Page 45 of Falling for the Wrong Guy

“The doctor said Quinn has developed a fever. They’re administering antibiotics, but he said it was definitely a setback.”

“Ang, Quinn is tough. He’ll get through it. I’ll be at your house in about forty minutes. We can go to the hospital together and corner one of the doctors for more specifics.”

“All right, but Max is still expecting ice cream. I told him before I got the news about Quinn.”

“We can take him for ice cream and then go to the hospital.” This wasn’t the time to tell Angie about the new visitors in town. She had enough to worry about. “I’ll see you soon.” I hung up and called Aria.

“Guess you can’t get enough of your boss, eh?” she teased.

“That’s very true. But I need to take a raincheck on dinner. Something’s come up, and I need to go to the hospital.”

“I’m sorry, Dex. Is it serious?”

“Quinn’s taken a turn for the worse, but I know my buddy; he’s tough. He had a hard childhood, and he came out the other side stronger than anyone I know.” The words were really meant for me. I needed convincing that this wasn’t going to end in tragedy. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the café.”

“All right. Keep me posted.”

I hurried back to the motorcycle and rode toward Angie’s house.

ChapterTwenty-Eight

Aria

Iwas disappointed that Dex and I wouldn’t see each other this evening, but he had something far more important to do. I had plenty of things on my errand list, and now that I had the rest of the afternoon free, I planned to get them done.

I picked up the small brown package with the earrings. My first stop was the post office. The sooner the earrings were out of my possession, the better. My phone rang as I got settled behind the steering wheel.

“Hey, Isla, I’m just on my way to run some errands, including sending back the earrings. Kellan texted me earlier to remind me, as if I could forget. He also told me to send them registered mail with insurance because if they got lost, I’d owe him two thousand dollars.”

“What a bum. Technically, those earrings belong to you.”

“I don’t want them.”

“Kellan was actually the reason behind my call. He called Luke today asking if they could still hang out and network, whatever that meant, even though you two were no longer dating.”

I started the heater. “I knew I was only the second person in the relationship. Once he heard that my sister was dating Luke Greyson, his ears perked up, and suddenly, I became a much better prospect to him.”

“Oh, Ar, I doubt that was the case, and if it was, then good riddance. Luke let him down gently by telling him that he didn’t think they had enough in common to keep up a friendship.”

“Luke is the best.”

“And how about your new guy?”

A flutter started just thinking about Dex. “Very nice,” I said demurely. “There’s been some kissing and a major heap of flirting, but—I don’t know—La, is this wrong? I can’t help feeling as if this is destined for disaster like some kind of cursed romance because I was dating his brother.”

“Think about it this way. Dex saved you from a relationship that was definitely going to end in disaster, one way or another. I already sensed for weeks that the shine was wearing off on your relationship with Kellan. And since the two men are hardly even acquainted with each other, you almost can’t call them brothers. Wait. Dex isn’t just a rebound guy, is he?”

I gave it a millisecond of thought. “The way it ended with Kellan, I wasn’t in the market for a rebound because there was nothing to bounce back from. I was relieved when he walked out of my café yesterday morning. Dex and I were supposed to hang out tonight, but he had an emergency with his friend.” I badly wished I could tell Isla about the coins. “I’m off to do my errands. I hope Kellan doesn’t keep bothering Luke.”

“I think he put an end to that by letting him know the friendship was a nonstarter.”

“Luke is so good at diplomacy. By the way, I’ve got to stop by Megan’s Spice Shop for a few things. Do you need anything?”

“Yes, yay, that’ll save me a trip. I need vanilla and fresh nutmeg. Oh, and maybe some cardamom seeds and another bottle of cinnamon sticks.”

I laughed. “Jeez, send me a list. I’ll never remember all of that.”

“I’ll send it now. Thanks. See you later.”

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