Ask Me If I Care

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  Her date, a stocky man in his early thirties that was quite obviously out of her league, walked in at her side and sat down across the booth from her.

  I watched them sit, my mouth tipping up at the corner when Ares saw me and did a double-take.

  She frowned at me and took her seat, studiously avoiding eye contact with me as she did.

  “You ever been here before?” the man asked Ares.

  I barely refrained from snorting.

  Everyone had been here before.

  The Back Porch was one of the most popular restaurants in Kilgore.

  For a date, it was either this place, or Mexican food down the road at El Sombrero. And seeing as tonight was Wednesday night, they gave out free margaritas, which made the place fuckin’ packed.

  Hence the reason I’d chosen The Back Porch to take my date to.

  Well, where to have the date at.

  Since I was on call tonight with the SWAT team, it was inevitable that I’d have to leave mid-way through my meal. Which had become the norm ever since I’d joined.

  I hadn’t been out to one meal yet that hadn’t been interrupted in some way. In fact, this would be my second time going out on a date with Errin.

  To be quite honest, I wasn’t sure why I’d gone out of my way to reschedule this date.

  Our first date, at this exact restaurant, had been quite a dud.

  Though, I’d chalked it up to having a long day at work.

  When I’d seen Errin the next day and she’d asked for a redo, I’d relented.

  Though I wasn’t expecting any better results this time.

  Errin was an ER nurse. I’d met her for the first time while transporting a patient to get stitches.

  Though she was funny and hot, there was just something about her that wasn’t doing it for me. And she had a strike against her even before I’d given her the chance for a date.

  She touched my hand lightly. “I’m going to get a salad. What are you getting?”

  I hadn’t even picked up the menu yet.

  I’d been too busy looking at the woman across the aisle from me out of the corner of my eye.

  Though, the menu had been in front of my face since they’d sat down.

  “Not a salad,” I murmured. “You like salads?”

  My attempt at small talk nearly blew up in my face.

  “I…” Errin started. But Ares’ melodic voice had me entranced.

  “I need an appetizer of some sort,” Ares said. “I’m positively starving.”

  The man in front of her snorted. “Order a salad. That comes out before the meal.”

  I swallowed hard and let my eyes drift to the appetizers.

  “What can I get y’all to drink?”

  I looked over to see the waitress at Ares’ table.

  The man ordered a beer and Ares ordered a sweet tea. Seconds after that the man ordered his food, leaving Ares scrambling because she wasn’t sure what she wanted just yet.

  After spouting off an order, and likely only ordering what she had because her date had been glaring her down the entire time—I mean who the fuck ordered grilled chicken and broccoli?—she looked quite disappointed.

  “Have y’all decided what y’all want to eat?” the young waitress asked when she moved our way.

  “Yes,” I said. “I want to order the jumbo pretzel as an appetizer. For dinner, I’d like to have a steak, medium rare. House salad with ranch. And a loaded baked potato.”

  Normally I wouldn’t have eaten that much food, but Ares was inspiring my inner fatty.

  That, and I kind of wanted to rub the fact in a little bit when, after taking my order, the waitress moved to Errin.

  While Errin was occupied, I allowed my gaze to drift over to Ares to see her glaring daggers at me.

  I winked at her.

  She rolled her eyes and looked away.

  “So how was work?” Errin asked once the waitress left.

  I wanted to talk about work about as much as I wanted to be on this date in the first place.

  But I made small talk with Errin, eventually turning around her question and directing it at her instead.

  By the time our appetizer arrived, I was plumb worn out and tired of talking.

  I wasn’t much of a talker in general, which was why dates usually didn’t go all that well for me.

  Honestly, I wasn’t sure why the hell I’d agreed to this one.

  But I was fairly sure it had a lot to do with seeing a certain redhead the day before visiting her father. Momentarily making me lose my mind.

  “You want any of this?” I asked curiously, holding up a piece of the pretzel.

  Errin smiled. “No. Bread makes fat go straight to my hips. I’m not a teenager anymore.”

  I looked at Errin skeptically.

  She didn’t have an ounce of fat on her, ass or otherwise.

  In fact, that’d originally been something that had held me back from agreeing to her offer for a date the first time she asked.

  I wasn’t big on the zero percent body fat thing. I liked a woman with some meat on her bones.

  “Bummer,” I said, breaking off a piece and taking a large bite.

  My phone rang, and I cursed.

  “Shit, I have to take this,” I said, seeing Ryan’s name flash on the screen.

  Seeing as he never called me unless it was important, I usually didn’t avoid taking the calls.

  “No problem,” Errin murmured.

  I broke off a rather large piece of the pretzel and took my call to the far back hallway, answering it on the fifth ring.

  “What’s up?” I asked around a mouthful of pretzel.

  “I just got a call from child protective services.” Ryan sighed. “Christiny decided to be a fucking dumbass and go out on a date.”

  I blinked, unsure what to do there.

  “Okay,” I paused. “What happens now?”

  “What happens now is that they took Raj away from her. Permanently after last time,” Ryan hissed. “And I won’t be home for three days because I’m in motherfuckin’ Toronto.” He paused. “Can you go help? Can you get Raj? Or get Christiny out of this somehow?”

  I knew what he was asking.

  Could I use my authority to get Christiny out of the hole she continuously decided to dig herself into.

  And that was a big fucking no.

  “I’ll go get Raj,” I said. “How long will you be gone?”

  He sighed. “I had a feeling that was the step you were going to take,” he mumbled. “I can be home in a day and a half if they start me at tomorrow night’s game. I won’t be able to play the next game anyway. If they don’t start me, it’ll be the full three days. I’m sorry to do this to you, man.”

  The funny thing was, I didn’t think he was sorry at all.

  Ryan didn’t want to deal with his sister any more than I did.

  And, sadly, that included Raj a lot of the time because Christiny was just that unlikeable of a person.

  Mother fucker.

  “Where did they say that Raj was?” I asked tiredly. “And will they even let me take him?”

  “I can help with that,” he replied. “I’ll call and tell him that you’re my brother. That you’ll take him. You’re a cop. They won’t have any problems giving him to you since you’re supposed to be responsible.”

  Supposed to be responsible.

  So I wasn’t fooling him any more than I was fooling myself.

  “I’ll go get him. Text me where to go,” I ordered.

  Ryan said a thank you under his breath that really didn’t sound too genuine.

  Then hung up.

  I sighed and took another bite of my bread, the taste no longer any good.

  Son of a bitch.

  Walking back to my table, I looked apologetically at Errin.

  At some point during my phone call, Ares had left then made her way back.

  She saw me com
e back and took in the look on my face, immediately sensing something was wrong.

  Errin, however, wasn’t anywhere near as perceptive.

  “Oh, you’re back! The salads arrived and…” I smiled tightly at her. “I have to go. I’m so sorry, Errin.”

  I didn’t bother telling her what was wrong.

  There was no reason to.

  I didn’t tell anyone my personal business.

  She frowned. “That’s okay. But what about your food?”

  I looked over at Ares who looked like she was going to hate her food, then made a decision. “I’ll talk to the waitress on the way out. And pay. Eat your food, though, Errin.”

  She frowned.

  I took one last sip of my drink then waved a goodbye but stopped short when I remembered the pretzel on my table.

  I came back, seeing Errin’s face light up as if she actually thought I’d go through that song and dance and stay.

  Picking up the barely eaten pretzel, I walked it over to Ares’ table.

  “Don’t let this go to waste,” I said, placing it over her salad.

  She looked up at me in surprise.

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  And for once, I actually wanted to tell someone everything.

  “I’m… no.” I paused. “Eat the damn pretzel.”

  Then with that, I tracked down my waitress and had my food delivered to Ares’ table. Then had Ares’ food bagged up in case she actually did want it and paid for everyone’s dinner but the asshole she went out on a date with.

  Chapter 4

  I saw that.

  -Karma

  Ares

  My belly was full of steak and baked potato, and yet another potential boyfriend was crossed off my list.

  After watching me eat almost the entire fucking pretzel that Hayes had left at my table, Kelly, the ex-police officer that now did his own PI—private investigator work—had gotten really pissy.

  Who was that? he’d asked.

  After my explanation of a family friend, he’d been quite content to let it go.

  Only, when my order of grilled chicken hadn’t come out, but a medium-rare steak, and I’d actually told the waitress not to take it back when Hayes had actually ordered it, he’d gotten pissed.

  Like, beyond pissed.

  So pissed, in fact, that he’d asked for the check.

  When only his steak had come out on the ticket, his eyes had gone cold.

  Which was why I was laughing now.

  Because Errin had seen and heard my upset dining partner. And, since apparently she knew him from the police station, she’d tried to soothe him.

  Which was how he and Errin had ended up leaving together, leaving me to tag along wondering how in the hell I’d gotten left on my date when Hayes had been the one to leave.

  Honestly, I was more upset with myself than anything.

  I sure the hell knew how to pick them.

  Even worse, I was kind of giddy over the fact that Hayes had been paying enough attention to me while on his own date that he saw I wasn’t happy with what I ordered on mine.

  An hour later found me once again at the store buying tampons.

  I’d managed to get all the way home, changed out of my date clothes, showered and into my slouchiest of sweatpants and a tank top that was so tight and short that it showed off a sliver of my belly. I covered that up with a sweatshirt of my dad’s that had been his in high school.

  That was when I’d discovered I didn’t have any tampons.

  Like, none.

  I’d actually entertained the thought of going to my mother’s house and picking those back up, but then I’d have to explain how my date went, and I wasn’t in the mood for that.

  Instead, I found myself at my favorite grocery store.

  I pulled the hood up high over my head and tucked my face as far back as it would go, so nobody that I might know—or might know my father—would recognize me.

  I got to my desired aisle and froze when I saw a very familiar man staring blankly at the diapers that the tampon aisle shared with the baby aisle.

  “I don’t know,” Hayes rumbled softly. “Do you think we should go with the fours, or the fives?”

  My lips twitched when the boy who was sitting in the curve of Hayes’ arm slapped him on the chest.

  “I don’t know either,” he mumbled, as if the boy had agreed with him. “Fuck your mother.”

  I covered my mouth with my hand but couldn’t quite stop the laughter from bubbling out.

  Hayes stiffened and turned, his eyes narrowed.

  But apparently, he had no problem seeing through my disguise because he released a breath of tension that I hadn’t realized he’d inhaled.

  “It’s you.” He sighed. “You know anything about diapers?”

  I pushed the hood back on my hoodie and felt my hair fall free and go wild around my face.

  Normally, when I was heading out somewhere, I tried to get my hair into some semblance of control. I’d blow dry it, spend twenty minutes straightening it, and still get somewhat of a wave into my hair by midway through the day.

  But when I didn’t? My hair turned into a riot of curls. Think Shirley Temple but with hair down past the small of my back.

  Like fuckin’ Merida off of Brave.

  His eyebrows went up the moment that he saw my hair.

  “You have curly hair,” he said, eying it.

  I stuck my hand into it and shook some of the curls out, pulling the majority of it out from beneath the sweatshirt.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I spend a significant amount of time straightening it every day. But I’m just not in the mood to deal with it right now.”

  His eyes took me in, his lips tipping up at the ends.

  “Why?”

  I opened my mouth, then closed it before shrugging.

  “When I was in high school,” I admitted. “I hated my hair. I guess it’s just become so much of a habit at this point that I don’t really pay attention.”

  “I like it,” he said.

  The little boy in his arms started to scream.

  “Umm,” I hesitated. “What’s wrong? Why are you looking for diapers?”

  He sighed.

  “Christiny is a dumbass,” he admitted. “She thought that it would be a grand idea to go out on a date…but leave her son at home while she did. Alone. The neighbors called the cops because Raj was screaming his head off. He has a fever.” Hayes paused. “Ryan’s out of town. So I’m doing him a favor, taking Raj, until he gets home.”

  I smiled slightly.

  “Did you get him some Tylenol?” I asked.

  Hayes shook his head.

  “No, but the CPS—child protective services—chick did. She said he can have more in about two hours.” He paused. “I have to buy some. Along with diapers…”

  I moved forward until I was close to Hayes.

  So close that I could smell his cologne.

  “May I?” I asked, gesturing to the small boy.

  He shrugged and thrust the kid forward.

  “Usually the size of the diapers are written on the front of them,” I said as I pulled the front of his sweatpants down and glanced at the diaper.

  The very full, in need of a change at least a couple of hours ago, diaper.

  “It says three.” I paused. “But I think that it’s kind of tight. You could get away with moving him up to a four.”

  The boy laughed at me, and I tickled his stomach before pulling away.

  Hayes tucked the kid into his arms like one would a rolled-up rug, then glanced at the boxes of diapers.

  “How many does a kid go through?” he wondered.

  I gestured toward a box that had ninety-six in it.

  “They’re almost the same price as those,” I pointed to the bag. “And if you don’t use them all, you can donate them to the local shelter.”

  Hayes picked up the box
and threw it in the buggy that I now saw was filled with more stuff.

  “He’s still using bottles?” I asked curiously.

  Hayes looked at the bottles, then at me.

  “He’s not supposed to?” he asked.

  I opened my mouth, then closed it.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I just think they’re done with them at about a year. And then they move up to a sippy cup.”

  Hayes put the little boy—Raj—into the seat of the cart, then went back to the plethora of bottles and tossed them all onto the first shelf he saw.

  I rolled my eyes and walked past him to the cups, pulling two off the shelf.

  “I think they’re allowed to have whole milk now,” I admitted. “Apple juice, I think, if you can water it down.” I paused when I looked at the toy he’d bought. “And I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to let him play with this just yet. There are too many small parts and he might choke on them.”

  Hayes looked at the ceiling and groaned. “Goddamn Christiny.”

  I felt my lips twitch, then started taking the things out of the cart that I didn’t think he needed.

  “What else do you think I need?” he asked when I got it all put back—in the right spots, might I add.

  I looked at the wall of baby shit.

  “How long will you have him?” I asked.

  “Until tomorrow night.” He paused. “At the earliest.”

  I walked to the baby wash and pulled the smallest bottle they had down off the shelf.

  “I’d only stay with the basics. Baby wash. Sippy cups. Diapers and wipes,” I admitted. “I don’t think that he’ll need much of anything else. You can feed him what you eat.”

  He grumbled something under his breath that sounded a lot like, ‘great.’

  I barely refrained from laughing at his plight.

  “Where do you think I should put him to sleep?” he asked.

  I frowned.

  “The floor?” I paused. “I just don’t know if he’ll fall off if you put him on the bed. And you’re not supposed to sleep with them in bed with you so…”

  Hayes was already shaking his head. “I don’t sleep well. And when I do… yeah, no sleeping with me. That could go badly.”

  I wanted to ask him to tell me what that meant so badly, but I refrained.