Page 54 of Forget & Forgive

He arched an eyebrow. “When you say ‘four people at the clinic,’ how many of those were admin staff who just like to gawk at war wounds on the vets and techs?”

Some warmth rose in my cheeks. “Fine. I hadtwopeople at the clinic look at it—Lia and Dr. Singh.”

That mollified him a little. “All right. If Lia let you go without sending me a text to take you to the ER, then—”

His phone pinged on the counter. We both eyed it, then each other. Face full of suspicion, he picked up the phone and looked at the screen. Then he snorted and showed it to me.

Shiloh:You guys had better be here tonight. I’ve got a babysitter and a designated driver, and if I don’t get to party with you two… (knife emoji)

I laughedas I handed it back. There was a time in the not-too-distant past where she’d probably used that emoji to talk about me, but fortunately, she’d warmed up to me pretty quickly after Owen and I had reconciled. His friends and the rest of his family had slowly come around, too, and when I joined them these days, it felt like I’d never been their public enemy number one.

Owen pocketed his phone. “All right, if Lia doesn’t think you need a hospital, I’m going to take her at her word.” His forehead creased. “But are you still feeling up to going out?”

“Sure.” I shrugged, gesturing with my bandaged hand. “It doesn’t hurtthatmuch.”

The skepticism intensified. “Is that why you’re”—he traced a finger along his own hairline—“sweating?”

“What? I’m not—” But my finger came back slick.

“It’s sixty-eight degrees in here, you didn’t take the stairs on the way up, and you’re in a T-shirt.” An eyebrow rose. “So is that a fever or pain?”

I chewed my lip.

“Baby.” Owen came around the island and touched my face. “Talk to me. I’m worried about you.”

I sighed. “I’m… I wasn’t trying to lie or hide something. It’s—”

His kiss caught me by surprise and shut me right up. “I know. This isn’t a trust thing, okay?” A little smile curled his lips. “You’vealwaystried to pretend you’re not in pain, especially when something bites you.”

I gave up and let my shoulders sag. “Okay. Yeah.” I scowled at my hand. “Especially when it’s something so stupid.”

To his credit, Owen tried to smother the laugh as he wrapped his arms around me. He kissed my forehead. “I’m sure you’re not the first vet to be defeated by a kitten.”

I rolled my eyes as I playfully pushed him away, which got the most adorable cackle out of him. I tried and failed to fight my own smile as I said, “I was notdefeatedby akitten.”

“Oh, yeah?” He cocked a brow and gestured at my hand. “So that’s a victory?”

I huffed. “Shut up.”

Sobering a little, he touched my cheek. “If it hurts, then let’s stay in. I don’t want you to be miserable.”

I put a hand on his waist. “You’ve been looking forward to this all week.”

“I know. But it won’t be the last time they go to that place. We can go do something when you’re feeling better.” He kissed me again, letting it linger this time. “I’d rather spend the time with you.”

“Even when I’m a whiny manbaby because I’m in pain?”

That wicked little laugh would never stop being music. “I could always film it and—”

“Don’t you dare.”

He chuckled and kissed my forehead. “Okay. Let me text Shiloh, and then we can put on our super-sexy sweats and order takeout or something.” He paused. “Actually, that sounds pretty damn good. And less people-y.”

It was my turn to be skeptical. “Are you just trying to make me feel better?”

“No. The credit union was busy as hell today, and I’m kind of done with people.” He flashed a toothy grin. “But you can still make it up to me when we go to bed.”

“Ooh, I like the sound of that.”

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