Page 42 of Warrior's Walk
“Miss you too, girl. How’s Womack?”
“Same old, same old, different day. You’re not missing anything.”
“I know,” I laugh, convinced she’s telling the truth. “Right now, I’m soaking in the hot tub, watching the sunset over the valley. In ten minutes, it’ll be dark enough for me to count a hundred stars over my head.”
“I kind of hate you,” Liza teases with a sigh.
“You love me.”
“So, how’s Marshmallow doing?”
“Who?”
“Rhett,” she says impatiently.
Of course, I knew who she was talking about, but I’m not going to let her know that, like I’m eager for the sound of his name.
“He’s settling in, slowly making friends.Veryslowly.”
“He’s lost a lot in a short amount of time. It doesn’t surprise me he’s cautious about letting new people in. How’s his pain management?”
“I guess he’s managing. Not gonna lie, PT is no party, no matter what I tell the guys.”
“He should have about fifteen days left of his script, and he has another refill scheduled, but after that, I don’t know.”
“What is he taking?”
“Percocet.”
Great, opioids. “I’ll keep an eye on him. Don’t worry about it.”
“Of course I worry. I worry about all my boys. Speaking of, how are West and Nash?”
“Driving me crazy, competing for the Warrior’s Walk.”
“Is that some PT thing?”
“Yeah, Liza, it’s a PT thing,” I deadpan.
“So, are you dating anyone?”
“What in the hell would make you say that?” I ask, practically choking on the words.
“Because you’ve got all this time on your hands now that you’re not running between two jobs.”
“No, I’m not dating anyone.”
“Well, it wouldn’t kill you. Keep your eyes open.”
“Good night, Liza.”
“Fine,” she huffs. “Good night.”
A smile teases my lips as I lay the phone down on the edge of the tub, breathing in a lungful of steam. The first few stars shine through the dark purple sky above, and I tip my head back to stare up at them. The water bubbles around my shoulders, asoothing soundtrack that accompanies the cicadas and crickets. Just as I close my eyes, the phone rings again, and I reach for it blindly.
Damn, Liza, let me relax.“Did you forget something?”
“Riggs, I need you.”