason to dislike you.” Slate got the unspoken,but I don’t like you. “Respect the boundaries of the time we spend together, and it’ll stay that way.”
“Alivia,” Talia’s admonishing voice cut through the room, and they turned to find her standing in the entry to the kitchen. The women stared at each other before Talia turned to him. “Babe, will you give us a minute?”
“Of course, baby.” Slate grabbed the paper towels and exited the kitchen, kissing Talia’s temple on his way out.
«-•-•-•-•-•-•-»
Talia was headed to the bathroom when voices from down the hall caught her attention. She immediately recognized them and she bypassed her original destination. She knew Slate had come inside to bring out more paper towels. He’d said something about getting them when they started running low outside, and shortly after, Talia saw Alivia enter the house a fewminutes before Slate did. She had every intention of making her presence known, but stopped to make out the words.
“A couple of weeks ago, we were supposed to have dinner. She stood me up to stay with you. She’s allowed to spend time with someone other than you.”
Talia’s brow furrowed because she’d never in their friendship stood the woman up, and the time she was referring to was no different. Talia had called Alivia and sent a text before Slate got home. She’d even sent a second text closer to the time they were supposed to meet when she hadn’t gotten a response.
“I never said she wasn’t,” Slate replied. “And you’re wrong. I don’t like Talia. I love her, and I don’t just treat her right, I treat her the way she deserves.” She couldn’t help the smile that took over her face if she wanted to, but it quickly vanished at Alivia’s response.
“Whatever you say,” she responded in a tone that let Talia know she didn’t believe him. “As long as she’s happy, I have no reason to dislike you. Respect the boundaries of the time we spend together and it’ll stay that way.”
Talia had heard enough and rounded the corner. “Alivia,” she chided, and they both turned to her. She kept her eyes locked on the other woman. There was a brief stare down before her attention shifted to Slate. “Babe, will you give us a minute?”
“Of course, baby.” He grabbed the paper towels and exited the kitchen, kissing her temple as he left.
“What was that about?” Talia asked.
Alivia shrugged. “It was just a reminder that he isn’t the only person in your life, and that he doesn’t get to be selfish and monopolize all your free time.”
When Talia had met her the following evening after the incident for dinner, she’d apologize for having to postpone. She hadn’t told Alivia what happened to Slate because it wasn’t her friend’s business. Hell, she hadn’t even told her sister. She’d saidshe needed to spend an extra day with him. It seemed Alivia had taken it as Slate asking Talia to stay, and she agreed when that hadn’t been the case.
“I didn’t stand you up for him. I called, and I texted twice, letting you know I needed to reschedule. If I had stood you up, I wouldn’t have reached out,” Talia pointed out. “Slate also doesn’t monopolize my free time.” Talia still spent the same time as she had before with Alivia and the other women, so she wasn’t sure what her friend was talking about.
“You did stand me up. I was already at the restaurant when I saw your text. And it’s very reminiscent of all the times you changed or cancelled plans with me because ‘Chris wants to’ insert whatever bullshit reason he gave you,’ which only ended up with him wanting to get his dick wet.” Talia took note that she didn’t comment on her other statement.
“That isn’t my fault. I called and texted the first time hours before we were supposed to meet. If you didn’t check it, that’s on you. If you had an issue with it, you should have said something to me the next night. You could have called me that night, and we could have talked about it. And okay, maybe it felt that way to you, but that’s never happened with Slate until then. You should have brought it to me, not him. There was no reason to be rude to him because my decision to stay was mine after what happened.”
“Happened? Something happened?” Alivia asked. “Were you okay?”
“I was fine.” Talia debated briefly whether to tell Alivia. She hadn’t before because it didn’t concern her, and although she didn’t owe her an explanation because she hadn’t stood her up, she gave her the cliff notes version. “Slate was responding to a fire. There were some kids trapped inside, and he ran in to get them. He got hurt. I stayed because I was worried about him.”
“Tal, I’m…I’m sorry. I just assumed that—”
“You’ve been doing a lot of that during my entire relationship,” Talia cut her off. “What happened to you being fine until he gave you a reason not to be?”
