Even though I couldn’t see those fingers, I knew it was directed toward me.
“Wake up!”
I heaved a huge sigh and reluctantly moved my body into a sitting position.
“What?” I mumbled, every single muscle in my body protesting my move.
Last night all came roaring back to me, and I couldn’t stop the grimace of embarrassment from overtaking my face at the thought of my shit night.
“I’m not going to believe what?” I asked, eyes still half-closed.
“You remember that girl on Instagram that you showed me? Nathan’s ex?” Sierra pushed.
Now that woke me up.
I allowed my feet to hit the floor beside the bed and said, “Yes.”
“She’s here,” she whispered. “Eerie is here.”
“What?” I stood up. “How do you know? You haven’t even been to work yet.”
“Actually, I have,” she said. “I left my purse at work yesterday before I came to help you. I came this morning to retrieve it because I have to go get a prescription from the pharmacy.”
I frowned. “You saw her?”
“She’s very distinctive,” Sierra pointed out. “Yes, I saw her. And her husband.”
“Eerie doesn’t have a husband. She has a creepy brother,” I told her. “What’s she doing there?”
Please don’t say working. Please don’t say working.
Eerie was an RN like us.
Sadly, she’d started to work at the same hospital as me right around the time I was forced to transfer. The other hospital I’d been working at in Kilgore had decided to close its doors.
Though, I had to admit, working where I was working now was great for me. My commute was ten minutes shorter, I got to work with Sierra, and most of the time I could snag a cup of coffee on the way.
“She had a baby,” Sierra whispered. “And the baby is in the NICU.”
I groaned. “Fuuuuck.”
Sierra started to snicker. “The baby’s pretty cute, though. He’s only twenty-nine weeks. Head full of spiky blonde chicken hair.”
I snickered.
Sierra and her love for spiky chicken hair.
“Wonderful.” I pressed my hand to my face and groaned.
“What are your plans for today?” Sierra asked. “Do you want to go to lunch?”
I wiped the sleep from my eyes as I said, “I can’t. Yesterday was awful. Plus, we have to work.”
“We have plenty of time,” she said. “If you leave right now, we can grab The Back Porch.”
I looked at the clock.
I had two hours until my shift.
“I’m not dressed,” I said. “And my hair needs… something.”
“Your hair is probably still perfectly in place. I used enough hairspray on it to last a lifetime. Go get your face done up, grab your bag, and meet me there. I’ll give you forty-five minutes. I have to tell you about this medicine I have to take.”
Sierra, as of two weeks ago, had decided that she was going to have her own baby.
Like me, she was single and wasn’t really willing to mingle.
Unlike me, she felt as if something was missing from her life.
Where I thought it was cake, Sierra thought it was a baby.
So she’d had an appointment with a doctor that was going to help her get pregnant.
Hell, last time we’d been at work during lunch, I’d helped Sierra choose from possible sperm donors through a registry.
“Fine,” I said. “If my hair’s a mess, it’s on you.”
“If your hair is a mess, I’ll braid it and make it badass,” she countered. “See you in a bit.”
I got up and reluctantly moved through my morning routine.
Once I had my teeth brushed, eyeliner and mascara in place, I slipped into my soft lilac scrubs that we wore in the NICU and slipped my feet into my favorite lilac-colored Crocs.
When I got to the living room, I picked up my massive bag that was still holding my computer and jewelry box.
Slipping it onto my shoulder, I walked to the door which I’d barricaded with my recliner the night before.
It wouldn’t have held whoever decided to come into my place off for long, but it’d given me enough courage to stay there that night.
The cops had thankfully been very nice about doing a walk through after taking my report, and the moment that they’d left, I’d gone about shoving the chair into place.
I just wished I could get it behind the door again once I left.
Sighing in annoyance at the fact that I wouldn’t be able to do that, and I’d have to leave my place unattended for a bit while the super came to fix my lock—again—I closed it behind me and acted like I locked it in case anyone was watching.
It wasn’t a surprise at all to see the drug dealer at my car again.
That was where he liked to conduct his business.
Keeping my eyes downcast, I got into my car and backed out without once making eye contact.
It was only when I was pulling out that I looked up to see the drug dealer grinning.
Asshole.
I arrived at the restaurant with minutes to spare and smiled when Sierra got out of her car and hurried to me.
“How did last night go?” she asked with a grin.
I groaned.
“Last night was awful,” I admitted. “I was the reason that the cake spilled all over the floor—which I know you heard about from somebody by now. And after I left and arrived home it was to find my place broken into.”
Sierra grimaced.
“You really need to move out of there,” she urged.
I shrugged. “It takes money, honey.”
Sierra rolled her eyes. “You have the money. So you don’t pay so much on your student loans. I know that they’re not crippling.”
She was right.
But I didn’t want to have them at all, hence the reason I was paying more than I needed to a month. I didn’t want them to hang over my head for the next ten years like a wet blanket reminding me that I was a dumbass.
Another car door shut and I looked up to find one of our newest additions to our weekly lunches.
Hastings.
“Hey, Hastings!” I waved at my new friend.
I’d actually met Hastings through another friend that I’d graduated college with, Amelia, first. But then Hastings had gotten prego by Sierra’s brother and now I really had the time to get to know her.
Hastings smiled softly at me. “Hey, Reggie. It’s very nice to see you.”
I felt an intense surge of pleasure.
Why couldn’t Nathan say things like that to me? Why did it always have to be straight women that showed me that kind of attention?
“It’s nice to see you, too,” I replied before gesturing toward the door. “Y’all hungry?”
It was an hour into our lunch, my hair was braided, and we were just finishing up our food when Hastings got up to go to the bathroom.
“So, do you want to go tubing with us?” Sierra asked curiously.
I was already shaking my head.
“It’s too cold,” I explained, licking sauce off of my fingers.
“Please,” Sierra begged. “She needs all the help she can get right now. She needs friends. And you’re so sweet, Reggie. And she knows you because you worked with her sister.”
She held out a photo of the river that she wanted me to float that was pulled up on her phone.
I looked at the tube that Sierra wanted me to use to float down the river in, and then back to my friend.
“It’s like, eighty degrees out. The water’ll be freezing,” I said, ready to tell her no.
“Please, please, please,” she begged. “Hastings will be so much more comfortable with all of us around.”
My brows rose. “You mean, with all of us around, your brother won’t want to ask you questions about anything baby related.”
“I’m just… I won’t be able to hold my tongue,” she admitted. “He’ll say something, and I’ll reply, and the next thing I know I’ll be telling him which donor I chose.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re going to have to tell him eventually.”
“And I will,” she agreed. “But only after I get myself knocked up.”
I snorted.
“You’re like the worst person ever when it comes to telling your family things. Remember Mark?” I asked.
Mark was an ex-boyfriend of hers who’d treated her like crap.
To this day, I didn’t think that her parents knew just how badly he’d hurt her emotionally.
Sure, they likely knew that they had a bad breakup. But being bad and bad were two different things.
She snorted. “How could I forget? I asked him to have a baby with me, and he responded by basically leaving me.”
“It’s just that, I think that it would be best for your family to know what you’re doing. They’re going to ask questions. How will you explain this?” I asked.
She scrunched up her nose. “I was just going to end up pregnant and say ‘whoopsie.’ I am an adult, you know.”
I’d believe it when I saw it—or heard it.
Sierra was going to tell them everything.
I groaned and looked at my watch as Hastings suddenly appeared in the doorway of the bathroom, looking slightly green.
She hustled over to us with money already in her had. “I have to go. This place is making me want to puke.”
Sierra and I both stood and put our own cash down, covering our portions of the bill.
“Hastings, tell Reggie that she needs to go tubing with us,” Sierra ordered.
Hastings turned to look at me over her shoulder as she pushed through the front door.
“Please?” She rolled her lip over, pouting beautifully. “It was so much fun last time. I really think that you’d enjoy it.”
I sighed.
“Fine,” I grumbled.
Hastings laughed all the way to her car.
Hell, I was fairly sure that she was laughing as she got into her car.
I found myself grinning despite wanting to kick both of their asses.
I was such a sucker.
The grin on my face stayed in place, though.
At least until I arrived at our floor with Sierra next to me and ran right into none other than Eerie the asshole.
My hand went into my pocket and I groaned. I felt the ring that I’d slipped there before leaving for work and took comfort by turning it over and over again in my pocket.
Sierra cursed and dropped her phone at my groan, causing me to bend over and pick the phone up
Which, of course, was when Eerie decided to acknowledge my presence.
“You,” Eerie sneered. “I heard that you worked here.”
I would’ve rolled my eyes had I not known that it would just make this situation worse.
Eerie hated my guts.
With good reason.
Nathan used me as an excuse to end things with Eerie. And though I hadn’t actually been dating him at the time of his defection, Eerie still thought that I was the reason that Nathan had ‘fallen out of love’ with her.
I wasn’t.
But she didn’t need to know that.
“That’s a little excessive.”
My brows shot up. “What is?”
She gestured to the ring with a curl of her lips.
“That.” She jerked her chin at it as if just the existence of it pissed her off. “Can’t believe you wear that out of the house. Especially here.”
I frowned.
I looked down at my finger to see the ring in place.
“I don’t usually wear it,” I admitted, hating that she was judging me. “In fact, I had it in my pocket until about two seconds ago.”
I hadn’t even realized that I’d been fingering the stupid ring, or that it’d made it onto my ring finger, until she’d brought it to my attention.
“Did you wash the ring?” she countered. “It could be contaminated.”
I gritted my teeth. “Actually, no. But only because I’m not in the NICU yet. Which I would’ve done the moment I was needed.”
Eerie rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with you working on my child.”
I smiled serenely at her.
“The good thing is, I’m not your child’s nurse. Sierra is.” I grinned even though that hadn’t been the case. We hadn’t actually seen our patient assignments yet. But Peyton, our boss, likely wouldn’t care if we switched. “But I’ll be sure to keep my distance.”
Bitch.
I hated Eerie.
In fact, hated wasn’t even a strong enough word for what I felt for the woman.
“Just make sure that you keep it that way,” she instructed. “I have to go. I’ll be back, though. Make sure you’re not anywhere near my kid when I get back.”
It would only be a few days later that I’d realize exactly why she wanted me as far away from her kid as possible.
And Nathan wasn’t going to like the reason.
Chapter 4
It’s okay. I’m on 500 mg of Fuckitall.
-Text from Reggie to Nathan
Nathan
“What?” I asked, not sure that I heard him correctly.
“I said,” Sammy repeated, “that Reggie’s apartment was broken into last night. Hastings called to tell me to look into it. She said that Reggie was acting off.”
I felt a surge of anger pour through me upon hearing that news.
“I didn’t know,” I said, my hands clenching into fists at the mention of Regina Morton. “Are you sure?”
“Hastings said that it happened. She met with Sierra and Reggie for lunch. Just thought you might want to know.” Sammy picked up his gun and re-holstered it. “I gotta go to work. See you tomorrow.”
I was just getting off of my shift and heading home, but he had just started his shift.
A lot of us on the SWAT team worked a lot of random shifts, and unfortunately, when the time came that we had to respond to a SWAT call, we were fucking tired.
“Oh, hey,” Sammy called, stopping me from hanging my uniform shirt up. “I forgot to ask. Do you want to come float the river with us on Saturday? A few of us are going to go.”
I thought that sounded awful, but I liked that they were including me.
I wouldn’t be going, though.
“Actually,” I said, seconds away from turning him down.
“Reggie’s going to come.”
I narrowed my eyes at my friend.
It was as if he knew what mentioning Reggie’s name did to me.
Hell, maybe he knew something I didn’t.
All I knew was that the woman threw me off course. That I could never manage to hit it into fair territory where she was concerned.
“I’ll have to check my schedule,” I lied.
“You don’t have a schedule,” Sammy said. “You’ve been at home for the last six Saturdays.”
That was true, but why did he know that?
“Why do you know that?” I voiced my inner dialogue.
Inner me had a point.
Sammy grinned. “Hastings has the whole place wired. She can see all. Like Santa. She knows when you’ve been sleeping. Knows when you’re awake.”
“Knows if you’ve been bad or good?” I finished for him.
Sammy, the jovial bastard, wasn’t singing yet, but it was a close thing.
“So be good for goodness sake.”
Malachi said in a deep, dark timbre as he came around the corner, “Are we already singing Christmas songs?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and said, “No. He’s trying to convince me to go float down the river. And then he informed me that he knows my whereabouts at all times.”
“Hastings has a sweet ass setup at her place,” Malachi said as he crossed
to his own locker.
Sammy went stock still.
“How do you know anything about my girl’s place?” Sammy asked, arms crossing over his chest.
Malachi turned to survey Sammy.
“You remember when you died not too long ago?” Malachi asked softly. “Your girl cried for hours. I was worried about her. So I went over there to check on her. When she didn’t answer the door for over three hours, I finally decided to pick the lock and go inside. I found her at her computer crying silently in her sleep. I chose to leave her alone, but I got a good look at her setup.”
Sammy deflated.
“Oh.”
A couple of weeks ago there’d been a massive pileup on the interstate that we’d thought had taken the lives of nineteen people. Three of which had belonged to Hastings in some way.
At the time, we were led to believe that Sammy, along with Hastings’ father and sister, were in the crash.
Hours later, her mom had suffered a fatal heart attack upon hearing the news of her husband.
Only, an ex-police officer by the name of Patman had taken Sammy by surprise when he’d exited his vehicle and stood on the sidelines surveying the accident scene. Patman had hurt Sammy, knocked him out cold, and had shoved him into his truck during the chaos.
It’d taken Sammy days to escape.
Which led to how and why Malachi had thought he needed to go check on Hastings.
At the time, she’d thought she’d lost her entire family.
“Thank you,” Sammy said softly. His eyes were lost for a few seconds. “I don’t… I don’t know what I would do without y’all.”
Malachi shrugged. “You’d be able to do just fine without us. You’re one of the only level-headed ones in our bunch.”
“No joke,” I muttered, not thinking straight. “There are a few of you that keep the rest of us in a state of public decency.”
Sammy chuckled. “You’re not that bad.”
A smirk lifted the corner of my lips.
“I got a complaint the other day that I wasn’t ‘safe to be in public’ because I was ‘too rude and abrupt and couldn’t understand the emotional trauma that I was inflicting.’” I quoted the report that’d I’d received only a few days ago.
Malachi burst out laughing.
“Who did you pull over?” he questioned.
Officially Over It (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 10) Page 3