Page 30 of By the Book

“I don’t think I do.” My words fall weakly between us, not much weight behind them.

“You deserve to be happy,” Millie replies with a smile.

“Yeah, well,” I start with a huff. “Tell Wes that.”

“Sure, it would be complicated at first. But if it’s what you want, you should do it.”

“Alright, well as fun as this pep talk has been, I’ve got plans with the guys,” I say, moving to the door. Then pausing, I sigh and add, “Thanks for the support.”

“Think the team is gonna cover?” Hayden asks, cracking open a beer and walking around his classic Corvette Stingray.

“We’d better,” Wes snorts.

I lean against the tool bench across from the TV, tipping back my own beer. Hayden’s got more money in this garage than I have in my house, and it is his favorite place to watch games.

“When do you take off again?” Hayden asks Wes as a commercial comes on.

“Don’t have anything planned,” he admits.

“They kick ya out?”

Wes replies with a middle finger as he grabs a slice of pizza from beside me and plants himself on a stool.

“Seriously, I’m looking for some type of an emergency medicine guy on the new rescue team. It’s yours if you’re interested.”

“I’ll think about it, thanks man.”

“Tripp, if you’re over this sheriff thing, I’d tag you as our coxswain.”

“Yeah, remember that one night we took Pops’s boat out and got caught in that storm,” Wes pipes up.

“We should have died that night.” I laugh with a nod.

“You handled that shit like a pro. You could do rescue operations.”

“Alright, if they boot me from office, I’ll sign on.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Hayden smirks, turning back to the TV as the game comes back on.

“Speaking of,” Wes mutters, leaning over. “Any updates on who went after my sister?”

“Not yet.”

Trying to ignore the way my body reacts to the mention of Ivy, I can’t help but wonder how she’s spending her night. My phone burns a hole in my pocket. I’m eager to text her, despite not having any reason in particular to do so. But now that I’ve started seeing her outside of Taylor family events, I need more. More time with her, more shared moments, more shared touches. I need more of her.

I reach for the pizza instead of my phone, watching the punter run onto the field. She’s Wes’s sister, I remind myself.Also, the victim in my current case. I have a number of reasons I need to get control of myself once again.

“Either way, thanks for helping V. I know you went above your job duties for her, driving her home and coming back around to help with clean up.”

Shrugging, I reply as honestly as I can without giving myself away. “Sure, I mean it’s Ivy.”

Chapter 13

Ivy

Ablack leather skirt is tossed my way, followed by my favorite sleeveless mock neck sweater. Also, black.

“Oh, and these boots for sure.” Poppy holds up my black knee-high boots.

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