Page 83 of Waiting for Ru
“Don’t tell him. We don’t want to piss off Jasim, even with a joke.”
“Tell me,” Ru said.
“We sometimes invite a couple to share our bed,” Newt said.
“Is there enough room?” Ru asked and couldn’t understand why the pair found that so funny.
“Verdict on the week?” Newt asked.
“You keep asking me that as if you expect me to change my mind,” Ru said. “Or maybe catch me out and I’ll blurt the truth.”
“Leigh might have yelled at you. It’s enough to make me quake.”
“Hey!” Leigh protested.
“I’ve loved every minute of it,” Ru said.
“Even when that piebald monster stepped on your foot?” Leigh asked.
“Okay, not that bit.”
“Or when I castrated that pony and he later bit you?”
“Or that part, but it was my fault.”
“Or—”
“Fine,” Ru interrupted. “There were a few minutes that I didn’t love, but it was the best week of my working life so far.”
“Don’t say that.” Newt groaned. “You need a week with me. That will outdo a week with Leigh.”
“While you’re doing a post mortem?” Ru swallowed hard.
“No.” Leigh laughed. “A week with him and he’d talk you into tattoos and piercings.”
“Have I talked you into them yet?” Newt let go of the wheel to stroke Leigh’s hair.
“Not quite.”
“Maybe a teeny tiny tattoo for your teeny tiny—”
“Don’t you dare.”
Ru like this pair. He liked the way they were with each other, the way they teased and joked and touched.
“Have you made up your mind what you want to do?” Newt asked.
“Equine nurse.”
“Why not a vet?” Leigh glanced at him.
“I’ve finally accepted that I only want to look after horses.”
“Which is what I do,” Leigh pointed out. “And donkeys.”
“Yes, but first you had train to deal with hamsters, dogs, snakes, hedgehogs and stuff. I can be an equine nurse with just GCSEs, though I’d need A levels to do an equine nurse degree. I like the idea of working and studying at the same time, because I need to support myself, but I have to get the GCSEs first. Once I find a place that can train me, I’ll apply to do them at a local college.”
Ru sort of hoped that Leigh might want to take him on, but he was too shy to ask and he guessed, to be fair, he had to apply along with everyone else.
