Page 60 of Whenever You Call

But when I climbed back into the front of the truck and we pulled away from the hospital, another thought entered my mind.

Had that been what I’d done with Hannah? Tricked her into thinking I was good for her until the time came for me to walk away and leave her in someone else’s care.

The very thought made my stomach twist until I felt sick.

“That’s your first week back done,” Jerry said, bringing my attention back to him. “What have you got planned tonight?”

Oh, you know… just hoping to spend hours talking to the woman of the guy we let die. Remember him?

“Not a thing,” I said instead. “You?”

“Not a thing,” he repeated. “Want to grab a beer with an old man?”

We’d been on a grueling shift pattern together for days, and I wanted nothing more than to go home, shower, lie on my bed, and wait for Hannah to call… but a part of me knew that that was becoming a dangerous pattern to fall into, and right now, I couldn’t be falling into anything.

Especially not her, even if hearing her voice had become the favorite part of my day.

“You paying?” I asked Jerry before I could talk myself out of it.

He laughed and shot me a quick look. “Don’t I always?”

I sank back in the passenger seat and stared at the hills of Hollywood around us, trying to take my mind off the woman who had suddenly become the sole occupier of it. “You sure do, Jerry. That’s why I keep you around.”

“Bullshit. I keepyou around.”

“I’m glad you do, though.”

“Someone’s got to. Wouldn’t want you living a lifetime of solitude now, would we? Thatwouldbe a tragedy.”

Chapter25

LOGAN

We were five beers down with no sign of stopping soon. Not that I wanted to. The buzz of the alcohol had quietened my mind, and I craved more of that silence. I craved more thoughts that didn’t involve Hannah, because things were entering a dangerous territory, and I couldn’t ever just fuck her out of my system like I’d done with other women before her.

But, damn, the thought of going there with Hannah, anyway…

Jerry and I had already played four rounds of pool. I found it amusing as hell that he’d become obsessed with dominating the jukebox, filling the bar with old eighties and nineties tunes, which the regulars definitely seemed to approve of. New Order’sBizarre Love Triangleblasted out around the place, and all I could think was:

You lot have no fucking idea.

An innocent widow, the ghost of a rock star, and a paramedic with too much emotional baggage. How’s that for a bizarre love triangle?

After our shift, Jerry and I had changed into our civilian clothes back at the station. I’d tucked my cell into the back pocket of my jeans before I racked up the pool table and bent over to make the break for the fifth time.

Jerry sucked at breaking.

He also sucked at drinking, which did me a favor, because five beers now meant that Jerry’s hand-eye coordination had already gone to shit, making my next win a sure thing. The twenty-dollar bet we’d placed was about to come my way. I never lost a game of pool, no matter my opponent. I’d grown up playing it at Dale’s house with the boys, each of us taking it in turns to kick each other’s asses every chance we got. I had no doubt about my ability to win tonight.

I just hadn’t factored in Jerry’s uncanny talent of reeling in those around him to help in whatever quest he had. Tonight’s quest being beating me, no matter the cost.

Within ten minutes of our fifth round of pool, he’d roped in three scantily clad women to his team to distract me. The women were a matching trio of hot pants and crop tops, the bottom of their ass cheeks hanging out while the frayed denim edges tickled their skin.

Yeah, I’d noticed. It was hard not to when they kept jumping up to sit on the edge of the pool table, taking it in turns to twirl their hair around their finger while I concentrated on whichever pocket became my next target.

I couldn’t help picturing Hannah in those shorts, and I quicky had to shake the mental image out of my head.

Jesus, this is getting ridiculous.

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