Page 76 of Waiting for Ru
“Sad. Nineteen-year-old who’d overdosed. Only child. His parents were…not as devastated as I’d expected.” Newt sighed. “I think they’d been waiting for the call.”
“Are you a doctor?” Ru asked.
“Of the dead. I’m a forensic pathologist.”
“That must be fascinating.”
Newt beamed at him. “It is.”
“How did you two meet?”
“It was so romantic.” Newt pretended to swoon.
“No, it wasn’t.” Leigh gave a short laugh.
“Yes, it was. I was up to my elbows in the chest cavity of a water-logged corpse.”
Ru’s jaw dropped.
“And Leigh didn’t throw up!” Newt grinned. “Colour me impressed. I thought, this is the guy for me.”
“I needed to talk to him about a horse found at a crime scene and—”
“No way did that horse do it,” Newt quipped.
Ru laughed.
“Don’t laugh at him,” Leigh whined. “It just encourages him.”
The doorbell rang and Leigh went to answer it.
“Do you ride?” Ru asked.
“As often as he lets me.” Newt winked and Ru felt his face heat. Newt looked over Ru’s shoulder and smiled. “Hi, Jasim.”
Ru’s heart jolted and he spun round. His heart jumped into his throat. Jasim smiled at him and Ru managed to croak out, “Hello.”
“Have a good day?” Jasim put a bottle of wine on the worktop.
Jasim’s long spiky lashes feathered over the taut skin of his cheekbones and for a moment, lost in how good-looking Jasim was, Ru forgot he was supposed to be answering the question.
“It was really grand, thank you,” Ru mumbled.
“Wine or something non-alcoholic?” Leigh asked Jasim.
“I’ll stick to water, thanks.”
Leigh filled a glass from a dispenser on the fridge, handed it to Jasim, then took a plate of salmon fillets outside.
“Do you have another match soon?” Newt asked.
“One we have to win to get into the playoff.”
“Want me to nobble Nicolás?”
Jasim chuckled. “What if you got caught?”
“Why do you think I took up pathology for a living? If you need a perfect crime committing, I’m your man.”
