Five Minutes Late by Rich Amooi Read Free Book Online Page A

each other?” The guy needed a napkin to wipe the jealousy from his tone.
    Ellie put her hands on her hips. “That’s none of your—”
    “Ellie, there you are!” Buck came running over. “I’ve given it some serious thought, and I would be okay with four kids. Maybe we could have a few extra goats and horses to make up the difference. Would that work for you?”
    Ellie covered her face with her hands.
    Vlad inspected Buck from head to toe. “Who’s this cowboy?”
    “Name’s Chuck, but they call me Buck.” He held out his hand, but Vlad left him hanging.
    Vlad turned to Ellie. “How many guys are you seeing?”
    “Look,” said Cedric, feeling uncomfortable in the middle of an odd situation. “I’m just going to take off.”
    “Good idea,” said Vlad.
    Ellie held up her hand. “No. I’m the one who’s leaving. I need to find a hole to crawl into.”
    She walked away and Buck threw his hands up. “Ellie, wait! What about the babies?” Buck shrugged and turned to Cedric and Vlad. “One of these days, I’ll figure out women. In the meantime, you boys wanna grab a beer?”  
    “No,” said Vlad and Cedric simultaneously, each walking away in separate directions.

Chapter Five
    Cedric bolted awake, sweating. He looked around the bedroom, squinting, and disoriented. What the hell was that? Another messed-up dream about dying, that’s what that was. The only bright spot was the appearance of Ellie in the dream.
         Lovely Ellie.
    The dream started as usual, no surprises. He sat on the examination table in the doctor’s office, waiting. He studied the colorful poster on the wall showing the muscles and organs of the human body. Next to the poster was a life-size skeleton hanging from a floor stand.  
    He stared at himself in the mirror, thinking. “This is bullshit.”
    At the age of thirty-four, Cedric had felt good about almost everything in his life. His work. His health. His circle of close friends.
    He stood and lifted his hospital gown, analyzing his naked body in the mirror. Still not an ounce of fat. Muscles in all the right places. He rubbed his washboard abs in a circular motion then released the gown, returning to the examination table. This didn’t make any sense.  
    “I take care of myself. I shouldn’t be here.”
    From the outside, Cedric was the absolute picture of outstanding health. The only problem was, you never knew what was going on underneath the hood. Maybe his “issues” were the result of the greasy burgers, junk food, soft drinks, and candy he devoured as a kid. Or maybe it was something in his genes, passed on to him from his—
    Don’t go there .
    He surveyed the room for a distraction and grabbed the hands of the skeleton.
    “I’ll be honest with you, sweetie,” Cedric said to the skeleton. “I was tempted to jump your bones earlier. But just between you and me…” he leaned closer “…I think you overdid it with the Weight Watchers, you know? You need to get a little more junk in your trunk.”
    The door swung open and the doctor raised an eyebrow, catching Cedric holding the hands of the skeleton. “Shall I leave you two alone?” she asked.
    Holy crap.
    The doctor was Ellie. Ellie was a doctor.
    “It’s fascinating,” Cedric said, ignoring her comment and pretending to inspect the bones. “The bone structure of the human arm. The clavicle, the humerus, the—”  
    “Please stand up.” Ellie grabbed a pair of latex gloves and slipped them on.
    “Okay.” Cedric dropped the hands of the skeleton, now very aware he was naked underneath the gown. What was she going to do?
    He got a nice whiff of her perfume—something with roses—and he felt his heartbeat kick into second gear as she moved closer. She smelled nice.
    Very nice.
    Cedric blinked.
    Something was happening down in the region of his family jewels, and he was pretty sure someone had accidentally clicked the auto-salute button.
    He looked down and blinked.
    Holy hell.
    His hospital