Page 26 of Script Swap
“Bobby, I would never!”
He made a sound in his throat that was partly amused and partly disagreement.
“He’s not—I was observing—they’resuspects, Bobby!”
“Oh yeah?Did he hide the murder weapon in his pants?”
“Robert Mai!”
A hint of that goofy grin slipped out.
“In the first place, I only have eyes for you.And in the second—wait a minute, what’s happening?Are you jealous?”
A hint of color came into Bobby’s face, but he used his deputy voice when he said, “Just making sure.”
“What are you even talking about?”
Of course, at that point, the paramedic finally managed to get free.Carrying his kit, he made his way over to us.He had a nice smile.It wasn’t until Bobby uncrossed and recrossed his arm that I realized the paramedic was smiling atme.And that was so discombobulating that when the paramedic said, “How are you doing?You need me to check you out?”my mind went completely blank.
It was panic.It was terror.It was pure fight-flight-freeze, and my body chose freeze.
After a few seconds, his smile got even bigger.“I’m going to take that as a yes.”
“We’re good here,” Bobby said.
And let me tell you: that was hisrealdeputy voice.
For some reason, that made the paramedic’s smile get bigger, and he got a dimple in one cheek.But he didn’t say anything.He shouldered his kit, gave me a lot of eye contact, and left.
Do you have any idea how long five seconds can feel with a jealous Bobby Mai next to you?
Jealous.
I mean—that didn’t make any sense.Was that even possible?Wasn’t there some sort of law of evolution against it?The formula would go something like this: if your partner is at least X times hotter than you, it’s impossible for them to feel jealous.
“Wow,” Bobby finally said.
“No!No, Bobby, no, I didn’t—that wasn’t—my body!”
“Your body?”
“Oh my God, no!”
That last bit was loud enough that everyone looked over at us—even Jonni, who was clearly miffed about having lost her pet paramedic.
“Bobby,” I whispered, “what is going on?”
“Nothing.Forget it.”
I didnotforget it, in case you’re wondering.In fact, I was pretty sure this was about to become my new low-grade obsession.What had I said?Something about his arms.And I guess I’d been staring at him.And yes, as usual, I’d managed to make an already embarrassing situation worse.But Bobby knew how bad I was at social situations.Heck, Bobby understood me.And more importantly, since when—ever—had Bobby acted like this?
And he still wasn’t looking at me.
At that moment, fortunately, Salk opened the door and stuck his head into the room.Deputy Salkanovic is exactly the kind of big brother most people would wish for.He was the star player on Hasting High’s football team.He’s got the soul of a Golden Retriever, which included occasionally putting me in a headlock and walking me around the station and giving me noogies.Also, one time, I saw him answering one of those Nigerian prince emails.(He was sweet about it, too, which only made it worse when I had to stop him and explain what was going on.Look, no judgement—everybody’s got strengths and weaknesses.)
“You got a local address for him?”Salk asked.
Bobby shook his head.
