8
8
REASSESSMENT
I turned onto Ivy Lane, the stately street that was the boundary line, dividing The Academy from Civilian Land. My A-team and I were headed to the airport on another mission that would keep me away from my fiancée for the next few weeks. Fiancée. I still shook my head in dumb shock every time we flouted this at our peers, or it flitted across my mind. This was really happening. The turnaround didn’t take as long as I’d imagined, taking into consideration my fiancée’s stubborn streak. I’d like to think it was because I was such a good finesser. That she’d forgotten all about her feelings for Davenport. Outgrown her first love. Accepted he wasn’t coming back. My good looks and charm bowled her over.
But I chalked it mostly up to her forgiving heart, a miraculous thing missing from my programmed body. Maybe our kid would have half a heart. I chucked the thought right out the window along with my half-chewed toothpick. She was just a kid herself, really. We had plenty of time for that. Weston could go jump in the Academy Lake as far as I was concerned.
I pictured her face in my mind, and a smile came to my lips unbidden. She was the type of girl that made you wish you had parents just so you could introduce her to them. And then I scowled, remembering why I didn’t have a parent to begin with. I punched on the stereo and one of those upbeat rap songs she was so crazy about came on. I huffed out a chuckle, and Slater, slumped in the passenger seat, shot me a side-eye. Girl didn’t curse but she could rap along to the dirtiest street beats, word for word. I hated to hear those words coming from her pretty mouth. And then I thought of all the dirty things I’d like her to do with her pretty mouth that weren’t being done. And all the bad things I’d like to do to my good girl that weren’t being done. I let out a huge sigh, the traffic piling up at the light a good cover for my frustration.
As a general rule I didn’t stick my tongue in a girl’s mouth unless I was going somewhere with it. But she seemed to just want to kiss for the sake of kissing. When was the last time I did that? I came up blank it was so long ago. I dared say maybe never. I had to keep reminding myself that she’d never dated. She needed all the stages, and I’d give them to her . . . we’d just roll through them pretty quickly. I punched on it, gunning through a yellow light before slowing to blend in with traffic. Delayed gratification had become a cornerstone of my success at The Academy, but these little make-out sessions were becoming a torture. Every time I’d try to swipe my grubby paw at her honey pot, she’d break off the kiss. “Not yet, Ranger,” she would plead, eyes popping, lips swollen, face flushed with conflicting passions: her desire warring with her desire to wait. Last week she said something that was a better solution for my swollen Johnson than crushed ice: “Once we’re married, we can do it as much as you like . . . forever.”
Forever? I freaked out and started focusing less on the Katie-Kat and more on my doggy desire to give it to every pretty girl who batted her lashes my way. I glanced behind me and offered Latisha a morning glimpse of my dimples. She blinked her big brown eyes at me in surprise before lifting her cupid lips and re-crossing her legs. I grinned and sped up, passing a frazzled mom in a packed minivan.
Anyhow, Weston was right. I had to keep my wits about me and not get taken in by her ample charms. I focused on my growing list of her flaws: Her second toe was about two centimeters longer than her big toe. I frowned because the fact that I knew this, yet hadn’t realized that I’d known this, was more disturbing to me than the slight flaw. She also had a mole on the side of her left tit undetected by the powers-that-be. I wasn’t going to be the whistle-blower because I found it cute. In fact, I found her tits cute. I recalled how often I used to imagine them, and the lengthy amounts of time I spent assessing their size and shape from the differing angles of her outfits. The bikini she wore for the Paulon Mission being the best source of past intel. I’d already seen a couple of sneak peeks when she was first brought in, but I’d seen so many since then it was hard to conjure them back up. But I’d already dubbed them the Baby Bs. And now that I’d fondled and viewed them up close and in person, I was already attached. Then reminded myself that I needed to work on not getting attached.
I blew out my cheeks, realizing I was already missing her. I loved taking her out to show off and show her all the things in life she’d been missing. Another smile sprang to my lips. She thought the bathroom attendant had a really cool job. Escalators were still a big thrill for her, and scrolling through fail videos on her new phone her most favorite thing, next to making out with me. In this fast-paced world her innocence was as remarkable as it was charming. Someone needed to preserve it. It would be a shame to destroy it, like that lunatic mowing down the rainforest to plant farms. I recalled Stew-baby and Townsend campaigning for her New Year’s Eve kiss, and just couldn’t resist getting a jumpstart on my plan. I wasn’t ready, but I was the right man for the job.
“What do you keep smiling about over there,” Slater demanded, like my sunny countenance was ruining his perfectly bad mood. “It’s flippin’ o-seven-hundred-hour.” He exaggeratedly yawned.
I snapped on the blinker and deftly changed lanes. “Just happy to be getting away.”
“From all that wedding planning, or the bride-to-be?” He said this in the sneeriest way possible.
I huffed out a chuckle. “A little of both,” I said, only halfway meaning it.
“I would think it would be a lot of both.” He slurped some coffee, pensively staring out the window at the early commuters bustling to work, cell phones already up to their ears.
I met a pair of cool green eyes in the rearview mirror. “Speaking of weddings and plans . . . Reese, are you planning on RSVPing to this shindig?”
She lifted a delicate brow. “Unfortunately, I’ll be off on a mission that weekend.” She said this in the curtest way possible.
Geez Louise , I stole my fiancée’s expression. This wedding was getting a pretty cool reception up in here. “How ‘bout you, Tish?” My eyes flashed to hers.
She gave me a sardonic smile. “Oh, I’m all in.”
I found myself growing warm in my leather seat. Latisha was one of those girls who made everything sound like a double entendre, or maybe she was so sexy it just seemed that way. I turned on the blinker for the onramp that led to the 101, and a speeding sedan running a red light nearly sideswiped us. I slammed on the brakes and the horn at the same time.
“What the fuck!” Slater jumped to alertness, grasping his chest. I’d automatically flung my arm across him, so he wouldn’t get thrown through the windshield. He released some air and nodded at me, giving me the bro-eye-code for “thanks, man.”
I took a breath before peering over my shoulder. “You girls all right?”
“Never better,” said Latisha, coolly swiping her lips with some lip balm. She puckered her mouth at me before clicking on the lid.
“Fine,” replied a tense but unruffled Reese. “Not your fault. That car came out of nowhere.”
“That’s how crashes usually happen,” Slater cautioned, staring straight at me.
I pretended not to get his drift, casting my eyes up ahead for a clear lane. I punched the button for a new station and the rap song switched to country. I snapped off the stereo and blew out some tense air. The second the light changed, I stomped on the gas, shooting us toward our collective destination. And then I thought of my individual destiny. I did need to be careful, or I could find myself going down the same dangerous road as my father.
Could not have that.