“Gross.” I toss the football back to him.
Today was the first time I wasn’t in the mood to go to work. Vincent is only going to be here for a week, and I wanted to soak up as much of him as I could. It’s probably a good thing, though. I don’t want to be all needy and clingy. I’ve got to play it cool. Maybe I should smack him again. Wonder what he’d do if I did it when no one else was around. I think I might end up with a few smacks back but on my ass.
Oh God, what has this man done to my mind? I’m starting to think I might have some of those kinks Melody sometimes mentions are in the books she’s always got her face shoved inside. I should borrow one. See what’s up.
“Earth to Emma,” Sam says a second before the squishy football hits me in the side of the head.
“Hey!”
“Where the hell did you just go? I asked you three questions, and you didn’t respond to any of them.”
“You did?” I reach down and pick the football back up and chuck it at him. He’s lucky the damn thing is squishy.
“The guy you smacked.”
“What about him?”
“Is this like that thing where boys pull girls' hair in grade school when they’ve got a crush on them?”
“Sam, I swear to the football gods if you ever tell your daughter that a boy pulling her hair is a sign of a crush, you’ll end up strapped to that gurney.”
“I was only teasing. I’ll kick the little shit’s ass if any boy pulls her precious curls.”
“You better.” I lean back against the door. We’ve been parked for over five hours at this point. Only a few more to go. I’m surprised it took Sam this long to bring up the slapping thing, but we spent a good hour talking shit on police chief Blake Finley.
“So are you going to make me pull it out of you?”
“You want to go?” I smirk.
“Fuck no, you fight dirty.”
“I have to! Everyone is twice my size.”
“Fair point,” he says in agreement. The inside of the ambulance grows quiet.
“Fine! I’ve got a stupid crush,” I admit. Sam is a bit like a brother to me. We spend a lot of time together, and I had a hand in pushing him and his now wife together. I was all up in there, making sure it happened. I suppose I owe him a bit of my own love life.Not love, I remind myself,sex life. Because that’s all this is between Vincent and me.
“You shitting me?” He sits up. “He’s your brother's friend. Sounds—” Sam’s words are cut off when my phone starts to ring. I pull it out, thinking it’s going to be Melody or my parents, but the number is unknown. It’s a local area code, though, so I answer.
“This is Emma,” I say. The line is quiet for a long moment. “Hello?”
“Hey, Emma.” I recognize Tina’s voice.
“Hey, Tina,” I say back. Sam’s brows pull together, just as shocked as I am that Tina is calling me. “There something going on?” Again there is a long pause. I stand, slipping over to the passenger seat and point for Sam to get in the driver's seat. I can sense it. Something is wrong. “Where are you? You and Brittany still live in that blue house on the corner of Mayfield and 21st?”
“Yes,” she responds. “Please don’t call this in over the radio or whatever. I can’t get Brittany to go to the hospital, but I want someone to at least look her over.”
“All right. We’ll be there in a few minutes,” I tell her before I end the call.
“What’s going on?”
“No sirens,” I tell him as he starts the ambulance and pulls out of the parking lot we’ve been sitting in. He heard me say the location already, so I don’t have to tell him. “Park around the corner. I don’t want the ambulance sitting in front of their house.”
“Got it.”
“Something happened to Brittany, and the last person I saw her with was Blake before I left the bar, but it was early.”
“Careful, Emma, we don’t know what’s going on yet.”