32. Chapter 32
Chapter thirty-two
Roman
I stand back, giving the man I love space to reconnect with his family before I barge in there and demand that we all get the fuck out of here.
My eyes dart around the sketchy as fuck roach-motel before they catch on a glint on the rooftop to the west. I squint my eyes as I try to make out what I’m looking at.
I’m hoping— No, I’m praying that it’s not what it looks like, but I’m wrong. Very wrong.
It happens in slow motion. I watch as the bullet flies through the air at break-neck speeds.
I’m already pushing off to a sprint before it ever even hits him.
I can’t even explain to you the thoughts that are running through my head in those milliseconds, that tiny sliver of time.
The world roars back into focus, and I’m blinded by all the training I went through.
For the first time I can ever remember, I’m grateful that I was taught how to handle situations like this.
As soon as I reach Lance, I scoop him up into my arms and dart toward the hotel room.
Gatlin is standing just outside the door, out in the open, with tears streaming down his face.
Blaine, who missed the entire thing, is behind him.
His eyes dart around between the four of us as he tries to figure out what the fuck just happen.
“Inside!” I bark as I rush toward them, barreling against them to get all of us inside the room.
I spin around with Lance in my arms and press my body weight against the door to slam it closed.
Blaine jolts forward and flips the locks.
Trying to fortify a room with a five-foot by seven-foot window isn’t exactly feasible, but hey, it’s something.
“Oh, God. Oh, god. Blaine… what do we do?“ Gatlin whines out in desperation as he looks to him for guidance. His trembling hands go to reach out for Lance before he yanks them back like he has polio, not a damn gunshot wound.
I force my way past him, gently resting Lance on the bed. Blood drips from both his limp body, and my arms.
I dig my phone out and toss it on the bed, directing my attention to Gatlin. “Open that and find Maven’s contact. I need you to call him.”
He eyes nearly bulge out of his skull as he slowly starts to shake his head. “I… I…”
“Hey. Hey! Look at me,“ Blaine demands as he takes Gatlin’s face in his hands. “Close your eyes for me. I need the two hundred and thirty second number of pi, can you count there for me?”
I watch in stunned amazement as Gatlin scrunches his eyes closed and nods. “Three point one four one five nine…” he trails off. Two hundred and thirty-two number of pi? That’s fucking insane.
Blaine darts to my side, snatching up my phone. “I really hope we have this under control before he’s finished counting,” he says as he briefly glances at me over my phone.
I yank my shirt over my head, ripping off a piece of the fabric to tie around Lance arm.
He got really fucking lucky that it’s just his upper arm, but he has lost a good bit of blood, and I’m sure the shock of the whole ordeal is what knocked his ass out.
His breathing is still relatively steady, and his pulse is still decently strong, but that will only stay that way if I can get this bleeding under control sooner rather than later.
Blaine manages to find the contact, pulling the phone to his ear only long enough to hear the first ring before swapping it over to speaker.
“Yes?” Maven’s annoyed voice echoes through the phone.
“I need an evac. The hotel on the corner of first and fifth. Have Olli get Dev and Cain to the med bay, we’re gonna need medical attention as soon as we have boots on the ground.”
I can hear him mumble to Olli on his end, before he’s back at the speaker. “We’ll have a car there in five. Care to explain what happened at a hotel in the middle of town when you’re supposed to be at the hotel by the docks?”
“Lance has been shot, Maven. Get the fucking car here. Now.“ I demand as I ratchet the piece of fabric around Lance’s arm.
“Fuck,” he hisses before he starts mumbling to Ollivander again.
“Who the fuck is that talking in the background?” Maven demands.
My eyes dart over to Gatlin, who is still busy reciting numbers before looking back at Blaine. “We’re gonna need an extra seat on that chopper, Maven.”
“For who?” He growls at the same time Blaine interrupts with “Two.”
“He’s not going anywhere without me,” Blaine demands. “It’s not happening.”
I eye Gatlin again, coming to the conclusion that there would’ve been no way for me to contain his panic without Blaine. I make the executive decision that he should come too, because I don’t have the patience to handle Gatlin on my own right now.
“Two extra seats. I’ll explain when you get here.” I lean over, swiping to disconnect the call in Blaine’s hand.
His eyes meet mine, a thousand different things being said without a single word. If there’s anything that I’ve learned in the last year, it’s what love looks like, and I know one thing for certain. Blaine damn sure loves that boy.
“Zero! It’s zero!” Gatlin blurts out excitedly as he turns to us, his face instantly falling when he sees Lance again.
“Good. Grab whatever you can’t live without. We’re leaving. Now.”
I scoop Lance back up into my arms and head toward the door. The boys scramble to shove everything into a bag and then Blaine slings it over his shoulder and faces me.
“Get ready to run, because I don’t give a fuck if you get shot or not, I’m getting in that car. With or without you.”
Gatlin whimpers and Blaine glares at me as he pulls Gatlin in front of him and wraps an arm around his waist.
I yank the door open at the same time an SUV skids into the parking lot just feet in front of the door.
Blaine pulls open the front and back door at the same time, letting me slide in the back with Lance still in my arms. He ushers Gatlin into the front seat before sliding in behind him.
An eerie silence washes over all of us as Ollivander lets out a shakey breath.
His knuckles are white as he grips the steering wheel, his eyes pinched closed. “Was that blood?” He whispers.
“Drive, Ollivander! For fucks sake.” I hiss out.
“Right! Right.” He says, his eyes popping open as he punches the gas.
Blaine leans forward, draping his arms around the seat in front of him and whispering to Gatlin.
“Care to introduce me to our new guests?” Ollivander asks as he eyes me in the rearview mirror.
“These are Lance’s brothers. Gatlin and Blaine. They’re coming to Blightridge. Permanently.”
Ollivander’s eye double in size before he glances over at them. “Um, it’s nice to meet you both. I’ve heard a lot about you. Lance and I are really close.”
His eyes meet mine in the mirror again, imploring me to tell him that he can still say that he’s really close with him, and not that he was really close to him.
“He’s stable, but he needs Dev ASAP.”
He swallows before nodding and turning his attention back to the passenger seat.
“We didn’t say anything about staying anywhere permanently,” Blaine interjects.
“It doesn’t exactly matter whether or not you agree.
Gatlin was already sold to Maven. So, Gatlin is coming, no matter what.
Since we’re going to be breaking approximately every single rule of Blightridge just to get Lance to a doctor in time, you don’t have an option.
If you go today, you stay. If you don’t want to go, you can take this vehicle and drive to wherever you want to go, but this is your only chance to make that choice.
If you get on the helicopter with us, there’s no changing your mind.
“ Ollivander explains as he skids to a stop at the end of the blacktop.
We’re just on the outskirts of the city, an empty field sitting right in front of us. As I glance around, confusion washes over me.
“Where the fuck are—” A chopper stops above us, swirling around before slowly lowering to the ground in front of the vehicle. We all watch in stunned silence before I turn to Blaine.
“Well? Stay or go?”
Gatlin turns around in his seat, begging Blaine with his eyes as if he has any reason to believe that this lovestruck fool would choose to go anywhere he wasn’t.
“I already told you. He’s not going anywhere without me.” Called it.
“Then get in the fucking helicopter.” I demand as I push open the door.
The pilot has us off the ground in seconds.
The air whips around us as Maven leans into our space and pulls the door closed.
Gatlin pinches his eyes closed as he clings to Blaine like he’s the only thing keeping him alive, and in all seriousness, he might be.
They’re so codependent that it’s almost sickening.
That is, until I look down at my own arms and think that maybe, just maybe, I’m a little codependent too.