Page 24 of Sundowners
“Fuck you,” I said, pushing his hands off me. I listed to the side again and leaned against the patrol car.
“Hey, what the fuck?”
“It’s just my ear. I got dizzy.”
“I didn’t think that was bothering you anymore,” Rey said, placing a hand on my back and guiding me into the passenger seat of his patrol car. “Let me get you home.”
“I’m fine,” I muttered as he shut the door on me.
I rubbed at my head. The tinnitus subsided into a low-frequency headache that wasn’t helped by the slamming of Rey’s door.
“I’ll take you home, and I want you to call the doctor tomorrow.”
“I’m not a child.”
“You know, the only time you say that is when you’re being a child. Now let someone fucking take care of you, you little shit.”
I snorted, he lost it, and then we were both laughing until I held my head and moaned.
“Man, I haven’t had one like this in a long time.”
“You’ve been under a lot of stress, Roman. You need to rest. Stay home this weekend. Get some sleep.”
“Yeah, maybe.” I sat back in the seat and sighed. Then I frowned. “Nurse Creed asked me out.”
Reynaldo had his hand on the back of my headrest, watching traffic as he backed up. “You serious? Damn.”
“What?”
“Shit, I was gonna call up Lexi. Can’t have us both dating nurses at that place.”
“What does it matter?” I asked, frowning at him. He pulled out into traffic and drove the few blocks to our family home. My lola’s home. My home. He stopped the car outside and finished an exchange on his radio.
“I’m just messing with you. You like the guy?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Are you being a child again or—”
I elbowed him, and he held up his hands in surrender. “No,” I said, laughing. “I’m just…there’s something about him.”
“I’ll say. Guy’s a charmer.”
“It’s not that. Yeah, he’s hot, but I don’t know. He puts me on edge, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.”
Reynaldo lost his smile. “If there’s something off about him—”
“No. I mean, I don’t think it’soff, so much as I feel out of control around him. Is that weird?”
“Yeah, but then you’re weird.”
“God, fuck off,” I said, opening the door. “I don’t know. Should I go out with him? It would be awkward if it didn’t go well and then I ran into him at Puesta.”
“Yeah, but you don’t have to interact with him if you don’t want to. Besides, he seems like a solid guy. They have to pass background checks for that place. He doesn’t set off my shitbag radar, so there’s that. Why not? Do something safe, you know? Something where you guys aren’t tempted to get horizontal right away.”
“Whatever. Thanks, Dr. Phil.”
“Don’t mention it. I’ll wait til you’re in. Light on, okay?”
