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“Why?” she asked, sounding tired

I looked atthe cat dragged in?”

She snickered “Because I am?”

“Con…” I hesitated “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” shefor my final”

“I thought that you had the day off?” I o on our first date today”

“Our first fake-date,” she corrected me “And I’m sorry, but I’ll have to cancel They calledaround the ER employees They offered me a bonus if I careed Only, I’ry because I didn’t get a chance to eat lunch before I went in, andon alert to avoid stupid Tyson as following me around all shift”

I foundabout that little prick doing anything to her—even following her around or looking in her direction

“Oh,” I sighed “I’ll cancel my reservations then Do you have tio?”

Sheto someone who must have been near her, and then I heard what sounded like wind Was she outside?

“Sorry, I went out the aet around the building They have a helicopter here waiting for a transport” She huffed, sounding out of breath

The wind in the background soundedthem out

Ezekiel was a pilot for the local flight crew, Angel Transport Zee was also one of the originalwith Bayou—our club president

Zee was a jack of all trades and had three jobs Full-tiel Transport as their helicopter pilot, and he was also a member of the bomb squad that was utilized—should the need ever co area He also worked part-ti up shifts at the sheriff’s department—usually on weekends—to keep up his peace officer’s license

Oh, and let’s not forget on the days he wasn’t working he painted, tattooed and was generally an artistic motherfucker

The roar of the wind grew quieter on the other end of the line, and I assu

Needless to say, Zee was an overachiever

My assumption was answered moments later when she said, “Okay There What’s up?”

“There’s a banquet I have to go to this weekend, and I was hoping you’d be able to go with me,” I repeated my earlier comment

“Oh,” she paused “Is it formal?”

Why did I get the feeling that she was repeating “please don’t be formal” in her head while she waited for my reply?

I grinned “Formal”