“I couldn’t stand her for a while,” I admit, sliding the bottle of whiskey Mason put on the table over. Rory also brought pewter goblets for us all to use while playing the game to “get us into character” as she put it.
Someone else I know would love the effort Rory puts into D&D, and she’s actually the person who got Rory into this game in the first place. Rory had to be in fifth grade at the time and came home in tears after one of her friends laughed at her in front of the class because she still watched some sort of kiddie show. I can’t even recall the name of the show now, only that it was about magic and dragons.
I blink, and that day flashes before me like it happened yesterday. Jacob and I were throwing a football back and forth and Mason and Chloe were sparring with wooden swords. Chloe was my friend first, but she got along with all of us, and I know Mason had a massive crush on her for most of his teenage years.
Rory got off the bus in tears, running past the four of us. We all went in after her, and once Chloe found out someone was giving her shit for liking fantasy, she took both wooden swords and asked Rory to tell her where the bullies lived.
Never mind Rory’s three older brothers were standing right there, ready to fuck shit up. But that’s Chloe for you, and my heart swells in my chest at the thought of her protectiveness, both for those she cares about but for not letting anyone make another person feel small for being different or liking something that’s not mainstream.
That night, Chloe invited us all to play D&D at her house. I hung out with friends and this girl I was dating at the time. I didn’t really like her, but she was handsy and I was a horny teenager. Rory went, obviously, and has been hooked on the game ever since.
“So why didn’t you break up with her sooner?” Rory asks.
“She was easy,” I shrug. “And I don’t just mean sexually. She was familiar and lived nearby. It just worked out well.” I pour some whiskey in my goblet and toss it back. “I suppose I wanted to finally end things for a good year before I actually did.”
“I get it,” Dean says quietly, meeting my eyes in solidarity. “Routines can be comforting, even when you don’t like the routine.”
“And that,” Mason starts, grabbing the whiskey from in front of me, “is the reason I’d rather be single. No strings, no feelings,” he says with a shudder.
“I’ve written your backstory to make you be a helpless romantic,” Rory tells him and takes her seat at the head of the table. “Come on, let’s get started. Adam might wake up and—”
“And your mom can handle it,” Dean interrupts. “He’ll be fine.”
“I know,” Rory says quietly, brows pinching together. My sister has always been good at taking care of things, and being a mom now has put that into overdrive. Rory closes her eyes for a few seconds and then smiles, looking out at us. “Let’s begin our adventure!”“Is this a good stopping point?” Jacob looks at his phone, brows furrowed. “I have an emergency at the clinic.”
“Um, I guess so,” Rory says. We’ve been playing for nearly two hours, and I might be having fun, though I don’t want to admit it. “Is everything okay?”
“Maybe,” Jacob says, rising to his feet. Pluto, one of his rescue dogs, jumps up, panting as he follows behind. “Assuming my patient can get to me in time.”
“What happened?” Rory asks, eyes wide as she peers over her folders.
“A dog got hit by a car this evening and the owners just found him.”
Rory gasps. “It’s still alive?”
“From what I can gather, yes.”
“Need any help?” I ask. I know squat about treating a dog, but medicine is medicine.
“Actually, yeah,” Jacob tells me. “Until my on-call techs can get in that would be really helpful. The owners are on their way to the clinic now.”
The clinic Jacob is referring to sits just yards from his house. We can walk to it, crossing a gravel driveway next to a pasture. Once the local vet in Silver Ridge retired, Jacob took over, and three years later opened his own veterinary clinic in a brand-new building on his own property.
“I’ll tell you the amounts of drugs to give,” Jacob goes on as we get up. “We’ll have to knock the dog out and operate right away.”
“I can help too,” Rory says, standing and looking from Jacob to me. “I’m an OR nurse, after all.”
Mason grabs Jacob’s drink and looks at Dean. “Guess we’ll have to take one for the team, stay here, and drink.”
“You can feed the fawn,” Jacob shoots right back. “It’ll wake up soon. The bottle is in the fridge. Heat up water and then put the bottle in.” He shifts his eyes to Dean, who nods, letting Jacob know he’s well aware of how to warm a bottle.