Wyatt Cocker (Cocker Brothers Book 23), стр. 19
Deep breath.
Where is my phone?
Need a tutorial.
Where did I leave it?
Which bag?
Which jacket?
Which jeans?
“Diana?”
I scream with everything I’ve got, and grab my chest, shouting from inside my walk-in closet to Lita, “You scared me!”
“What have you done with the furniture? Why is it in all the wrong places?”
“Did you see where I left my phone?”
“It was on the charger in the bathroom when I left.”
I mutter to myself a surprised, “Have I not gone to the bathroom since I got home?” and head for our shared loo.
“I see a vacuum. I don’t believe it, but I see it. Why are you limping? Did you hurt yourself by vacuuming for the first time in a year?”
A sarcastic, “Ha,” flies out as I grab my phone, yank the charger out. “It hasn’t been a whole year since…OH MY GOD!”
“What?! What!?”
Walking out, I am staring at my phone with the biggest grin I’ve ever had. “He texted me!”
“Eddie? So what? Did you think he was canceling? Wait, is he canceling? Don’t tell me he’s engaged and didn’t tell you he was seeing someone.”
I give her a what-the-fuck look. “Not Eddie. And he’s not engaged.”
Ohhhhhhhh.
Lita’s projecting.
She still hasn’t gotten over what happened to her with Nicholas.
It was before she and I met, but I’ve heard the story. She was really hung up on Nicholas Cocker before he fell for someone named Madison, who Lita calls Plain Jane Girl.
Nicholas was a huge player. The biggest or so the lore goes. Lita met him at some party thrown by one of his friends. A guy named Billy. Can’t remember the last name. From what I recall, that was a regular thing for Nicholas, though. The party and hooking up with someone he just met.
But Lita hoped it would be more. He got her number. They went out on a date, if you can call it that. They saw each other one other time. Making it three, total. Just enough for a girl to get attached.
When the phone stayed dark for a couple weeks, she was patient. But then one Saturday night, she drunk-dialed him and it went to voicemail. More time was allowed to pass. Then she ran into him at another party, at some warehouse, and he confessed that he hadn’t called because he’d met someone who was on his mind — he didn’t want to fuck it up.
Lita saw them together later, and was shocked that such a sexy bastard had chosen someone you’d easily overlook if she weren’t on his arm — her words.
Dang.
I can’t talk about Wyatt.
Not yet.
Not to her.
But there it is…
A text.
Three words:
How’s the leg?
And it’s two hours old!
There was zero need to check in that soon.
Struggling for a subject change I close the screen. “Oh no, what time is it? Eddie! I have to get ready.”
“What is going on with you? Drugs?”
“Can I cancel a date this late?”
“When is he picking you up?”
“It’s 5:40 now, so…less than two hours.”
Lita blinks around the chaos, wishing another answer could feel right. “I don’t like him very much, but cancelling with that little notice when you’re the one who called him, that’s not really cool, D.” She waves around and then points at my phone. “Now what the hell is going on?!”
CHAPTER 15
LATER THAT DAY
WYATT
T he remainder of our day was filled with fairly routine police work, nothing too interesting.
Washington and I head back to the station.
“Okay Doc, I’ll tell him,” his deep baritone rumbles into the phone before he sets it on his knee and looks at my tapping fingers. “You have been beating that steering wheel for the last 3 miles.”
My mind is on Chief. She didn’t say come back to the station. Just sent it without a word. That’s worse than yelling at me. Haven’t told my partner about the photo. “How’s the duck?”
“Didn’t make it.”
Frowning, I confess, “That’s not what I thought you were going to say.”
He sighs, rubs both of his knees to give disappointment an outlet. The phone rattles to the floor and he retrieves it, muttering, “Me neither. The ducklings…”
“They going to Wildlife?”
“Wildlife said they can probably go free. It’s too busy over there. Today brought in a lot.”
I focus on the road. “Right.”
We are in silence until the driveway, dark blue patrol cars lined up outside the precinct to the right, visitor cars on the left. The door to the austere structure smack center and I stare at it wishing I knew my fate.
We jump out, slam our doors. Washington rubs his bald head, exhaling loudly. “I really wanted that duck to make it.”
“Me too. Listen, I’ve been meaning to tell you. Probably going to face a shit storm inside here. She texted a photo of me carrying Diana at the hospital.”
Washington stops just outside the entrance. “When did this happen?”
“Earlier.”
He stares at the cars, not speaking at first. “How did I not see somebody taking your picture?”
“That’s what you’re worried about? That you didn’t catch it?”
“I should’ve been on the lookout.”
I smirk, “Washington, you are a trip.”
Furious at himself, he stomps one boot. “When you are doing something that fucking stupid, I should’ve been on the lookout for somebody taking your damn picture.”
I throw up my hand. “Hey now.”
“Because you are always going to be doing something that stupid when it comes to women. And as your partner, during this 15 minutes of fame, I have to watch your back! I have to do a better job!”
I cross my arms. “I see what you’re doing. Reverse psychology. You act like it’s all your fault and then I’m supposed to correct you and take the blame.” He stares at me like I figured it out. “Alright, fine! But I am not going to apologize for being me. I texted her.”
His head swings back in disbelief. “Are you out of your damn mind? You have lost your damn mind! No, don’t tell me you were checking to