Misadventures with a Rookie Read online

  She laughed once more, shaking her head, her brown mane falling off the couch some. “I don’t know, Bo. He seems to be digging you.”

  I was worried she was gonna say that.

  But before I could come up with some kind of excuse why that would never happen, that she was delusional, there was a frantic knock at the door.

  Lizzy giggled. “He’s really ready to pound ya.”

  Glancing back at her, I made a pfft sound as I reached for the door. When I opened it, I cried out in shock.

  Because standing on my doorstep was Gus.

  Blood dripped like mad from his hand, and there was a pitiful-looking dog under his arm.

  “Gus!”

  He shook his head, panic in his eyes. “I had to save her!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Gus

  Right back to where I was used to being.

  On a gurney.

  But unlike where my mom or dad would sit, Bo was beside me and a doctor stood at the end of the bed. I moved my good hand as I spoke. “The poor girl dog was being attacked by three other big dogs. I thought if I went up, made a few loud noises, I’d scare them and they’d run away, but obviously, I was wrong.”

  I held my hand up for the example that I probably didn’t have to give but did anyway. The doctor did not appear to find me amusing. I felt Bo’s gaze on me. When I glanced over at her, she was looking at me like I was insane.

  Maybe I was.

  But that sweet girl dog was gorgeous, and I couldn’t let her be treated like that.

  Clearing his throat, the doctor asked, “So you tried to separate them?”

  I threw my good hand up. “Yeah. I mean, they were big! She was all hollering and crying. I couldn’t just ignore it. I had to save her.”

  The doctor blinked once more, total disbelief on his face. “So you risked getting rabies to save a homeless dog from being attacked?”

  “We don’t know she was a homeless dog,” I corrected. “She is so sweet, and I couldn’t tell if she had a collar. It wasn’t a fair fight! I couldn’t stand by and let her get torn to shreds by three big old dogs. It was truly sad, and I had no choice—”

  “You could have let dogs be dogs.”

  I shook my head. Why was I being scrutinized here? “I couldn’t. I felt awful, and I didn’t think twice. I had to save her. Anyone would have stopped them.”

  “I wouldn’t have,” the doctor corrected. “They could have seriously injured you—torn ligaments, nerve damage. You’re lucky you only have a few bites and need just a couple of stitches. It could have been much worse. You could develop an infection, you could lose your hand, or even worse, die.”

  I waved him off. “Please. I’m good. I got bitten like twice. I was fine until they got my hand. I was kicking like a ninja, and I got her up in my arms before she got hurt more.”

  This time, it was the doctor throwing his hands out toward me. “What if she had bitten you?”

  I shook my head. “Nah, she loves me.”

  More blinking from the doctor as Bo giggled beside me.

  I shot her a wink before I looked back at the doctor. “What if it was your dog? Would you want her to suffer like that when some guy could have jumped in and helped her?”

  Exhaling hard, the doctor wrote in his chart without even looking at me.

  Asshole.

  He was older, though, and didn’t understand I was trying to impress the hottie beside me. And man, did she look good tonight. I mean, I thought she was fine all the time, but tonight, whoowee. With tight shorts, a little belly showing, and those tits that were mouthwatering, it was almost unfair that our date was starting in an ER. I wanted to show her off to everyone. I wanted to honestly just sit there and stare at her. Her eyes were darker, probably from the makeup, but I sort of liked it. I really loved her lips, though. They were a dark red and so damn plump. I wanted to smear that lipstick with my mouth, eat away every bit of the color and devour every inch of her.

  But before I could, the doctor was speaking once more. “Okay, we’re going to run some antibiotics through you, and then you can go. We’ve contacted your team doctor. That’s protocol. If he wants to see you, you’ll have to wait for him.”

  Well, that sucked. “So you’re saying I’ll be here a bit?”

  “At least another three hours. If you’re lucky.”

  I groaned slightly as he in return rolled his eyes and left. Bo was watching me. “So, I suck.”

  She shrugged, shaking her head. “You don’t.”

  “I do. I ruined a perfectly good evening with a super-hot chick.”

  Her face filled with color as she looked away, swallowing hard. “It’s fine. You saved a dog.”

  I smiled. “You don’t think I’m dumb?”

  She laughed a little. “Dumb, no. But crazy, yes. I wouldn’t have the balls to do such a thing. You could have lost your hand.”

  I shrugged. “If that’s the way it would have played out, then that’s that.”

  Her gaze narrowed as she looked over at me. “It’s your career though, everything you’ve worked for.”

  “Yeah, but if it wasn’t meant to be, it wasn’t meant to be. I live in the now. I work my ass off in the hopes that I’ll be rewarded, but nothing is promised. Everything can change like that.” Snapping my fingers for emphasis, I held her gaze. “I probably should have thought that through before I saved the dog, but if I worried so much about every move, I’d be full of anxiety. I don’t want that. I want to be happy.”

  She blinked a few times and then slowly shook her head. “It’s like you’re out to prove every single thing I assumed about you wrong.”

  My grin grew, and I shot her a wink. “Ah, you’re onto me.”

  The curtain opened, and in came a nurse to start my antibiotics. As she was hooking everything up, I asked, “Hey, can I eat?”

  She nodded. “Of course.”

  “Cool, thanks,” I said before looking back over to Bo. She was sitting straight up, her hands in her lap as she moved her fingers along one another. She was picking at her nail polish, and I loved that I was driving her crazy. “Hey, you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”

  She smiled, slowly lifting her shoulder. “I want to.”

  Flashing a grin, I nodded. “Cool. Let’s order some food, then.”

  “That sounds great. I’m starving.”

  “So am I,” I decided as I pulled my phone out, but before I could suggest something, the doctor popped his head in.

  “Hey, your team doctor is coming in, so it’s going to be a bit.”

  “Awesome.” It sucked that I was stuck in the ER, but glancing over at Bo, her lips glistening in the horrible hospital lights, I couldn’t think of a better person I’d rather share the time with. “Pizza or noodles?”

  “Pizza.”

  I nodded in agreement. “A girl after my own heart.”

  I didn’t miss the look on her face, probably because she thought it was a line.

  But the more time I spent with Bo St. James, the more I realized the words were true.

  And the funny thing was, she wasn’t even trying.

  She was just being her.

  “No way.”

  I grinned, catching the cheese that was trying to escape from my pizza. “No really. They took all my clothes and froze them to the ice.”

  She sputtered with laughter, covering her mouth with one hand as she held her slice with the other. “What did you do?”

  “What any confident and hung man would do.”

  “Jesus,” she groaned.

  I cracked up and continued. “As I was saying, I went out there, naked as the day I was born, but of course, a lot more hung.”

  She nodded, holding her hand out. “Of course.”

  I held back more laughter. “I peeled my clothes off the ice, put my boxers on, and left.”

  She was holding her belly, giggling hard. “You weren’t even the least bit embarrassed?”

  I thought tha