Yolo (Carter Brothers #7)

Chapter 13

People think they can have their cake and eat it, too. Well , wrong bakery, bitch.

— Bindi’s secret thoughts

BINDI

I might or might not have been a complete bitch to Garrett when I first encountered him.

I felt bad about it now.

It wasn’t like it was his dog that’d been mistreated.

The only thing he’d done was have the audacity to have a woman in his apartment that also happened to have hurt her dog today.

Jesus , I was still so fucking mad about that, it wasn’t even funny.

Poor Rufus .

The vet had whisked him away.

We’d sat there, talking quietly, for hours— Garrett , his mom, and me.

His dad had even shown up at one point, and I realized that nearly his entire family had worked at Dallas Police Department .

That had changed only over the last couple of years.

His oldest brother, Quincy , was now a detective at Sunnyvale PD , along with Auden , his middle older brother.

The vet had come back in after a few hours and explained that the dog would be fine but might have some lasting effects that might hinder his “job.”

I’d immediately offered up my home to him.

His mom had immediately calmed my fears, however, when she’d explained that Garrett was really attached to all the K -9 officers since he’d helped train all of them before they were released to duty.

He’ll take care of Rufus , honey. He’ll love every second of it. And if it turns out that Rufus can’t do his job anymore, that’s okay. He’ll have a very happy home. You won’t have to worry about my Garrett mistreating him ever.

Garrett’s dad, Germaine , had taken Garnett home after we’d gotten word that Rufus would need to spend the night at the vet hospital.

Which left Garrett and me alone in the truck that his brothers had brought up for him and exchanged the other officer’s cruiser for.

“ Are you sure you should be seen in public with me?” I asked, trying to keep the pain out of my voice, and failing a little bit.

He cleared his throat as he caught my hand and led me down the steps of the vet hospital.

How bad was it that in my rush to get in here, I didn’t even realize I’d climbed steps?

I allowed the hand holding until we were back on solid ground, then wiggled it free and put Rooster’s body between us.

Garrett sighed.

“ I hate it when you call me Garrett ,” he grumbled.

My brows rose. “ Why ?”

He opened the truck door for me and helped me inside, then helped Rooster into the back seat before climbing in himself.

Only when the truck was running did he explain.

“ You called me Gee .” He drew in a deep breath. “ Then you stopped when I told you that I couldn’t have anything to do with you.”

I shrugged. “ I’m sorry.”

“ It’s not your fault,” he admitted. “ Hell , it’s not even mine. These months that I haven’t seen you, they’ve been some of the worst of my life.”

My heart jolted inside of my chest. “ What ?”

“ Before I explain anything…do you want something to eat? It’s been a long day, and I’d love to have dinner with you now that I can,” he offered.

Now that he can.

Holy shit.

That was great news.

Was the threat to his “head” gone?

“ What happened?” I pushed.

“ Dinner ?” he held off.

I smiled and looked down at my lap. “ As long as it’s dog friendly, and no one is going to give me a hard time for having an animal in their place of business.”

He started tapping his toe on the floorboard. “ Why do I feel like you have experience with that?”

“ Because like clockwork, it happens to me at least once a week,” I grumbled darkly.

“ I’ll find you something to eat where they’ll not complain. And if they do complain, I’ll use my authority to arrest their asses,” he offered.

I giggled.

“ Where ?” I asked.

Because that was important.

“ How do you feel about a hole in the wall burger joint?” he offered. “ I know they like all dogs, because I take Boss in there all the time.”

“ Sure ,” I agreed immediately.

Because obviously, I wasn’t a stupid woman.

I’d known that I wanted Garrett in my life the first time I met him when he saved me on that mountain. Why would I push him away now?

“ Let’s go,” he ordered.

Then he started talking.

He told me about the last few months.

And when he got to his brother’s shooting, and the man that’d done it, my heart instantly felt bereft for him.

Poor Garrett .

“ You’ve been blaming yourself, haven’t you?” I asked.

“ Well , it was my fault.”

“ Was it?” I asked. “ Because from what you told me, you and your brother traded out undercover. So , what makes you think that they weren’t after both of you?”

“ Because it was my name that got plastered all over the news when it happened,” he explained. “ They were after me.”

“ Okay .” I rolled my eyes. “ But let’s just say that I think you both had equal participation in this entire thing. Not just you.”

He shrugged.

“ Have you ever seen a therapist?” I wondered.

He was already grumbling. “ The department requires it.”

“ Then what did she tell you?” I wondered as he slowed the truck, then stopped.

“ She told me that I needed to stop blaming myself for everything and allow others to hold some of the responsibility. Especially the douchebag that ordered the hit.” He paused. “ Though she didn’t exactly say ‘douchebag.’”

I snickered as I got out of the car.

I was already at the back door letting Rooster out when Garrett was at my side.

“ Can I hold your hand?” he asked.

I turned to fully face him. “ Does this mean that you’re allowed to be around me?”

There was a pause and then, “ Yes .”

“ Then will this count as a date?” I continued.

I could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “ I’m sure hoping so.”

“ And where will this date lead?” I asked.

Now I could tell there was a smile on his face. “ I’d say at my place, but I was informed by my mother before we left that you had to be at work at eight in the morning. And to not make you exhausted for your first day on shift.”

I held out my hand to him, and he threaded his fingers between my own. “ You won’t regret it.”

“ What ?” I asked.

“ Giving me a chance.”

I squeezed his hand hard. “ Why wouldn’t I give you a chance, since you gave me a whole lifetime of them to give?”

He sighed. “ I didn’t save you so you’d date me.”

I gave him a tug. “ Come on.”

He tugged me right back and said, “ The door’s in the opposite way.”

I laughed. “ I would’ve figured that out…eventually.”

We walked inside, and they seated us at a booth. I sat down, fully expecting Rooster to get into one with me, but Garrett stopped me with a hand on my hip. “ How about we give him the whole side of the booth. You can sit next to me?”

That sounded lovely. “ Sounds good.”

It was fifteen minutes into our meal that Garrett said, “ I didn’t know how much I needed to talk about Gable until you got me to.”

My heart immediately melted.

“ I don’t really feel like you’re being very fair to yourself,” I admitted. “ I mean, it’s not like you invited any of that. From what I understand, not even you getting stabbed was your fault. It’s also not your fault that you were targeted instead of Gable . I mean, why was your name even leaked? All the crime shows I watch that have undercover agents, the whole point is so that they can continue to be undercover. It’s why the world doesn’t know who any of the Navy SEALs are until they’re actually done with their service.”

He sighed. “ True .”

“ How did it get out, anyway?” I wondered.

“ Well , the media storm there at the hospital was wild. What I do know is that when they didn’t want to treat me because I was a ‘gang banger,’ they all left me there to die in the hallway. When the baby doc, Val , the other doctor’s wife, went to working on me, everyone refused to help her. She had to have a patient from another room and a third-year nursing student help her stop the bleeding. After that was a whirlwind, and the hospital CEO went fuckin’ nuts because of the other doctors and nurses refusing to work on me. A lot of people were fired, even more were put on unpaid leave pending investigation. And I think there were a few nurses that were mad. They started talking out of turn, and all of a sudden, there my name was in the media for everyone to see,” he explained. “ Needless to say…”

“ You should’ve sued the pants off of that hospital,” I snarled, my hands clenching on the table in an attempt to control the desire to pace after hearing his words.

The small smile that I could hear in his voice was everything.

“ Oh , we did,” he promised.

My brows rose. “ Really ?”

“ That’s how I was able to pay for all of my brothers’ mortgages,” he explained. “ The hospital settlement was significant. But truthfully, their negligence almost got me killed. And though I couldn’t really blame them for hating me due to them thinking I was part of a gang, that doesn’t mean that I agree with how they handled that. I have a lot of people I run into on a daily basis that I can’t fuckin’ stand, yet I deal with them anyway, because that’s my sworn duty. To protect and serve. I don’t get to choose when I follow that oath.”

“ I agree.” I nodded my head vigorously. “ I’m sure they fully expected a lawsuit.”

“ They did,” I confirmed. “ That’s why we settled out of court as fast as we did. They already had a number in their minds. I didn’t agree to it at first, because my parents and siblings were still livid. They bumped it up several hundreds of millions, and I had to convince them to settle.” He paused. “ Don’t ever tell them that I was the one to pay for their houses. I had an agreement with my parents that they made up some excuse about a death benefit and money from our grandparents’ estate.”

“ That’s really sweet of you,” I said softly. “ Side note, but I also got a settlement from the Harris Estate .”

I could hear his subtle intake of breath at my declaration, but he didn’t voice any questions.

I started talking, only pausing halfway to allow the waitress to bring our food over.

“ Well , I wasn’t going to sue them either,” I admitted. “ I just wanted them out of my life, the faster, the better. But my parents explained that their actions were going to affect the rest of my life and that I needed to think about my future. After a bit of convincing, it was decided that they would talk to Joseph and his parents on my behalf—since I wanted to be nowhere near them. They did, and my parents came back with an offer that they felt, though wasn’t fair, was about all they were going to get from them without taking it to court. They wanted me to sign an NDA —non-disclosure agreement—but I refused. When my parents threatened to take them to court, they agreed, paid, and now I’m a millionaire.”

His lips twitched. “ You don’t sound too happy about that prospect.”

“ Am I happy that I’m set for life now that I’m blind? Yes . But I wish I could just rewind a half decade so that I never agreed to that first date with Joseph ,” I admitted.

“ If I could,” he confessed, “ I never would’ve agreed to go undercover.”

I reached over and squeezed his hand. “ One day, Gee , we’re going to be okay.”

He flipped his hand over to hold mine and said, “ I never believed that until I met you.”