Page 3 of The Grumpy Vet
"He's forty-one," I answer, nodding. Dario squints, and I figure he's trying—and failing—to do the maths in his head, so I help him out. "There's fourteen years between us."
"Thanks. I failed maths." He smiles. "What about the other thing?"
"What other thing?"
"You know…" He leans in closer even though there's no one else on the street. "The fact that your old man and Linus are best mates."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Oh, boy. Have you not read a single romance novel in your life?"
"No, I haven't." I match his smile. "I failed English."
Dario snorts. "This'll be interesting."
Okay, so while I may have dismissed the dad thing to Dario, it has crossed my mind a few times. Dad and I are super close, so of course I care what he thinks. But what's the point in getting ahead of myself and worrying about his reaction when I haven't even confirmed whether Linus even likes me or not, whether he sees me as anything other than just an employee…or his best mate's son? I'll cross the Dad bridge if—when?—I get to it.
Dario and I make our way towards the entrance where a battered screen door, patched with duct tape, slaps against the frame in the evening breeze.
Dario grabs my arm. "Wait. You've never even told me what Linus looks like."
"You didn't see him when he interviewed you for the job?"
"No. It was a phone call, not video."
"Well, you'll know him when you see him?—"
He grins cheekily. "Because your boner will poke me in the leg?"
"No." I give his chest a playful thump. "Because he'll be the hottest guy in the place."
Dario
"This is Wilby and his husband, Col." Ryde begins the round of introductions when we reach the corner table his friends are sitting at. Wilby and Col both smile warmly at me. "That's Fitz and Muir." I'm terrible at remembering names, but Fitz, with his rainbow glitter beard, is going to be one I won't forget. Ryde takes a deep breath. "And that's Linus."
I give the guy a quick and deliberate once-over, my face revealing nothing, before reaching across the table to shake hands with everyone.
Wilby looks just like I imagined based on what Ryde has told me about him, all cheeky smile and playful eyes. He's giving total larrikin vibes. Col looks more serious but seems equally friendly. He's from New York if I remember correctly and gave up the Big Apple and moved to the middle of the Australian outback for love.
"Love your beard," I say when I get to Fitz.
"Thanks." He cranes his neck proudly, all the different flecks of colour catching in the light. "Need to keep the children fed."
"You certainly left no crumbs," I reply with a smile, which seems to please him.
He and Muir are together, and Muir seems slightly quieter than his partner, but then again, it's always the quiet ones you need to look out for.
And then I reach Linus.
The fucking bastard.
What the hell is his problem?
He's got the world's best guy interested in him and he's what, stringing him along?For years!Ryde may not be super great when it comes to dating, but Linus is older and should be handling this situation better. He should have either shut it down if he's not interested or, if he wants to pursue something, do it already. Two bloody years this thing has been going on, and literally zero progress has been made.
That's one of the reasons why I took this job. Ryde wants to move things forwards with Linus, and after witnessing the sorriest message thread in human history, he needs me even more than I realised. In exchange, he'll help get me in tip-top shape, and I'll go back to Blowend with a killer body I can flaunt in front of Quade's stupid face, and also, hopefully, be totally, one hundred percent over my crush on my bestie.
Uhhh, yeah.
