“It’s still not as bad.” She finished the rest of her water then tossed the plastic bottle across the carpet.

I raised an eyebrow. “You’re already making a mess?”

She shrugged. “What are sisters for?”

When I knew Jace was off work, I called him.

He didn’t answer. It went straight to voicemail.

Maybe he was still at work? I finished unpacking then hung up the rest of my clothes in the closet. After everything was done, I started to worry. Maybe something happened at work. I decided to call the firehouse.

“Yeah?” a guy answered.

“Is Jace there? This is his girlfriend, Alaska.”

“Oh.” He fumbled with the phone for a moment. “The computer says he clocked out an hour ago.”

“Okay. Thank you.” I hung up. Maybe he left his phone somewhere.

I called again, just to see if he would answer.

“Hey, baby.” He sounded out of breath.

It was nice to hear his voice. “Where have you been?”

“I just got off work.” He still breathed heavily. “How was the move?”

Just got off work? “I called the firehouse and they said you clocked out an hour ago.”

“Yeah, I did. But I had paperwork to do. If we get any overtime, we have to take an extra day off and I can’t afford to lose the hours.”

That made sense. “Oh okay.”

“So, the move?” he repeated.

“It was fine. I don’t have much stuff, actually.” It was kind of sad to think about it.

“You and Payton managed?”

“Yeah. We’re strong and buff.” I had a smile on my face.

“Maybe the strong part. I don’t know about the other one…”

I laughed. “You want to come over?” I missed him all day.

“Uh, I would but I’m pretty tired.”

“Well, I just washed the sheets and the bed is put together. You could sleep here.” I liked having his warm body next to mine during the night.

“Sorry, baby. I’m going to pass. Next time though.”

I tried to hide my disappointment. I didn’t want to be too clingy with him. “Okay.”

“I got to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay.” I waited for him to say those three little words.

“Bye.” The line went dead.

I took the phone away from my ear and sighed. Lately, I felt like something was off between Jace and I. I didn’t know what it was. Sometimes I felt like he wasn’t as into me as he used to be. When we started dating, he couldn’t stop looking at me. He did everything he could to make me happy. I was his whole world. But lately, I felt like nothing more than just…I don’t know. I just didn’t feel important anymore.

Not knowing what to do with myself, I lay on the couch and watched TV alone.

CHAPTER THREE

Ash

“How was that girl the other night?” Sage dribbled the ball then made the shot.

“What girl?” I asked.

“The blonde one from the bar.” He had a humored look on his face. “The one who had flab on her stomach.”

“Oh yeah.” I totally forgot about her. “She was fine.”

“Just fine?” He dribbled the ball then aimed his shot.

“Yeah. Nothing spectacular. I had her lay on her stomach so I wouldn’t see her face.”

Scotty stared at me incredulously. “Just when I think you can’t get any worse, you do.”

“What?” I stole the ball from Sage and dribbled it between my legs. “At least I’m honest.”

Liam moved to the hoop so he could get the ball when I missed. “I thought I was bad, but you put me to shame.”

“All of us to shame,” Scotty said.

I made the shot and it went straight through the hoop. “I should go for the pros.”

Sage rolled his eyes. “Stay in school.”

Scotty gave me a serious look. “Honestly, how long is this going to go on for? You’re getting older and all the good girls are getting snatched by the minute.”

“I don’t care if all the girls are snatched up. I don’t care if they cheat on their boyfriends.” I blocked Liam and tried to steal the ball away.

“You really should think twice about that,” Liam threatened. “Because if I found Keira in bed with some other guy, he wouldn’t be able to leave because both of his legs would be broken.”

“Which is why I take them to my place.” I grabbed the ball then dribbled to the opposite corner.

Liam stopped chasing me. “How long is this going to go on for? Seriously?”

“You want to die alone?” Scotty asked.

I rolled my eyes. “You were just like me six months ago.”

“I don’t deny that,” Scotty said. “But when I settled down it was the best decision I ever made. Plus, you’re older than me.”

“Are we girls right now?” I made the shot.

“I just think you should stop being a dick.” Scotty gave me a firm look.

I met his gaze. “You really shouldn’t talk to your sister’s boyfriend like that.”

“I couldn’t care less.” Scotty stepped back. “And I know Livia wouldn’t either.”

I passed the ball to Sage then stepped back, sick of being grilled.

Scotty stood next to me.

Great. This isn’t over.

“Is there something going on, man?” He kept his voice low. “Because you’ve been worse than usual.”

The anger thudded behind my eyes every second of the day. Sometimes I wanted to rip someone’s throat out, anyone. When I picked up girls and took them back to my place, it was just a means to an end. I needed to release the frustration deep inside me, release the pain. “No.”

Scotty didn’t let up. “I don’t believe you.” He kept staring at me.

“I guess…Livia.” That was all I could say. I acted like my sister was a pain in the ass and I couldn’t stand her, but…I loved her. I loved her a lot. Knowing some jackasses held her down and…did what they did kept me up at night. I hid all of this from Livia, not wanting her to see the hurt on my face. My faith in humanity had been shaken. My belief in men was ruined. There were no good men out there, so why should I be one?

Scotty placed his hand on my back for a moment before he dropped it. “I know it’s hard, but she’s doing really well. She’s let it go and moved on. She’s fine.”

“It’s still shouldn’t have happened. I’m just so angry all the time…”

Scotty said nothing for a while. “I understand. But I don’t think being the biggest dick in San Diego is going to fix your problems.”

“I’m only a dick to the girls who let me get away with it. It’s not my fault they are so pathetic.”

Scotty ignored my words. “Why don’t you go on a date or something? Actually sit down and talk?”

“No.” I stepped away from him, needing space. I never wanted to have a girlfriend—ever. I never wanted to get married. What if I fell in love with someone and…the same thing happened to her? How would I get over that? I love my sister with my whole heart, and every time I think about what happened to her, I die inside. What if it happened to my wife? Or my daughter? I just…I didn’t want to care about anyone. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t get hurt.

“Maybe he just hasn’t found the right girl yet,” Liam said. “When I found Keira, I literally changed overnight.”

“But he isn’t going to find her if he’s a jackass to every girl he meets,” Scotty said. “All the good girls will steer clear of you.”

“Good,” I said darkly. I stole the ball from Sage then dribbled it to the hoop. After I made my shot I passed it to Liam. “Now can we talk about monster trucks or porn? Because I’m starting to feel like a girl.”

My patient had a blood clot in her leg. After using blood thinners to remove it, no change had taken place. I feared the clot would move to her lungs or her heart. As a result, she didn’t move around much.

And I was bored to tears.

Why couldn’t I have a more interesting patient? Someone with a complicated medical history? Someone that needed surgery? I wanted to work in the emergency room, unsure what kind of patient would come in by ambulance.

But no, I was assigned this ridiculously boring patient.