“I asked you if you knew Mitchell didn’t really want to be a cop?”
Staring at Grayson like he was insane, I let a quick chuckle out. “What? Of course he does. His mother said Mitchell wants to be a cop just like his father was.”
Grayson leaned back against the kitchen sink and looked intently at me. “Has Mitchell ever told you that?”
I went to answer when I slammed my mouth shut as I thought about it. In all the meetings I’d had with him, he never once really told me he had a desire to be a cop.
“He hasn’t has he?”
For some reason this bothered me, knowing I hadn’t caught on to the fact that Mitchell hadn’t ever said his true desires. Grayson caught on to it just by spending one afternoon with Mitchell.
“How . . . what makes you think you know what he wants?” I asked as my body flushed with anger.
Grayson pushed off the counter. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, Meg. He told me.”
My mouth dropped. “He told you what exactly?”
Pulling in a deep breath, Grayson blew it out. “That it was his mother’s dream for him to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Mitchell wants to play pro football and would like to be a coach after college.”
I was positive Grayson heard the slamming of my heart against my chest. “He’s never once mentioned that to me.”
“Have you asked him or did you just assume?”
My eyebrows pinched together as I glared at Grayson. “Are you saying I don’t do my job well?”
A look of shock moved across his face. “No! I’m not saying that at all. Maybe the kid just felt more comfortable telling me.”
“That’s just you covering up for saying I’m doing a shitty job with Mitchell.”
Grayson closed his eyes and shook his head before opening them again and looking directly into my eyes. “Meg, that’s not what I was saying. I’m just telling you what he told me. You do what you want with it, but honestly I’m exhausted and I don’t feel like turning this into an argument with you.”
Lifting my hands up, I slowly shook my head. “Oh, by all means let’s just stop talking about it because that’s what you like to do when things get a little complicated for you. You either clam up or you fuck the hell out of me. I guess you’re too tired for option number two.”
I spun on my heels and headed to the living room where I grabbed my book and purse. Slipping on my tennis shoes, I reached for my jacket.
“Where are you going?”
Not even bothering to look at Grayson, I said, “Home.”
“Meg. Come on, what in the fuck is bothering you?”
Not even wanting to respond, I pulled open the door and quickly walked through it as I gave it a hard pull. It slammed behind me as I heard Grayson yell out and glass hitting the front door.
Keeping my tears at bay, I headed down to the parking garage and out to my car. Once I got in, I started it and headed toward my place. The moment I pulled into my parking spot, I started crying. Pulling out my phone, I ran my finger down the list of names and stopped on one. Hitting it, I dropped my head back onto the headrest.
“Hey, Meg! How’s the weather there? Dare I say it’s a chilly sixty-two here?”
Just hearing Lauren’s perky voice made me smile. “Hey, Lauren. You lucky bitch. It’s thirty fucking hell here.”
Lauren giggled. “What’s up? I figured you’d be skiing since it’s the weekend?”
I wiped my tears away and laughed. “When have you ever known me to ski?”
“Oh my glitter! What did you move to Colorado for then?”
I pressed my lips together to keep from sobbing.
“Meg? What’s wrong?”
“Gray and I had our fist fight and I egged it on. I don’t know why I did it. I was upset and I took it out on him.”
“Sweetie, it’s okay. Life isn’t always hot sex with ex-strippers. You’re going to have some ups and some downs.”
I rolled my eyes. “Do we have to keep bringing up the fact that Gray was a stripper?”
“Yes. Yes we do. Unless we’re around your parents, then no.”
“Lauren!”
“Okay! Okay! I’m sorry. So you picked a fight, I’ve done that before with Colt. It’s just something I think women do when they get hormonal or something.”
Pushing out a breath, I rocked my head back and forth against the headrest. “I’m not sure what’s going on with me to be honest with you. I’m up one minute and the next I’m pissed off. Gray noticed something about one of my patients and it was like some kind of switch flipped. I was so angry at myself for not catching it, but he caught it just spending the afternoon with the kid.”
“Meg, you’re not super woman, and no matter how hard you try to help each and every one of those kids, you have to realize some you might not be able to help at all.”