Page 40 of Falling For You

Then my phone buzzed.

I pulled it out.

KNOX

At The Lantern if you want to swing by.

"The crew's at the bar. Do you want to come?"

She took a breath. "Yeah. Sure."

We stood up and walked to the bar together.

The crew was at their usual spot, squeezed into the corner booth. Knox had his back to the wall, Greene and Carl on the other side, Travis talking with his hands about something nobody looked like they believed.

Andy walked in behind me and Travis abandoned the story.

"Walsh! Someone get this woman a drink."

"Coming right up," Terrence called from behind the bar.

The conversation jumped around. Shift stories, someone's car trouble, Greene's wife and the thing with the dryer. The call was still in the back of my head, but the noise was doing what it was supposed to do.

"Officer Walsh." Travis leaned back in his chair and pointed at Andy. "I've been thinking."

He set his beer down with ceremony. "Does it bother you being the only female cop in a room full of big guys at the precinct?"

"Not at all."

"What about when you're up against someone bigger than you? Does that scare you?"

"Sometimes. But my partner and I have a system. I let him handle the tackling when it comes to that." She took a sip. "I'm also a black belt in jiu-jitsu, so if I have to, I'm a little more confident about it than most."

Travis's eyes went wide. "Can you try tackling me?"

"Do you have some sort of embarrassment kink or something?" Knox leaned forward.

Travis ignored him.

Andy set her glass down. "Fine, Travis. But this is on you."

The crew cleared space by the pool table. Travis squared up with his chest puffed, feet apart, grinning like he was about to make history. Andy stood in front of him, calm, balanced, her weight centered.

It was over in seconds. One shift of her hips, one grip on his arm, and Travis was on his back staring at the ceiling. She took him down so cleanly it looked choreographed.

"That was awesome." Travis sat up grinning.

The guys were howling. Andy reached down and pulled Travis to his feet.

"Are you bad at anything?"

"I'm bad at many things. But unlike you, Travis, I just know how to pick my battles."

The table erupted as Travis took a bow.

The crew started filtering out a little past midnight. Travis backed toward the door with his jacket half on, pointing at Andy the whole way. "Same time next week, Walsh." Knox left with a nod to Gus and a hand on my shoulder on his way past.

Andy and I walked home together. The block was dark, the porch lights on, and neither of us was talking. The noise from The Lantern had thinned out somewhere behind us, and I was back to being aware of how close she was. About a foot and a half of sidewalk separated us, and the only sound was her boots on concrete.