Wolf

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  “Well, I’m not now,” I grumbled.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Reese

  The sound of a drill woke me, making me jolt out of bed. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, sure that I was just hearing things, but then I heard it again. I ran to my bedroom door and snatched my robe off the hook, wrapping it around me tightly. I reached down, wrapping my hand around my Louisville Slugger that I kept next to my dresser. With a pounding heart, I cracked the door open and looked for whatever was making that noise. The hall was clear, so I tiptoed out and peeked into rooms that lined the hallway. Everything seemed to be clear.

  When I heard the creaking on the stairs, I shoved myself back against the wall and held on tight to my bat. Taking deep breaths to calm my nerves, I quickly wiped my hands on my robe and got a better grip on the bat. I could tell that whoever it was, they were almost to the top step. I took one last deep breath and screamed as I turned the corner and slammed the bat repeatedly into the tall man that was walking up my stairs. He tried to grip onto the banister, but I slammed the bat down on his fingers and then swung one last time for his head.

  He ducked and fell backwards down the stairs, his feet flying up over his head as he tumbled down. His feet were up over his head as he lay smashed up against the front door. Creeping down the stairs, with my bat poised and ready to strike, I stepped slowly up to him and nudged him with the bat. He groaned slightly and then his body flopped down to the side. My eyes flew wide open when I saw my stalker lying on the floor.

  “What are you doing here?” I shouted at his lifeless body.

  “Installing security,” he grumbled as he finally opened his eyes and tried to sit up. “We talked about this last night.”

  “I never told you to come in my house! How did you even get in here?”

  “Brooke gave me your key last night.”

  “Of course she did. You know, it’s my house, not hers. You have to get my permission to come in here, which I didn’t give!”

  “I told you I was coming today. You didn’t say no.”

  “I didn’t say yes either!”

  “Is everything alright in here?”

  I spun around with a shriek and held my bat at the ready. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Alec, Craig’s teammate.”

  “Let me guess, you just decided to let yourself in too.”

  “You didn’t get her permission?” he said to Craig accusingly.

  “She didn’t say no.”

  A blonde woman walked into the room, wearing some kind of commando gear that made me feel a little lacking. “Oh, good. You’re awake. I knew this was how it was gonna go down. Thank you for attacking yours and not mine.”

  “What are you talking about? Who are you?”

  “I’m Florrie. This,” she jerked her thumb at Alec, “is mine. That’s yours.” She waved her hand at Craig, who was starting to sit up and looked to be nursing his ribs. Served him right.

  “That is not mine. He just keeps showing up!”

  “See, I knew this was what was really happening. These men have a way of bulldozing your life.”

  “He’s like that too?” I gestured to Alec and she nodded.

  “Unfortunately, they all have this alpha tendency to them that they take to the extreme.”

  “Craig has already shot two men in front of me. And I’ve only known him a few days!”

  “Yeah,” Florrie nodded, “Alec killed a man, just snapped his neck, because he thought that the guy had shot me.”

  “And you’re still with him?” I shrieked.

  She lifted one shoulder in a shrug and grinned. “It’s kind of sexy, you know?”

  “No. I don’t know. I’ve never seen someone get shot other than in a movie and that’s not real.”

  Craig stumbled over to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I shrugged him off and glared at him. “What are you doing?”

  “Uh, Reese’s Pieces, I think you might want to tie your robe shut. As sexy as those pajamas are, I don’t really want Alec seeing your tits hanging out.”

  I snorted. Like my tits could hang out. I hardly had tits. I was small and that meant that my tits never really grew in. I looked down at my white tank top and blue striped shorts and couldn’t see quite what the problem was. Just to piss him off, and because I hadn’t had coffee yet and wasn’t thinking clearly, I shrugged off my robe and tossed it to him. He caught it and glared at me, rushing over to cover me back up. I swatted at him to get away when Florrie whistled loudly. I glared at Craig when he held out the robe to me one more time. Florrie jerked her head toward my kitchen.

  “Come on, Reese. Let me explain to you the anomaly that is the men of Reed Security.” She motioned me over and I found myself following, even though I didn’t know her. She seemed to have her head on straight, even if she worked with psychotic men.

  I stalked over to my coffee pot and stared at the light that was on, signaling that the coffee was made and hot in the carafe. “Just helped himself to my coffee, I see.”

  “Yeah, your coffee is fantastic, by the way.”

  Sighing, I pulled down a mug and poured myself a cup. Damnit, it was better than how I made it. And that made me hate him even more.

  “So, how do I get him to leave me alone?” I asked when I finally turned around.

  “You don’t.”

  “There has to be some way. I mean,” I chuckled nervously, getting the feeling that there wasn’t actually a way out of this, “if someone doesn’t want you to be part of their life, you can’t just hang around and wait for them to change their mind.”

  She just stared at me, waiting for me to get it.

  “Okay, normal people don’t do that.”

  “You’re right. Normal people don’t.”

  “And Craig’s not normal,” I surmised.

  She set down her coffee cup on the counter and walked closer to me. “I’m gonna let you in on a secret that you may not know yet. Craig is like every other man at Reed Security. He knows what he wants and he goes for it. He doesn’t let anything stand in his way, and that includes a woman that doesn’t want to admit that she’s attracted to him.”

  “Now, wait a minute. I never said that I was attracted to him.” She gave me a pointed look and I rolled my eyes. “Okay, even if I am attracted to him, he’s not my type. I don’t go for overpowering men. I don’t want a man to run my life or shoot up anyone that happens to be in the vicinity.”

  “Do you want to get married?”

  “What?”

  “Not right now, but someday, do you want to get married?”

  “I guess?”

  She rolled her eyes, obviously irritated with my answer. “Look, Craig is as loyal as they come. He would give the shirt off his back to anyone that truly deserved it, no questions asked. So, while he may come off as a psycho stalker, I can tell you that you’re the only woman he’s turned into a psycho stalker for.”

  “I’m not sure that makes me feel better.”

  “It should. It means that you’re special.”

  “Look, I understand that you’re loyal to him and you want the best for him. But I’m not the woman for him. I don’t know the first thing about guns or fighting. And frankly, his cavalier attitude about the whole thing is just something I can’t wrap my head around. I teach kindergarten. You know, little people that don’t have anything to do with the crazy world he lives in. I don’t see danger around every corner and I would never think that I would need a gun in a coffee shop. So, while I’m sure that he’s a great guy, I’m not interested in being stalked or being forced into having a security system installed in my house that I could never afford.”

  Florrie almost looked sad as she stood in front of me, but I didn’t understand why. I was trying to tell her that I would never make her friend happy. Wasn’t that a good thing? I glanced at the clock on the wall and realized that I was going to be late for school if I didn’t leave soon. I rinsed out my mug and turned back to Florrie.

  “P
lease, tell Craig that I don’t want anything installed and I would like him to leave me alone. Maybe he’ll listen to you.”

  I was almost out of the kitchen when she spoke again.

  “You know, he was going to charge the whole thing to himself. He just wanted to know that you were safe.”

  I sighed, not turning back to her, and walked out of the kitchen. I just couldn’t deal with this right now. I had to get to work and lead a normal life. One that didn’t involve people breaking into my house at the ass-crack of dawn.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Craig

  “You didn’t tell us that she wasn’t on board with this,” Alec spat at me.

  I lifted my shirt and checked out the damage to my ribs. Bruises were already forming and I was pretty sure that I had a decent goose egg on my head from smacking it against the door when I fell down the stairs.

  “She doesn’t realize how much danger she’s in.”

  “What danger? She teaches kindergarten. Do you think a psychotic parent is going to come gun her down when the kid doesn’t stay inside the lines when coloring?”

  “You never know. Parents are crazy nowadays. Maybe she accidentally calls one of them by the wrong pronoun because the kid decides he’s a girl for the day. The parent goes crazy, thinking that Reese isn’t compassionate enough, and goes to shoot up her house.” He stared at me like I was fucking crazy. “What? It could happen.”

  “This girl is making you lose your head. This isn’t you. You don’t go around stalking women, and I know you know how to take a hint. And this woman is waving the red flag right in front of your fucking face.”

  I didn’t know how to describe to him how I felt when she was around. She was normal, a piece of this world that I so rarely got to see. And I wanted to grab it with both hands and never let it go.

  “You know how you like Florrie because she gets your life?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, I like Reese because she doesn’t. She’s not part of all the bullshit. She sees the world in a completely innocent way. I only talked to her in the coffee shop for a few minutes and I knew that I wanted her. She’s life before all this bullshit. She thought I was joking when I talked about carrying a gun, because that stuff doesn’t touch her life. She’s fucking normal.”

  “And that’s what you want?” he asked incredulously. “Someone that wants to cuddle up on the couch on a Saturday night? Someone that doesn’t want to blow shit up for fun? That sounds fucking boring.”

  “Really? Because I see what every other normal guy gets out of life. I see a woman that could give me a normal life that I’ve never fucking had. I went off to war when I turned nineteen and I’ve never known anything else. I’ve never had a normal relationship. I’ve slept with women that only see the man in the uniform. But with Reese, if people would stop interrupting our dates and let me actually fucking talk to her, she would see the side of me that just wants normal.”

  “But you’re never gonna get normal,” he stressed. “I hate to break it to you, but you will never see the world the way she does. You’ll always be looking for danger when she’s totally oblivious to it. You can try to be the normal guy, but you’re always going to be the guy that has at least five weapons on him at all times.”

  “Maybe I’ll stop carrying,” I snapped.

  “Right,” he snorted. “I’d like to see you walk around without a gun on you, and then we’ll see where you end up.”

  “I could do it.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I could,” I insisted. He snorted again and it just pissed me off. “Fine. For the next week, I’ll only carry a gun when I’m at work. The rest of the time, you won’t find a single weapon on me.”

  He held out his hand and grinned. “Deal.”

  I shook it, but dropped his hand quickly when Reese came storming through the room. I rushed over to her, stepping in front of her so she had to listen to me.

  “Can you please move?” she asked irritatedly.

  “Now, hold on just a minute. I just want to talk to you real quick.”

  “I don’t want to talk to you. Why don’t you understand that?”

  I chuckled lightly, glancing at Alec who was staring at me like I was the dumbest fuck on the planet. Grabbing Reese’s arm, I tried pulling her farther away from curious ears, but she fought me. With no other choice, I picked her up and tossed her over my shoulder.

  “What are you doing? Put me down!”

  “Sorry, Reese’s Pieces, but we need to talk.”

  “Stop calling me Reese’s Pieces! I’m not a piece of candy.” She slammed her fist into my back and I laughed. It was so cute that she thought she could hurt me. I smacked her ass and walked up the stairs, all the while she was cursing and screaming at me. I walked down the hall, peeking into rooms until I found hers. Closing the door, I set her down and crossed my arms over my chest.

  “Now we can talk without people listening.”

  “Are you crazy? What am I saying, of course you are! You walked into my house uninvited. You follow me places. You threw me over your shoulder like a caveman! Why won’t you listen?”

  “Well, to be fair, you’re not really giving me a chance to talk.”

  “I don’t-”

  “Ah,” I tsked her. “See? You’re not letting me talk. Now, if you’ll just hear me out, I’ll let you get on with your day.”

  She fumed in front of me, her eyes turning molten while her face turned a beautiful tomato red. It was cute to see my little sprite being all worked up and angry.

  “Okay, now, I know you have some preconceived notions about who I am, but I want to clear that up. See, I’m just a guy looking for a woman that isn’t part of my world. I want someone that isn’t tainted by the cruelties of the world I live in. I want someone that’s still optimistic and thinks the best of people. I could tell instantly when I started talking to you in that coffee shop that you were that woman. I know you don’t see it, but we have something. And if you’d just be open to it, I think we could have something explosive between us.”

  That was a fucking great speech, if I did say so myself. Women wanted honesty and that’s what I gave her. I couldn’t help the little grin that split my lips. But when she didn’t soften or grin in return, I felt my confidence faltering.

  “Are you done?” she snapped.

  “Uh…yes?”

  “Good. Now that you’ve so eloquently told me who I am, let me tell you who I actually am. I am a woman that’s looking for a man that’s just normal. You want a normal woman? I want a normal man. And you think I’m not tainted by the cruelties of the world? I’ve seen enough to know that there are terrible people out there. I worked in the Pittsburgh school system for years, and let me tell you, you learn a lot about the realities of this world when you see some of those kids show up for school and they’re hungry or they’re wearing dirty clothes. I know that this world can suck. I don’t need you thinking that I’m some clueless bimbo that’s just flitting through life without a care.”

  “That’s not what-”

  “Don’t you dare interrupt me. You’ve barged into my life and taken over when I didn’t want you to. Now, I have to get to work, so kindly remove yourself from my house and my life so that I can go do my job.”

  I wanted to say something else, but I felt like I had just been slapped back into a different reality. Was she saying that she didn’t want to see me anymore? Because that was not cool. I was a good person and I deserved a fucking chance. I would just have to wait for another opportunity to open up. And I knew it would.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Reese

  “Alright, on your worksheets, there are letters that you need to fill in that are missing. Go ahead and get started and raise your hand if you need help.”

  My teaching assistant helped me go around the room and help the kids with their work, but about halfway through, I got a call from the office.

  “Hello?”

  “Ms. Pearson, there’s s
omeone in the office to see you.”

  I clenched my jaw in irritation. The man just wouldn’t leave me alone. “I’ll be right down.” I hung up the phone and tried to collect myself before I left. The last thing I needed was for either of us to cause a scene. Luckily, it was lunch time, so I walked the kids down to the lunch room and headed to the office, trying my best to stay calm. But when I walked into the office, I was shocked to see my grandma there.

  “Grandma? What are you doing here?”

  “Reese, I just came to talk to you about this man that’s been following you around.”

  I rolled my eyes and let out a long sigh. “Grandma, I can’t talk about this now. I have a class to teach.”

  “I know, I know. But you need to be careful. Men are not to be trusted. Especially those Reed Security men.”

  “What do you know about those men?”

  She glanced around the office and then leaned in to whisper to me. “I’ve seen them around town. Those boys are dangerous.”

  “Okay, Grandma. I appreciate you coming by to warn me off, but I have to get back to work.” I turned to go, but then thought of something. “How did you find out about Craig following me?”

  “Well, Brooke came by for tea this morning and told me all about it. At least one of my grandchildren still comes to visit.”

  “Brooke isn’t your grandchild, and I do come to visit, but I can’t during the week when I have school.”

  She pursed her lips. “Well, she’s more likely to give me great-grandchildren than you, so I have to take whoever I can. I’ll probably be in the ground for twenty years before you decide to settle down and have a family.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic. It’s not like I’m barren and pushing sixty.”

  “Just remember that I won’t be around forever. I want to see my great-grandchild before my cataracts take over.”

  “You don’t have cataracts.”

  “I could. I could also blow a hip at any time.”

  I gently pushed her toward the office door. I couldn’t stand around and talk about things that didn’t amount to a hill of beans right now. I had a class to get back to, and a sexy, stalker man to get away from. The problem was, as I walked down the hallway to my classroom, all I could think about was the man who stalked me. I glanced behind me, sure that I would see him in the hallways, just waiting to make his move. I shook my head and chuckled. I was being ridiculous. I finished out the school day and was pleasantly surprised when Craig didn’t meet me in the parking lot. Things were finally looking up.