Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
RORY
Iwas smoking in the parking lot by Caden’s car at the end of the day when Slash’s Mustang pulled in. Everyone knew whose car it was, so I wasn’t surprised to see them all starting to gossip instantly.
He climbed out and moved towards me, a cigarette hanging from his lips as he studied me.
“Afternoon, Killer. It’s your lucky day.”
“Is it? Hasn’t felt too lucky so far,” I deadpanned, leaning back on the Challenger.
“The uniform is kind of doing it for me,” he grinned, flicking ash as he took in my outfit.
“Pretty sure that makes you a pervert, bossman. What are you doing here? How is it my lucky day?”
“I’m taking you to the gun range.”
“Finally had enough of me?”
“Hardly. You’re a hazard, and I heard Skeet and D talking about teaching you. Figured since they’ve taken so long to do it and you got ambushed last time, I’ll take you.”
“Not falling for it, Slash. My fingerprints are never going on your gun.”
“They’re already on it, but I got you your own,” he scoffed.
“Skeet won’t let me use a gun you bought for me.”
“Don’t tell him then. Why stop keeping secrets from him now?” he grumbled, pointing to his passenger seat. “Get in.”
“You’re going to get us in trouble. You know I can’t just get in a car with you.”
“We’ll be at the range before Skeet even knows about it. Live a little, Donovan,” he smirked, opening the door for me.
“Are you feeding me?” I asked slyly, squashing my cigarette under my shoe.
“I can do that.”
“Take me home afterwards?”
“My place or yours?” he practically purred, making me laugh as Tyler joined us.
“You guys aren’t even trying to be discreet,” Tyler sighed.
“I’ll return her in one piece. Taking her to the gun range to teach her to shoot,” Slash answered, and Tyler frowned.
“She probably can’t even hold a gun.”
“You guys really have to stop treating her like she’s weak.”
“I meant because of her injury, dude,” Tyler said dryly, taking my wrist and holding my bandaged hand up. “See?”
Slash frowned, apparently not seeing it until now, but I pulled back and rolled my eyes.
“I can shoot just fine.”
“What happened? Do you want the gun now? Practicing on real moving targets is actually—”
“We’ll talk in the car,” I huffed, and Tyler groaned.
“You can’t just get in his car, babe. You’re not allowed to hang out with him, remember?” I turned to glare at him, and he put his hands up. “Hey, I’m not the one telling you what to do. I personally don’t care, but Skeet will.”
“When have I ever listened to him?”
“Today’s a good day to start,” he groaned, pulling me against his chest to hold me. “Go before the guys get here. I’ll try and hold them back.”
“You’re the best,” I murmured, standing on tiptoe to kiss him, scowling when Slash grabbed my bicep and tugged me towards the car.
“We don’t have time for you to act like you’re leaving the country for a month. You’ll see him later,” he grunted, pushing me into the seat and closing the door before I could fight him on it.
Tyler grinned and wiggled his fingers at me in a mock wave, and I forced a fake smile and flipped him off, a loud laugh leaving him as he turned to get in his car to wait for the guys.
He seemed sober still, which was good.
Slash climbed in and started the car, backing out and leaving just as I saw Caden walking towards the parking lot. I had no idea what Tyler was going to tell him, but at least we didn't have to hear Caden’s disagreement.
“Whose hands do I need to cut off?” Slash asked after we’d been driving for a few minutes, making me frown.
“Huh?”
“Your hand. What did they do? Stomp on it?”
I blew out a breath, cracking the window to let the cool air in.
“We dealt with it, it’s fine. It’s a burn.”
“Someone burned you?” he demanded, looking like he was going to turn the car around at the next opportunity.
“Yeah. I’ve had issues with one of the jocks. Again, we handled it. His nose is busted, courtesy of Jensen, and the guys made him confess so none of us really got in trouble and he got removed from my class.”
“Cigarette burn?”
“Held scissors over the burner in the science lab and pressed it against the back of my hand.”
“You’re telling me a guy held you down and branded you, and all he got was a smack to the face and removed from your class? What’s his name? I’ll fix him,” he bit out, and I rolled my eyes.
“You can’t just go beating up academy kids.”
“Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to leave the little fucker breathing.
You had four of your guys at school with you and none of them beat him bloody?
Snapped his hands? Stabbed him? Kidnapped him?
” He was ranting now, and I couldn’t help the burst of laughter that left me as I slapped a hand over my mouth to try and stop it. “This isn’t fucking funny, Donovan.”
“Why would we kidnap him?” I asked through giggles, and he stared at me like I was the psycho one.
“Uh, to terrify and torture for a few days so he doesn’t even look in your direction again. You’re dating pussies. They can’t keep you safe.”
“The only person I need saving from half the time is you,” I scoffed, his dark eyes sliding to me for a second before he shook his head and looked ahead again.
“Trust me. There’s bigger monsters than me out there, and I hope they never cross your path.”
“You going to slay them for me?” I teased, and his hand moved to my thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“Absolutely, but just in case I can’t be there in time, I’m going to teach you to take them down yourself.”
His thumb brushed back and forth against my skin, and I shivered as his hand slid a little higher under my skirt. He didn’t keep going, just resting it high on my thigh as he drove, and I almost told him to pull over and get me off.
We needed to regain control because we were going to get ourselves in trouble if we didn’t learn to keep our hands to ourselves.
He went through the drive-thru and bought me a burger and fries as promised, and I watched him for the rest of the drive as I ate, trying to figure out what the fuck it was that drew me to him.
We’d gone from being enemies to friends with benefits like the flip of a switch, and surely that wasn’t healthy.
We finally arrived in Pine Valley, and thankfully there was no ambush this time as I took in the scenery.
“How many bodies do you think are buried out here?" I asked absently, making him chuckle as he put both hands on the steering wheel.
“Too many to count.”
“Do you—”
“You know better than to ask me that,” he warned, but he didn’t sound angry.
“I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“It’s safer for you if you don’t know things.
It’s not that I don’t trust you, I don’t trust other people.
You knowing information could drag you into a big mess, babe.
That’s why you don’t need to know,” he said firmly, passing a sign that said the range was just up ahead. “Skeet really doesn’t tell you things?”
“No, he doesn’t. I’ve learned more from you than him,” I said dryly as he turned into the parking lot, finding a spot to park before climbing out. “Won’t I need to put my gun in their system or something?”
“Nah, we get free rein here as long as we play by the rules with safety. C’mon, let's get you acquainted with your new best friend,” he grinned, climbing out and grabbing a bag, motioning for me to follow.
I wished I’d brought a change of clothes, but I couldn’t do anything about that, so I followed him inside the building and past the counter, the guy behind it barely looking at us as he lifted his hand in a wave.
There were rooms everywhere, some small and some large with multiple targets, and he led me into a smaller room with a large window and shut the door behind me, putting the bag on the table and opening it.
“I got you one that’s a personal favorite of mine.
It’s light and easy to conceal,” he explained, pulling a small handgun out and starting to pull it to pieces.
“If you’re going to carry, you need to learn how to pull this apart and put it back together with ease, and you should be able to clean it yourself too.
Practice, and learn every single thing about your weapon. Respect it.”
I hadn’t expected him to make this such a formal lesson, so I just nodded and watched him turn it into multiple pieces before he placed them on the table.
“You did it too quickly. I can’t remember what you pulled from where,” I huffed, and he gave me a surprisingly patient look.
“I’ll talk you through it. That’s the slide. Pick it up and put the barrel in.” I did as he instructed, clicking it into place before he pointed to a spring. “That goes next. No, other way around. That’s better. Make sure it’s secure.”
“Like that?” I asked, and he nodded.
“Good. Now we can put this on the frame. Slide lock next.”
I glared at the piece of metal as I tried to wiggle it into place, finally getting it to click in properly after some cursing.
“Magazine?” I asked, doing that next and eyeing it when it was done.
“Now for the fun part,” he stated, pressing some buttons on the wall and making paper targets appear. “You want to show me what you already know?”
“It’s not pretty,” I joked, accepting the eye and ear protection before getting into position. He stood back and watched as I fired a shot, missing the target completely.
“Relax a little. Bring your elbows down more,” he offered, letting me get a feel for it a few more times before moving towards me to help. “You’ve got the idea of it. Feet apart a little more. Aim a little lower. Half your problem is the height of your aim.”
“I’ve shot guns before, why is this so hard?” I bit out, and he chuckled.
“New gun, and it’s not something you do regularly. I could hit a target with my eyes closed because it’s something I do almost daily. You’ll get there.”
I hit the paper a few times, nowhere near the bullseye, but it was a lot better than when I’d first tried.
He grabbed his gun and took up position beside me, showing me a few shots of his own before instructing me to try again.