Page 48 of Love in Training
“Where is he?” he says.
I roll my eyes. This guy is like one of those dolls with a string you pull to make them say pre-recorded phrases:You don’t deserve the dog. I hate you. Where is the dog?
“I dropped him at an animal shelter on my way over.” I turn for the exit, but a large hand encircles my arm. Like, my entire bicep.
I freeze, heart pounding like a caught animal, before my brain kicks in and I yank out of his grip. “What do you think you’re doing?”
His eyes go wide, tracking from my arm to his empty hand. Then he pales and steps back. “Nothing.”
I take the opportunity to make for the exit, propelling myself toward the doors.
Until quietly, behind me, I hear, “I just wanted to know—is he okay?”
Somehow, I’m disarmed by the soft concern in his tone. I look back before I can stop myself, and find his eyes warring with emotion. It makes me think of Rufus’s face when I left him today. I swallow hard.
“He’s with my mother, okay?” I’m just trying to say words to appease him, so I can safely leave. But when I note the relief on his face, I add, “I—I took him for a run this morning. It does seem to help.”
He lets out a slow breath, and I frown.
A pair of heels clicks down the hall behind me, but I’m so focused on the enemy in front of me I don’t think to prepare myself for someone worse.
“Drew, I’ve been looking everywhere for—” His mother cuts off her sentence as soon as I turn and we register one another. “Ms. Phipps.”
Somehow, she utters my name as though she’s been bitten.
“Dr. Forbes,” I say.
Drew steps away, closing ranks with his mother.
“I must say I’m shocked to see you here,” she says. “I didn’t think you had any interest in Kyle’s legacy.”
I flinch at her choice of words, fighting to keep my voice steady. “Is that what you’re calling it? I bet Kyle would be shocked too.”
And now it’s clear where Drew Forbes gets his laser glares.
I hold up my notebook, pen, and press pass like I’m Perseus facing Medusa. “Actually, I’m here in a professional capacity.”
She eyeballs my ID with a curling lip. “TheMile High Observer?”
My chest tightens. Just the way it did every time I stood by Kyle’s side, watching her knock him down a peg.
You don’t want to go into medicine? Fine. But if that’s your choice, we’ll give you nothing, and you willbenothing.
“That’s correct. You might remember I’m a journalist.” I clear my throat. “Would you care to make a statement regarding the scholarship you’ve set up in the name of your late son? It’s such an interesting choice, honoring a soldier’s memory by setting up civilian students to go to med school.”
Drew grunts beside her, his expression dark. And in that moment, looking at them standing together, I do pity them. They might be shitty people, but when all is said and done, they lost a son, a brother. That pain has clearly done nothing to soften them, but they’re still grieving, just like me.
“Andrew,” Dr. Forbes says in a tone I haven’t heard since high school. “I need to return to the reception. Please see that Ms. Phipps finds her way out.”
I don’t respond. Just watch her turn on her heel, more relieved with each step she takes away from me. “And to think I never got to call you Mom,” I mutter, finally shoving through the doors into the open air.
I’m hit with a powerful gust of wind when I exit the school. To the west, black clouds are gathering above the mountains, and now I’m sure we’re in for a storm of some kind.
I’m halfway to Lydia’s car before I register Drew behind me, but as soon as I do, my skin prickles and I slide my keychain pepper spray into my hand. We’re out in the open, but the parking lot is deserted, and I can think of no good reason he’d be following me out here. I round to the other side of the car, putting the vehicle between us before I whirl to face him.
“What? What else do you and your fucked-up family want?”
He startles, like he wasn’t expecting me to notice a man closing in on me like a predator through the rows of cars. But when our eyes meet, his expression shifts. His mouth presses into a line, then parts again.
