And then I said the stupidest thing I’d said in a very long time. “Do you need us to pick up Ben? It has to be close to the end of your shift.”

Dom shook his head. “He needs his routine, you know? Can you call Anna? He knows her. She’s on the emergency contact list, and it’ll be easier.”

And I agreed. Like it was nothing.

“You’re wrong, though.”

“About what?” I asked, ready to kick him in the motherfucking balls, not caring if I’d get arrested for assaulting a police officer.

“About Tyson belonging to you,” he said, eyes flashing. “You know as well as I do that from the first moment I laid eyes on him, he belonged to me too. Maybe even more than you. The moment he followed that ant outside, he was mine.”

Dominic Miller was a big guy, possibly even bigger than Otter. He was in his prime, healthy, and extraordinarily intimidating when he wanted to be.

He had also just pissed me the fuck off.

Which meant I started forward without thinking, aware that he could probably take me down with a single swing of his fist but needing to do something.

Thankfully, Otter liked my face shaped the way it was and pulled me back before I could move any farther, stepping out in front of me, blocking my path to Dominic. “Now might be a good time for you to leave.”

Damn right it is, I wanted to snarl over his shoulder. You better run before I attempt unsuccessfully to harm you physically.

“Please don’t attack the police officer that we know and love,” Otter muttered to me, which for a brief moment, made me angrier before I deflated. He was right, of course. Besides, I’d made it this far without getting arrested, and knowing Dominic, he would totally do that just to prove a point.

So I said the only thing I could. “All you need to do is remember to just breathe, okay?”

The Kid nodded at me, and I let Otter start to pull me away. And because I needed to make sure Dom understood that none of this was okay, I snapped over my shoulder, “And take those cuffs off him. As much as he deserves them, they’ll only make things worse.”

I didn’t look back after that.

“I AM going to kill him,” I growled to no one in particular as I paced back and forth in the kitchen of the Green Monstrosity.

“Is he talking about Hot Cop or Tyson?” Kori whispered to Otter.

“Hard to say at this point,” Otter whispered back. “Probably both.”

“Ah. That… doesn’t clarify anything, actually. Dammit.”

“Yeah, you’d think you’d know that by now.”

“Throwing shit through windows? Who the fuck does he think he is?”

“Ah,” Otter said. “We’re on Tyson now.”

“Thanks for clarifying,” Kori said. “Because I never would have figured it out on my own.”

I whirled around on her. “And you.”