Chapter 8
As I walk back into the gym, looking at the limp body on the ground, it’s the first time I’ve felt like myself in a long time.
“Well, looks like we’ll have a brief reunion. Z will be here to take care of you, real soon.”
“I guess I should thank you, though. I mean, I feel like a little weight has lifted. Since Ash died, it’s kind of like I’ve been on my own.
No one else knew why I joined the force.
” I laugh, knowing how completely insane this all is.
I’m talking to a dead body, but a body I just confessed my secrets.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you the entire story... ”
The rumbling of the engines comes to a stop where I sit outside the gym. Stuffing the keys I snatched out of his car into my pocket before they’re seen.
Looking up, Z nods at me as I stand and walk over to him.
“What’s up?”
“Come on.” I nod, walking inside and turning to where the body lies limp.
“Jesus,” Z mumbles to himself, taking a couple of steps towards it and stopping. “Kyle?”
I don’t answer, just nod.
“What’d he do?”
“What d’you mean?” I pause.
“I know you said not to ask too many questions, but I need something.”
Sighing, I walk back out the door towards the water. I know he’s following behind. Pausing and looking out at the small lake, I sigh once more before looking around to make sure it’s just him and me.
“You know his reputation?”
He says nothing, just nods along.
“This woman I’ve…” I trail off, not really sure how to explain it and also trying to make sure I pick my words extremely carefully.
“Girlfriend?”
“It’s complicated.” I shrug.
“Always is.” He mutters to himself. “But how’s it complicated?”
“She was on my porch when I got home tonight. He tried to drug her.”
“Tried?”
“Technically, he did. I guess they were on a date.” I can feel his eyes shift to me, giving me a questioning look before I nod.
“I told you, complicated. But she realized something wasn’t right and tried to leave.
Put up a helluva fight and finally got away.
” I pause. “I came out to scare him out of doing it again, but…”
“It seemed to escalate a bit.” He’s smirking when I glance over at him.
“Told me I should appreciate how she feels now because she won’t for long.”
I watch the anger boil up on his face. The irony of how much worse it would be if he knew who I was talking about.
He looks back behind us, and I see the slight nod of his head. I know what it means; it’s the same nod Ash used to give when he was giving a silent order.
“We’ll take care of it.” He says as he gazes out over the water.
“Thanks. I owe you one.”
“Nah.” He shakes his head again. “I don’t mind getting rid of trash.” Turning, he looks at me. “Get out of here. The less you know, the better.”
“Just need to make sure no one tracks it here. Public property and all. Remember how many times we had to run from the cops from here.”
“It’s not public.” Z shakes his head as he laughs, I can only imagine thinking about us having to outrun the cops, again.
“Since when?”
“A couple of weeks ago.”
“Damnit,” I mumble as I look back out at the water, wondering how he’s gonna have to bribe to keep their mouths shut.
“Not a big deal.”
“How can you be so sure about that?” I pause, looking back at him and just seeing his tilted head, knowing what he’s saying. “Shit, you guys bought it?”
“Yeah,” he laughs. “Like you said, good memories here. Hate to see someone else come in and tear it down.”
“Hey Prez!” We both look up, seeing Spyder standing at the gym’s door, looking at his hand, confused. “Is this your boy’s tooth?”
“Shit,” I mumble, feeling in my mouth and noticing the hole where it was sitting.
Z laughs, shaking his head. “Go have them put it back in.”
“Yeah, I dunno if that’s gonna happen.” Spyder says as he walks over. “A root broke off.”
Just shrugging before he hands it to me. “Worth it.”
* * *
Sitting at the end of the couch, I stare at the TV, not really watching it, just waiting for her to wake up and trying not to be weird about it.
The sun streaming through the windows. I tried to sleep a little, but that didn’t seem to happen. I went to the hospital last night, but after telling me there was nothing they could do, they cleaned it out and packed it and scheduled a follow-up.
“How’d I get here?” She whispers, causing me to look over at her.
“That I don’t know.” I laugh, shaking my head.
She scrunches her forehead as she tries to think to herself. “Ow.” Rubbing her head.
“Here.” I hand her a couple of painkillers and some water. “You need to hydrate.”
“Thanks.” She gives me a small smirk.
I let the conversation fall, leaving her with enough space to feel safe as I turn my attention back to the screen.
“I went out on a date last night.” She whispers, and I feel as if a dull knife is being forced into my chest. “I’d been out with him before. Seemed nice enough.” She shrugs.
“I know.”
“What?”
“You told me last night. You said you weren’t sure if you’d remember today.” I pause, sighing before I finish. “Do you remember?”
“Some of it. Up until I ran, then it goes fuzzy.” She laughs, shaking her head. “But I came here?”
“You did. Found you passed out on my porch.”
“That’s embarrassing.” She shakes her head, laughing. Conflicting emotions fill her face; she looks back at me, biting her lip before the whisper comes out. “Did anything…” trailing off as if she’s not sure.
“Not for a lack of trying…” Trailing off for dramatic effect, I shake my head as I stand up, walking back into the kitchen. “On your part.”
“What?” she calls after me.
Dropping the empty glass in the sink, I laugh to myself, wondering just how much I want to embarrass her. Stepping through the threshold into the living room, I look at her, realizing that she isn’t sure about it. “I had to fight you off.”
“Shut up.” She laughs as her cheeks flush.
“I’m serious. Why do you think you ended up sleeping on the couch?”
Her head tilts at my question.
“After you had your whole ‘I’ve never seen you in your uniform before’ and tried to take my pants off.”
“You’re full of shit.” She laughs again.
“I’m not. I put you to bed and then came out here to sleep on the couch. You weren’t having any of that, and after I fell asleep, I woke up to you climbing on top of me.” I leave out the bits between when I put her to bed and when I finally fell asleep.
“Fuck off.” She laughs again.
“I’m serious.” I can’t help but laugh now. “You finally passed out, and I slid onto the floor.”
“That must have been so hard for you.” She cuts out sarcastically.
“No.” Peering at her as she looks up, a confused expression on her face. Leaning forward, inching closer to her so she can’t look away. “I was more concerned that you were okay.” I pause, fighting against a smirk. “And you had been drugged.”
“And not wanting to take advantage of me?”
“I mean, not without a discussion and clear boundaries beforehand.”
Her jaw drops as she just looks at me, quickly it turning into a smile. “I shouldn’t be as interested in that as I am.”
I can’t help but chuckle at her admission.
Biting her lip, she tries to hide a grin before looking up at me through her lashes.
“Are you still concerned about me?” leaning into me, her hand lingers on my thigh.
“Yes.”
“Still angry?”
“Yes,” although I don’t tell her I made sure it wasn’t as bad as it was last night.
“But I’m not drugged anymore.” One corner of her mouth tilts up, moving herself up and over, in an instant straddling my lap.
“Drew…” giving her a warning.
“Elias...” Her voice is husky as she says it, pressing her lips to mine.
The soft lips of my dreams are here with me once again. I let myself fall into them for a moment. Pressing hard back against them, pressing my tongue into her mouth almost instinctively. My hands lifting into her hair, tilting her head into the perfect position.
Letting us sink into it for a moment before pulling back and looking at her, shaking my head. “Sketch, you haven’t looked at yourself in the mirror. You have trauma from last night.”
“Please, my whole damn life seems to be one trauma after another.” She pouts. “But you…” she trails off for a moment, almost as if she isn’t sure if she should say it.
Looking into her eyes, I know what she wants to say. And I can’t hear it, because if she says the words, there won’t be a way to keep her at arm’s length.
“If you say it. It’s going to start something that both of us want, but we can’t have.”
“But you make me feel safe.” It’s as if she’s trying to dare fate.
We stare at one another, not breaking, almost as if we’re both trying to fight against it, but losing the battle.
Her head as if seeing something for the first time. “Why do you have dried blood on your neck?”
“What?” I ask, quickly reaching up and trying to wipe away whatever’s there.
“You have dried blood right here.” Reaching over to me, she touches just behind my ear.
I’m not sure what to say, as I just continue to stare at her. “What do you want me to say?”
“The truth…”
“You already know, then.”
“I want to hear you say it.”
Leaning into her, I press my lips to hers again. Trailing them from her lips to her ear. “I went through your phone and found his name.” Kissing down her neck.
“You went through my phone?”
“You wanted to know.” Telling her as my lips run down her neck. “After you fell asleep, I left the house and found him.”
“What’d you do?” she whispers, sitting still as my hand trails up her thigh.
“We came to an understanding.” Whispering into her ear before letting my teeth nibble on the side. The gasp from her makes my dick twitch.
“What kind of understanding?”
It makes me laugh until she scoots up and presses herself against me. Groaning out, I wrap my arms around her, gripping her ass. “You don’t need to worry about that.”
Her eyes grow wider as she slams her mouth to mine, cutting off my sentence. Pressing hard against me as she grinds her hips into mine, causing a groan to rumble out.
As she winces, I pull back, watching her. Her hand coming up and holding onto her ribs.