Page 46 of Playing for Keeps (Checkmate 4)

“Yeah, but everything’s quiet. Oz is on, I’m on. Libby’s on nights this week. What do you need?”

“I have to go see my surgeon today, but I can’t climb into my truck on my own. It’s too high.” And admitting that burns me up. “Can you come get me?”

“Sure. Where’s Andi? She’s being good, right?”

“She’s not my nurse, X. And she’s not invited. In fact, who do I speak to about removing a squatter from my home?”

He thinks I’m playing. He chuckles, and lets out a relieved breath like he thinks I’m back to making jokes.

I’m serious.

We’re the fucking cops, but no one will remove the squatter from my home.

“I don’t know who you gotta talk to about that, Rook. This is a unique case, and seeing as she has ties to the cops…”

“You are the cops!”

“Right, but she’s basically sister-in-law to my deputy, plus she’s dating my rookie, so I’m thinking this is more of a civil case that needs to be worked out in private. Oz warned you about her. He told you to watch your back. She’s a wildcat.”

“We’re not dating,” I hiss through my teeth. Her shower finishes, then the creak of the shower door conjures images of a naked Andi in my mind. And yet… “Can you come and get me? I gotta be at my appointment at ten.”

“Yeah, I’ll come get you now. You’re ready?”

“Yup. I’m dressed and ready to go. Knock on the front door, but don’t come in. I don’t intend to hang around.” It’s funny how something like losing your leg gives a guy perspective. Alex Turner is my chief –wasmy chief – and as such, I possessed a healthy dose of respect for the guy.

I took his orders and looked up to the guy who is a few years my senior and more badass than he’ll let anyone think. But when you’ve faced death – and worse, had to contemplate sacrificing Andi Conner – nobody intimidates me anymore. I’ve reached a point in my life where I just don’t give a fuck.

So I tell him not to come inside my fucking house, and ten minutes after he hangs up and stomps up the wooden ramp out the front, I blow past Andi on my crutches and slam the door closed before Alex can even say hello.

“Let’s go.”

“Excuse the fuck me, Rook, but I was here to check on Andi, too.” He doesn’t help me down the ramp. He stubbornly stands at the door with his hands on his belt – on his gun – and stares. “Oz is my best friend, and it’s my duty to check in with the family on his behalf.”

It’s cold as fuck out here, and the ramp is slippery despite the salt I see on it. Looking out at my yard, I add another brick of guilt to my load; Andi has shoveled and salted the walkways. A light dusting covers where she shoveled, and looking up, I scowl at the soft flurries shitting on us and threatening to toss me on my ass when I slip.

It would be mother nature’s way of teaching me a lesson for being a dick.

Spout off mean shit to Andi – fall on your ass.

Physically hurt her again – take a stick of dynamite up your ass and watch yourself splatter.

“You don’t have to check on her.” Arguing quietly, I take a slow step after slow step. The front door creaks open – because the whole world knows Andi Conner is incapable of taking a hint – but I keep moving. “See? She’s fine. Unless you’re here to evict her, you don’t have to come in or speak to anyone inside.”

“He’s a grumpy fuck, huh?”

Andi scoffs. I turn for a brief second to find her in skin tight jeans and a pair of fur lined boots that stretch up to her knees. Her top is baby pink and three-quarter sleeved… and intended to be worn beneath a coat. She stands at the door in too few clothes, with her arms folded over her chest, chattering teeth, and wet hair. “He sure is, Chief. I’m not sure why you’re here, since I told him I’d drive him today, but the whole grumpy fuck thing might have something to do with it.”

I stand a foot from the end of the ramp and contemplate the one-inch step down. Such a small step, but it’s enough to keep me hostage. “Little help here, please?”

“Don’t help him, X. Let him figure his own shit out.”

“Fuck you, Andrea!”

Alex swings around with fire in his eyes. “Hey!”

“No, fuck you, Riley.” Angrily, Andi steps down the ramp and swings past me so fast, I wobble on my feet. Stopping two paces ahead of me, she waits for the inevitable – for me to fall. “You don’t get shit until you learn how to treat your friends. I said I was gonna take you! But no, you gotta be an asshole and call in the chief. So he drops whatever he was doing and comes here to help you. But no, you gotta be an asshole to him, too. So your options now, Mr. I-can-do-everything-myself, is to get your own ass off that ramp. Sit on your bottom and scooch. It’ll be fun to see your wet pants when you stand again.”

“Why the fuck are you here, Andi? You wanna see me suffer? You want me to beg? I just want to go to my fucking doctor’s appointment and get the fucking staples out of my fucking leg. I don’t want your help! Why can’t you grasp that?”

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