11. Sam
Sam
Phantom_Shadow: I’ll give you time to come to terms that you belong to me now. Think of every single thing you want me to do to you and anything that is red.
That was the last message the Phantom Shadow sent me.
Three days ago. After he held my life in his hands again.
And I liked it. I was so damn sore, but the pain only heightened every touch.
A shadow indeed. I’m constantly looking over my shoulder as if that shadow is following my every movement.
Am I worried that he knows my address? Yes…
and no. The fear only turns me on more. The only thing nagging me is…
if he knows where I live, is he someone I already know?
Or was I so deep wallowing in self-pity afterwards that I didn’t notice him following behind me?
“Miss Rivers,” Pike yells down the hall for me, and I jump.
“I thought you said he was out today?” I whisper-shout at Ryker. He doesn’t respond, but the smirk he gives me tells me everything. This is him getting back at me for almost making him fall off the treadmill.
His captain walks in carrying a large flowerpot. The plant almost covers his face from my view.
Ki walks in behind him, chuckling. “You weren’t kidding,” she directs at her partner, and I narrow my eyes at him.
“Snitch,” I mumble under my breath, and he puts his sweaty arm around my shoulders. Ki’s eyes follow the movement and then flick to his as they walk towards where I’m smoothing out wallpaper that has a giant boho sun on it. I shrug off his arm and turn to face my…boss.
“Pray tell, what are you doing?” Pike asks, slightly annoyed but not mad, which is a positive sign.
I couldn’t sit around with my crazed thoughts floating about to keep me company, so I came to the station early to…decorate.
“If you surround people with gloom, they will feel…meh. Surround them with sunshine and they will smile,” I explain my thoughts and smile widely at him.
I may have also scattered plants and flowers throughout the offices, along with pretty rugs and a few paintings.
“Nothing I did is permanent. This wallpaper,” I gesture behind me.
“It’s just peel and stick. It’s easy to remove, but I really hope you don’t.
I worked really hard on it.” I clasp my hands together and rest them under my chin, giving him the best puppy-dog eyes I can, which briefly takes my mind to when my shadow called me pup.
“You are a young version of my wife if I’ve ever seen one.” He hands Ki the pot from his office, and she takes it awkwardly. “Fine, but no more,” he gives in and walks back out of the gym.
Ki places the plant next to the large sun that is now on the wall. “I’m Kioni, but you can call me Ki.” She extends her hand towards me. “We didn’t get to officially meet the last time you were here.”
“I’m just Sam.” Her hand lingers in mine for several heartbeats before she pulls it away, the corner of her lip twitching.
“I don’t think you are just anything.” Her voice sends shivers across my body.
“Thanks, Ki-oni. I love your name. Do I have to call you Ki?”
“You can call me whatever you want, Red.”
I turn back around to finish my now not so secret project. If they all end up hating it, so be it. But at least I tried to make their day a little brighter.
“Thanks for sticking me with all the paperwork, asshole,” Kioni gripes to Ryker, punching him in the arm, and I chuckle. He deserved that for ratting me out.
I step back to admire my work and grab a mat, spreading it out in front of the sun.
Might as well use my free time wisely. When I transition from a headstand to a forward fold, the muted headspace I was in shatters when Ryker drops his water bottle, and it clangs against the concrete.
He clears his throat when I’m back on my feet and give him a pointed look.
“Can you do that?” he asks his partner, clearing his throat again, and she rolls her eyes.
“If that impresses you, wait until my fingers send you to heaven,” I joke, giving him jazz hands. He looks at his partner, wondering if he isn’t privy to an inside joke. “I’m a massage therapist,” I explain. His mouth forms an O, and he nods.
“You should make us appointments,” he jokes when I turn back around.
When officers begin piling into the gym, my two new friends spread their mats out next to mine. I whip my gaze back and forth between them. “What are you doing?” I question with suspicion.
“Relax, Red. If we’re doing this, we are going to be the best out of all these fuckers. We do nothing half-assed,” Ki assures.
“We’re even,” I scold Ryker, who is on my left.
“You started it,” he counters, lying down and putting his hands behind his head. He is one man I will admit doesn’t need a mask to make him attractive. Why is that? That covering a man’s face instantly makes him score higher?
Ki steps out of her sweats, deciding to wear her shorts this time.
I can, without a doubt, say she could go toe to toe with any man in here.
I’m definitely the oddball out of the three of us sitting up front.
Ryker has his tattoos on full display with this dangerous energy radiating from him.
Kioni is a muscle mommy goddess with the most gorgeous caramel skin, and screams confidence.
And then there’s me in the middle, light skin, red hair, and cries every time she runs over a damn squirrel she tries so hard to miss.
We placed our mats too close together, and my fingertips kept brushing against Kioni’s.
I didn’t mind it though. Each time our fingers touched, our eyes would collide, and a rush of…
something…zipped through me, causing a small grin to appear.
It added a sprinkle of mischief and fun to the night, making it feel more like a game than work.
Laughter and chatter mingled with the soft melody from the speaker I had brought, and I found myself enjoying the blend of calm and chaos.
And if I had a dollar for every time Ryker said, “I feel ridiculous” during our session, I’d look like I worked at a strip club.
I’m glad I took Pike up on his offer because I think this is what my life needed.
It’s a Wednesday night and I’m walking into a bar for wings with a bunch of off-duty police officers, detectives, and whatever other departments they are all from.
I switched back into the outfit I wore to the spa today, a long mustard-colored maxi skirt and an off-the-shoulder knit white crop top, and put my hair half-up into two fun buns while the rest flowed down in leftover curls.
Tables are being pushed together to make one large one.
I stand awkwardly off to the side, waiting for the squeaking of table and chair legs across the dirty floor to come to a halt.
“Sail” by AWOLNATION booms in the background, and when I’m about to figure out where I’m going to sit, Kioni grabs my hand and tugs me towards the empty seat between her and Ryker.
“Water, please,” I tell the waitress when she places two bottles of beer in front of them and looks to me. They must be regulars here.
“What’s your type, Red?” Ki asks as I smooth my skirt down the back before taking my seat.
“Um, I’m not really sure. Nobody has managed to hold my attention for more than a few months, so I’d say I haven’t figured it out yet.”
Ryker turns in his seat to look at me, and Ki chuckles into her beer. “I was talking about the wings.”
“Oh,” I whisper, and heat creeps over my cheeks. My mind has been scrambled since my world got rocked. “I guess I don’t know that either.”
“She’ll take one of each,” Ki tells someone over my shoulder, and I turn to spot the waitress that was walking toward us turn back around.
“How many flavors are there?”
She shrugs.
It doesn’t take long for baskets piled high with wings to be placed around the table. My jaw drops at the sight before me.
“Kioni,” I laugh. “This is a little excessive.”
“You never know what you’ll end up liking unless you try it.” She winks and shoves a boneless wing dripping with ranch into her mouth. That was definitely a poke at my earlier accidental confession.
I can’t help but dance in my seat after each bite.
Each flavor is delicious in its own unique way.
Ryker decides he’s going to stab his fork into one and steal it.
That could be the best one yet, and I would never know!
I wrap my hand around his wrist, and when our eyes collide, a challenge ignites.
We move at the same time, but I’m just a tad quicker than him.
My lips wrap around his fork first. I look up at him with sauce dripping down my chin.
“Gotta be quicker than that,” I joke with my mouth full, but I can’t seem to care.
I also don’t think they care either. His eyes dart to my basket, and I snatch it off the table and turn towards Kioni. “Switch me seats,” I demand.
“Leave little miss sunshine alone,” she tells him, and he takes a swig of his beer, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.
“Sam?” I hear my name being called behind me and turn to see Xander standing next to Emily.
I stand, holding onto my wings for dear life, and try to inconspicuously wipe the sauce off my chin with my thumb. “Hi!” I tell them both. They squirm now that I am facing them. If he wanted to avoid this interaction, I’m not sure why he yelled my name.
“What are you doing here?” he barks and I don’t particularly care for the tone of his voice.
Like he’s accusing me of something. Right on cue, Ki and Ryker rise and shadow me on either side.
Of course, both of their gazes snap to Ryker, and I don’t miss the subtle bite of Emily’s lip when her eyes trail up and down his massive frame.
“And you are?” he asks, extending his hand towards her. Xan takes it instead and says possessively, “My date.”
“My bad, bro. The way you were so concerned about Sam instead of this gorgeous woman beside you made me think she was your sister.”
I bite back a laugh and elbow him in the side. “Have a dick-measuring contest later, bros.” Sarcasm dripping in my voice, but also irritation because Emily is a sweet girl and doesn’t deserve to be in the middle of a joke.
“Xan, I’m here with friends, not that I need to give you an explanation. Em, you can join us if he continues being an ass.”
My words offend him. Good. He never showed this side of him when we were together, and we were fine the other day. She mouths thank you and tugs him away to the opposite side of the bar.
“Your ex and your friend,” Ki states.
“I promise there is no juicy drama to spill. Just because we dated doesn’t mean there is a big red X on him now.” I’m honestly okay with it, but I don’t want Emily to get hurt because he’s still sour about us.
We take our seats again, and it goes right back to the way it was before we were interrupted.
I plop all the wings onto Ryker’s plate that I don’t care for, and Ki drapes her arm over my chair.
How weird is it that I just met these two a couple of days ago and this is how we are spending our evening?
Ryker looked like he could have strangled me when we first met, but maybe the trick to his acceptance is to challenge him… or befriend his partner.
Wobble by V.I.C. plays throughout the bar speakers, and the volume rises as a few people make their way to the makeshift dance floor. “Oh! Come on!” I exclaim, trying to pull them along with me.
“No. And if you try to pull your shit again to make me, I won’t be very nice this time,” Ryker grumbles.
Ki grins when I look at her. “Not tonight, Red.”
I rush to join the small crowd, Emily noticing and squeezing in next to me.
It’s a sin to be at a bar and not line dance to at least one song before you go.
Kioni and Ryker are both watching us, along with Xander.
But I don’t pay him any mind. I smile at my evening companions, glad I’d agreed to tag along.
When the song ends, someone grabs my hand and spins me around.
My skirt twirls and I laugh when I see that it’s Kioni.
“I thought you didn’t want to dance?”
“It was either me or that man.” She tilts her head towards the retreating figure. “And that was not happening.”
She twirls me again, pulling me into her and resting her hand on my waist.
“Thank you for dragging me along tonight. I needed this.”
She dips me, and I squeal.
“Me too,” she says, grinning down at me.
Everyone we came with leaves one by one until it’s only us three left of the large group. They flank me on either side as they escort me through the dark parking lot to my car. Kioni keeps her hand on my open door until my seatbelt is fastened.
She smiles at me. “Good night, Sam.”
“Good night, Ki. Thanks for letting me be your third wheel.”
She huffs out a laugh and gazes at me for another heartbeat before shutting my door and stepping back. They wait until I’m backing up before they walk to theirs. I’ve never felt so safe and protected before.
On the way home, I finally receive a message from my shadow.
Phantom_Shadow: What’s your red?
Excitement and anxiety thrum through me, from the red flags waving in my mind to the drool dripping from my hellcat.
Hidden_Embers: All green.
I just went from safety to free-falling in a matter of minutes.