Chapter Twenty-Five #2
It’s like a scene out of a movie. Between people, distance, and the intensity in the air, the two of us lock gazes.
My stomach drops like it does on the first hill of a roller coaster, it’s somewhere down at my feet as I see the fear in her eyes.
Tears are pooled behind the black stuff she uses to make her green eyes pop, and I want so badly to reach out to her and take her in my arms. Tell her this is all gonna be okay.
I mouth to her I LOVE YOU, because I want her to know.
We’ve been saying it a little here and there, it wasn’t this grand declaration of feelings.
Nothing with us ever is. It was organic, and to be honest, I can’t even remember the first time I told her.
All I know is one day she kissed me on the cheek as I left, told me she loved me, and I said it back.
Everything with our relationship has been easy.
Until today. Today I feel as if someone’s dropped an anvil on my head and it woke me the fuck up.
We can’t continue to live in our bubble.
Neither one of us have jobs that will allow us to.
Blaze nods, her bottom lip sticking a bit further out and I see her trying to keep the tears from rolling down her cheeks. She’s a proud woman, and the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen in my life.
“It’s okay,” I say. “You’re gonna be fine, babe.”
People look at me, I can feel their eyes on me, but the only person I care about it is the redhead with the green eyes, looking at me like I’m a superhero for giving her a little bit of hope.
“Don’t do that,” Ryan warns me. “Don’t turn his attention on you.”
I would gladly take every bit of his attention.
I’d trade places with her in a nanosecond.
I rest my hand on the butt of my gun, ready to pull it if I need to.
God, I want to. As a sniper, I had kills that I can never talk about, ones that left me upset for days, but this one – to save her – I would do it without any kind of hesitation.
Our hostage negotiator is talking to him again. “Leonard, aren’t you hot? It’s a hot day, let us bring you some water. If not you, let us bring the lady some.”
His hand shakes uncontrollably as he holds the gun to her head.
I watch a trail of sweat as it runs from his forehead, down his cheek, and pools at his neck, getting soaked up by the cotton of his shirt.
Damn right he’s hot, he’s tired, and he’s scared.
He’s probably got the most amazing adrenaline high of his life, which means he’s the most dangerous motherfucker on the planet right now.
“I wanna go inside,” he announces. “There’s air conditioning, and she’ll be comfortable,” he runs a hand down Blaze’s neck, caressing the column, before he closes his palm around her throat.
I almost roar with anger. Nobody touches her but me, not like that, not the way he is.
I make another move, and this time Ryan loops an arm around my waist from behind, using his body weight to keep me from going at them.
“Take it down a notch, bro. You can’t do what you want to. I get it though, I get it,” he’s telling me, trying to calm me down. “The best thing you can do right now is cool off. If Holden sees this, he will pull you outta here so fast, your head will spin. Get your shit together.”
It’s easier said than done, but I regulate my breathing, slow my heart rate down, and try to take stock of the situation in front of us.
My girl is holding on like a champ. The only one who can tell she’s freaking out is me, and it’s because I know her so well.
She seems like she has it all together; I send her every bit of good energy I have.
Until my heart drops in my feet again as he starts pulling her back toward the house.
“No!” Everyone yells, me included.
“Leonard, you can’t take her inside. You take her inside, we will come get her out,” the negotiator threatens.
I wonder at that moment if it’s smart to be threatening this man. He’s crying now, his moods are shifting quickly.
“I just want a friend, and she can be my friend,” he tightens his grip on her throat. I can tell by the way she grimaces.
“I can be your friend,” Holden steps up from where he’s been standing to the side, putting his gun down on the ground, holding his hands up.
“Let her come out here, and I can be your friend. You can take me and do whatever you want with me. She’s tired, Leonard.
Aren’t you tired? She’s just as tired as you are. ”
“But she tried to help me,” he argues. “She told me things were going to be fine, and she’d make sure of it.”
“She did try to help you buddy, and you put a gun to her head. How can she trust you?”
“How can I trust her?” He shifts again.
This is bad, his shifting moods. He’s hot, he’s irritated, and he’s got a gun to the woman I love’s head.
Right now I’m not even interested in how this ends.
All I want is my arms around her. I want to feel her heartbeat against mine.
More than anything I want to tuck her head under my chin and feel the bite of her nails around my waist. When Blaze hugs, she hugs for all she’s worth.
I need that hug right now, I want to give one back in return.
It’s then I see someone approaching from behind.
Leonard can’t see Mason, the quietest member of our team, who goes by the name of Mace because basically because he gets in, gets the job done, and does it with the quickest efficiency any of us have ever seen.
We joke it’s because he’s a single dad, and has to jerk it fast. Today I’m not joking, and my heart is in my throat as I see him get closer to the two standing on the sidewalk.
I can’t even hear anymore what’s being said, I’m not even paying attention to it.
My eyes are again locked with Blaze’s and I’m trying to communicate to her to wait, we’re coming.
Quick as a cobra, Mace puts his arms around Leonard, takes the gun, subdues him, and has him on the ground.
Literally it was in the blink of an eye.
Blaze’s knees give out as I run to her, gathering her up as she collapses.
We crumble in a heap against the hot concrete.
She’s shaking and crying, burying her head in my chest. Her tears wet the piece of skin that’s not covered by my vest and I want to rage again for the fact someone’s upset her this much.
“I got you babe, I got you,” I’m breathing like I’ve run a marathon. Pulling back, I frame her face with my hands, running them over her, making sure she’s still in one piece.
“I know,” she nods, swallowing those tears. “I know, but oh my God, I was so scared. I’ve never been that scared before.”
Neither have I, and it’s hard to keep my own hands and body from shaking.
The adrenaline is coursing through me, making it hard for me to take in anything going on around us except for Blaze.
I capture her lips with mine, not caring who sees.
We’ve tried to keep our relationship on the quiet side just because we didn’t want any of the usual teasing our friends are capable of, but right now I couldn’t give two fucks.
“Sorry you two, but Blaze, they say I have to check you out,” Logan interrupts us, the look on his face one of regret. “I told them we could wait a minute, but all the supervisors want to make sure you’re okay.”
She looks at me, almost as if she’s asking for permission, which is nothing like her. She’s more of the ask forgiveness rather than permission sort. That alone tells me how much this has affected her. “Go on,” I push her toward Logan. “Put everybody’s mind at ease, I’ll come get you in a minute.”
She leans into me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “I love you, Trevor.”
The broken tone of her voice does me in. “Love you, too,” I whisper as I kiss her forehead. We stand up, and I help her to the ambulance, before I go to find a moment alone.
Once I’m around the back of the house, I lean into the brick wall, bracing myself with my hand.
It doesn’t take much until everything I’ve eaten all day comes up.
I try to tell myself I’m okay, it’s just reaction and it won’t be so bad in a few hours, but I know that’s kind of a lie. I’m not sure I’ll ever be okay again.
“And now I have to be okay, because I’ve seen you save people we care about. I see the joy it brings you and the safety and security it brings to the people around you,” he reaches in, grabbing hold of my waist. “It’s scary, sharing you with the world.”
“If I explain to you why I do what I do, why I have to do it, will you listen? Will you try to understand?”
Her voice is thick, strained, and so full of emotion I can’t help but agree to it. In this moment, she’s the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen her, and I know if I don’t meet her in the middle, she’s going to eventually run.
“Please,” I grasp her chin, pulling her to me for a forceful kiss, one of ownership, but also one of a desperate man trying to hold onto the most important thing in his life. “Let me in.”