Page 118 of The Rowdy Ones

“Want me to talk to him?” I ask, cocking my head in question. “I was about to see if he wanted to start hitting the gym again.”

“Hell no,” Wild growls. “It is what it is.” Then he grins at me. “About time you go back. Getting a little soft in the gut.”

I flip him off. “Better than soft in the dick.”

He gestures dramatically at the cabin where my pregnant woman is still inside. “That’sclearly not a problem. I swear, you Jamisons are like fucking rabbits and act like birth control doesn’t exist.”

Rabbits are cool. Condoms are not.

“How’s Talia?” I ask with a smirk. “Put a ring on it yet?”

His nostrils flare. “We’re keeping it casual, remember?”

“Her social media is nothing but couple pictures. In fact, her last post said, ‘my bae is going to be a cop. #soproud.’” I still don’t really know what the fuck a bae is, though.

“No, she didn’t. You don’t even know how to do social media.”

“She did. And I had a lot of time sitting around healing to figure out my damn phone.”

He’s quiet for a bit and lets out a sigh. “Maybe it’ll work out in the end.”

I hope so for Talia’s sake. I like that girl, but I’m afraid she’s headed down a road of disappointment. Wild’s heart isn’t anywhere near hers. It’s sad and I feel somewhat responsible.

“Talked to Evan lately?” Wild asks, flipping the uncomfortable conversation onto me.

“Nope. Not since that night.”

“Uncle Will says he’s depressed again. Might be using. Finding out he was dating a serial killer fucked him up.”

I find it difficult to feel sorry for Evan. “Sucks to be him.”

“Oh, speaking of that psycho, Alex,” Wild says, jerking upright with excitement. “Remember when we went to the gym with him and he was ‘cut by a nail’?”

“Yeah.”

“I think it was a dog bite.” His eyes glitter with satisfaction. “Not even a cop yet and already solved a mystery.”

“And I care why?”

He leans forward, elbows resting on his knees. “I was scouring the social media accounts of all the victims. One of those victims had a dog.”

“Cool.”

“Not just any dog…” He pulls out his phone, swipes a couple of times, and then shows me the screen. “Your dog.”

I stare at Scout with some random guy. They’re standing by a Jeep and the guy has a red frisbee in his hand. In the picture, Scout is wearing a black bandana around his neck. He looks a lot tougher there. Before Destiny turned him soft, it seems he was a bit of a badass.

“I think Scout tried to attack Alex when he went after his owner, but maybe got scared away. Somehow, the dog made its way to you guys. Just a hunch.”

Maybe Wild will make a good cop after all.

I really hope he’s kidding about arresting me.

“Put your hand here,” Destiny says, breathing heavily. “Can you feel?”

My massive hand covers most of her belly. I wait and when I feel the nudge of our baby, I grin. This never gets old.

“You think the baby knows we just had sex?”