Bitter Love (Boys of Silver Ridge 3)

“Don’t forget the cone of shame,” Sam adds, wrapping his arm around Chloe. “And some of that spray that tastes bad so he won’t chew it.”

“I’m fine,” Mason counters, looking genuinely annoyed.

“At the very least, let me give you ointment to put on,” I press, eyeing the nasty cut on Mason’s arm. He said he got it when he climbed a fence in pursuit of a “bad guy” but couldn’t give any more details than that. “And then wrap it with vet wrap.”

Mason responds by giving me a glare and getting another drink from the cooler. He’s my little brother, used to taking the brunt of our jokes. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t worry about him due to his line of work. I don’t see all my siblings that often, but we text each other throughout the week. When we go days without hearing from Mason, we all worry and fear the worst.

“What we need to be focusing on instead is planning a bachelor party,” Mason insists, twisting off the cap of a beer. “Where are we going? Vegas? Miami? Mexico?”

“I suggested Amsterdam,” Chloe says and Mason’s face lights up. “Because I want my bachelorette party to be in Paris.”

“You live such a different lifestyle than most people,” Dean quips, and we all laugh.

Chloe wrinkles her nose, feeling awkward. She’s always been like a sister to me and hasn’t changed at all after becoming rich and famous. “Honestly, Miami and Disney World are more realistic. It’s hard coordinating schedules and you lose a few days when you travel internationally.”

“I will happily give up Europe to stay in a presidential suite at a deluxe resort in Disney for your bachelorette party,” Rory says with a wink.

“What if I want to go to Disney?” Mason asks, raising his eyebrows.

“Then you should have suggested it,” Chloe retorts and looks up at me. “How’s the gelding? He really needs a name.”

“We started calling him Snoop because he perked up when Drop It Like It’s Hot came on,” I tell her with a shrug, knowing Kim will give him an official name later. “And he’s…he’s hanging in there. Come by the clinic before you leave if you want.”

“Oh, I will for sure. I’m guessing you’re going there as soon as we get back?”

“Yeah,” I say, fighting the internal panic I’m already feeling by taking the afternoon off. I try to give myself Friday afternoons off every week. Burnout in my field is a real risk, and I can’t let my clients down. I might not be able to stand nearly half the human owners I work with, but their pets have done nothing wrong.

It’s that very fact that makes this as frustrating as it is. Irresponsible owners, people refusing to pay for treatment that would be lifesaving, not paying bills on time because they say we overcharge…it’s almost enough to make me want to walk out of the clinic, slamming the door behind me. I’ve spread myself thin, and I’m more than aware of it. But if I don’t respond to an urgent farm call, it’ll be too late by the time another vet gets here.

It takes concentration to push those thoughts out of my head and enjoy hanging out with my siblings. We stay out for another hour, talking and laughing and consuming our weight in junk food.

We’re docking the boat when I hear a laugh—a laugh that used to be familiar. It used to fill me with happiness, but now that sound only makes me feel like someone dumped a bucket of ice-cold water down my back. I look up and see her, short blonde hair blowing in the soft breeze. She’s standing two dock spaces over, wearing a pink sundress and has a beer in her hand, with a group of people I used to be friends with, waiting for them to put their boat in the water.

“Throw that over,” Sam says, holding out his hand for the rope I’m holding. I’m temporarily frozen, not wanting to move and risk her seeing me. Not because I still have feelings for her, but because it reminds me of how naïve I was.

How fucking stupid to have fallen for her lies.

“Jacob,” Sam calls, sounding annoyed. But then he sees her too. “Fuck,” he mutters under his breath and elbows Mason. My brothers are the only two people on this whole fucking planet who know the truth about my ex, Lisa. We were together for two and a half years, and I thought we were happy.

I thought she moved in with me because she wanted to wake up next to me, like how I wanted to wake up and see her face every morning. But it was only because she blew her paychecks and couldn’t afford rent.

And I thought she actually meant it when she said she loved me. Enough for me to go ring shopping. Thank the fucking stars I found out the truth before I wasted my money on a ring.