Center Mass

by Lani Lynn Vale

  He knew he was in the wrong.

  “It’s time to go, woman. We’re getting our money back for this shit. Fucking cocksuckers,” the man growled, grabbing his wife’s arm and forcing her to stand.

  The kids followed nicely, slipping out of the theater as quickly as they could manage.

  “Downy, follow them to make sure they actually leave without causing any more trouble,” Luke sighed.

  I blinked in surprise.

  “What an asshole. He ruined my movie,” Rowen exclaimed, drawing the attention of Luke and the other officer.

  My eyes closed, and my face heated. “Goddamn Tru. I’m going to kick her ass.”

  I said it softly, but when I opened my eyes, I realized that both men had heard, somehow.

  What, did they have super hearing as well?

  Luke smiled.

  The other officer did not.

  He looked like he had a permanent scowl on his face.

  “Nico, would you mind asking them to restart the movie on your way out. Preferably from about fifteen minutes ago. We missed some,” Luke said, not sparing me another wink…or look.

  The officer, Nico, nodded and started back out the door.

  Luke went back to his seat in front of me, and kissed a child’s head that was sitting next to him. By my guess, it was Katerina, but I couldn’t see her over the edge of the seat so I couldn’t confirm my suspicion.

  When the lights darkened again, and the movie started to rewind, I sighed.

  This had to be the most boring movie ever.

  On the plus side, though, Rowen was excited.

  With a quietness I’d never heard before in a theater, the movie played.

  And the entire two hours, I watched the dark form of Luke in front of me, all the while wondering why I had it so bad for him.

  He was just a man, after all.

  Right?

  Chapter 4

  You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do will probably be put on YouTube by the time you make bail.

  -Fact of life

  Luke

  “I need for you to place your hands on the hood of the car. Slowly,” I ordered the man I’d just pulled over for speeding.

  “Fuck you, you fucking pig. You can go fuck yourself,” the old man hissed.

  However, he didn’t resist, which was good. I didn’t want to have to hurt him.

  I’d originally pulled him over because he was naked. Now I was taking him in because he fit the BOLO, or be on the lookout, for an old man out of Oakland Heights Nursing Home who’d gone missing last night.

  I’d been at the stoplight in my SUV cruiser at Stone Road and 259 when I’d looked down at the car next to me. What I’d gotten was an eyeful of ball sack.

  Pinching the bridge of my nose, I waited for the light to turn green, then immediately pulled him over.

  The man had been pleasant at first, but I figured the man had to have some sort of short term memory loss, because the next thing I knew, he was running down the street naked.

  Which had caught the attention of Downy in a police cruiser of his own.

  Now, I knew exactly what was going to happen the moment I realized who it was that was pulling up.

  Did he help?

  No.

  Did he watch and laugh?

  Yes, his ass off.

  Did he stop traffic?

  Fuck no. Instead, he laughed with passing motorists as I was lead on a turtle’s pace chase down the main fucking road in Kilgore.

  I was fairly sure I was going to be the butt of every joke in the near future, too.

  But it was all in good fun.

  If this had been anyone else in my position, I’d have done the same.

  Cops were nice like that.

  We had a sick, twisted sense of humor. In all honesty, laughing was used as a stress reliever, so if the PD could get a laugh out of my pain, then Oorah!

  “You know, if you were a vegetable, you’d be a cabbitch!” The old man yelled.

  I cracked a smile as I led him to the car, one of my hands around his scrawny arm.

  “That’s the problem with you Jarheads. So goddamned stupid. I could’ve outrun you, you know. Hey, why am I naked? Did you steal my pants?” He eyed me speculatively.

  That was about the time that Downy burst out laughing, covering it by turning away from me as I put my hand on the man’s head and lowered him into Roscoe’s car.

  Roscoe was still a rookie so it was fun to give him the bad stuff because we all knew he wouldn’t complain about it.

  He would eventually, but right now, he was still trying his hardest not to offend people, and doing a damn fine job of it.

  Thankfully another officer had placed a towel down so he wasn’t rubbing his balls on the seat.

  Most cops didn’t sit back there, but it was the principle of the matter.

  “Take him to the hospital. They’ll be able to get to the family from there,” I instructed Roscoe.

  Roscoe nodded.

  Closing the door, I turned back to the three other officers who had turned around the moment I had, acting as if they’d been busy as I apprehended the old man.

  “Alright, boys. Show’s over,” I drawled, eliciting chuckles from the crowd that’d formed.

  There were plenty of smiles as they all got in their cars and left, except for Downy.

  “You wanna go to breakfast?” He asked, looking at his watch.

  All that excitement, and it was only seven in the morning.

  “Sure. I promised Katy I’d pick up some cookies at the bakery on the corner,” I said, indicating the new store that’d just opened. “Wanna try there?”

  He looked at it skeptically. “It looks like a frou-frou place. I was more thinking a plate of eggs and twelve pieces of bacon from The Back Porch.”

  “That’s fine. I can run by the bakery first and then I’ll meet you there,” I offered.

  He glared. “Guess we’ll never know if it’s any good if we don’t go.”

  I nodded.

  I wasn’t a big fan of bakeries, either.

  However, I’d do just about anything for my girl. Kind of like going to see a freakin’ movie about princesses. Then staying for a double feature just because she wanted to.

  Although, I guess it didn’t go all bad.

  I’d gotten to see a certain school nurse.

  What would she be wearing today? Were all of her clothes superhero themed? Was her hair up or down?

  “Meet you there,” Downy said, breaking into my thoughts.

  I nodded and got into my car before calling into dispatch. “Dispatch, this is Unit 6. Going 10-19.”

  “10-4,” Dispatch confirmed.

  I found a front row parking spot, pulling my cruiser through to allow Downy to park behind me.

  As I stepped out of the SUV, I looked at the cherry red 1970 Dodge Charger in mint condition parked at the back of the lot.

  I’d seen it as soon as I’d turned the corner, spotting it from several blocks away.

  My feet carried me unwillingly to the car, and I walked around it, checking out the paint, the sharp lines. The magnificent body. The interior.

  To most it’d look like I was inspecting a suspicious vehicle. But I wasn’t. I was admiring it.

  The thing was sweet, and my curiosity was peaked as Downy and I made our way inside twenty minutes later.

  “You know you just wasted ten of our precious breakfast minutes looking at a car, right?” Downy asked dryly.

  I nodded, not replying.

  Downy was a truck man. He liked his vehicles big…so if push came to shove, he could get out of any situation. Mainly by running them the fuck over.

  Me, I liked to be able to outrun my problems.

  “Yes, my boy,” I replied.

  My curiosity, which had been at a fever pitch, died the moment I walked through the door behind Downy and saw her.

  It’d been years since I’d seen Lydia, but she still looked exactly the
same. Long black hair, emerald green eyes. Fantastic hips. Lush lips. Long eye lashes. A killer smile.

  Yet not a single thing did it for me anymore.

  Instead of the woman that I’d previously compared all my potential conquests to, I only saw Lydia. The bitch that had refused to be with me because she hadn’t wanted my kid to live with us. She’d wanted her own children…just not one that wasn’t related to her by blood.

  Oh, and the little part where she still lived off of daddy’s money, and didn’t want to give that up.

  Turning my face away from Lydia, I scanned the room as I usually did.

  The woman currently sitting in a table next to the door, though, really did it for me.

  In her Hulk scrubs with the massive fists all over, I found the desire to smile.

  So I did.

  She looked up in time to see my lips twist into a grin, and her face blushed prettily.

  Seeing as there was only one car in the lot, I knew immediately whom the ride in the lot belonged to.

  I just hadn’t figured her for the type.

  “You know what I like. You’re buying anyway. You owe me. Oh, and don’t forget the cookies,” I said, trying my hardest to avoid the woman who was looking at me with longing in her eyes.

  As if she’d been starving for a lifetime and had seen her salvation the moment I walked in the door.

  I walked slowly towards Reese, coming to a stop next to her table.

  “Mind if I sit down?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “No. I won’t be here long, though.”

  I nodded and took a seat. “Neither will we. I have about twenty minutes until I’ll have to go back on patrol.”

  She grimaced. “Back? How long have you been on patrol?”

  I looked at my watch.

  0720 hours.

  “About four hours now. I was called in since an officer had to go home because of a stomach bug,” I replied.

  She made a gag face, causing me to smile.

  She nodded. “What do you do with Katerina when that happens?”

  “My sister lives here now. Most of the time I just take Katy to her. I used to take her to a friend’s house,” I explained.

  Why I was being so open with her, I didn’t know.

  I wasn’t the chatty Kathy type.

  But there was something about her that just made it easy to talk in front of her.

  “I wish I had that. My sister’s an hour away now. Although that’s why I moved here. So my hours would be better,” she said, opening up to me.

  “How’s your mom doing?” I asked.

  She looked like I’d grown a second head.

  “How’d you know there was something wrong with my mom?” She asked suspiciously.

  I grinned.

  “You told me the other day when I dropped off Katy’s prescription, remember?” I said with a raised brow.

  She winced. “I’m sorry. My memory’s shot. I can’t even remember what I had for dinner last night.”

  I laughed. I was the same way.

  Downy set a cup of coffee, and two ham and cheese breakfast sandwiches down by my elbow before pulling up a chair and sitting down.

  He looked back and forth between the two of us, a small frown turning down the corner of his mouth.

  “What?” I asked.

  He gestured to the counter with his head. “Lady at the counter. She says she’d like to speak with you before you leave. And she charged me full price, yet yours was free. What the fuck?”

  I grimaced. “Former girlfriend.”

  Recognition flared in his eyes as he took a look at the counter again.

  Lydia’s eyes were filled with longing as she stared at the table we were occupying.

  I turned before I could make eye contact.

  The thought of talking to her did not sound appealing. In fact, anything would sound more appealing than that.

  Like pulling out all the hairs surrounding my nipples.

  “That’s the bitch that broke up with you because you had a kid?” Downy exclaimed rather loudly.

  I nodded. “The one and only.”

  “What a bitch,” Reese said under her breath.

  I nodded. “Yep.”

  Downy’s eyes finally moved to Reese and he held out his hand.

  She took it and shook it twice before she let it go.

  “Hi,” she said timidly.

  He grinned. “Downy.”

  She smiled wider at him and said, “Reese.”

  He recovered quickly, then turned back to me as he continued the conversation without missing a beat.

  “I thought she lived in Wyoming,” Downy asked, bringing his sandwich up to his mouth and taking a large bite.

  I nodded. “Me too.”

  We ate in silence. Downy choking down three cinnamon rolls. Reese finishing off her beignets. And me eating my sandwiches.

  “Alright, gentleman,” Reese said as she stood and brushed off her shirt, freeing her shirt of the white powdered sugar covering her abdomen. “It was a wonderful breakfast. We should do this again sometime. Although not here, ‘cause I find that it’s not as appealing as I thought it was. Have a good day.”

  I downed the rest of my coffee in one gulp and followed her outside, leaving my half eaten sandwich on the plate.

  She didn’t notice I was following her until she opened her car door and saw me directly behind her. Which caused her to screech.

  “You’re exceptionally unobservant,” I said, scowling slightly.

  She tilted her head. “I’ve never had a reason to be that observant. The worst I have in my background is a baby daddy who refuses to pay child support. Why would I need to worry about anything like paying attention to what’s behind me in broad daylight?”

  She had me there. But it never hurt to be cautious.

  “True. But most people don’t know that danger’s out there. All it takes is a pretty female swaying her hips to entice some men. That’s not why I came out here, though. I wanted to know who did the paint job on your car,” I explained.

  “Well,” she blinked. “My dad, I guess. I got this car for my sixteenth birthday.”

  I shook my head, wondering what the hell was going through the father’s mind to give his daughter a ride like this one. If that’d been me, I’d have killed myself racing the fucker.

  “Can you have him call me? I’m looking for someone to paint mine, but I don’t want to take it to just anyone. I’d appreciate his insight,” I continued.

  She blinked and shrugged. “Sure.”

  Then she dropped into the car.

  Once she closed the door, I sat there waiting for her to realize that I was holding my card out for her, but she never did.

  Instead, she started the car up with a growl and my skin started to tingle.

  Holy shit but it was hot seeing a woman get into a car like that.

  And when she rolled the window down and roared out of the parking lot, pulling in front of a large diesel truck, I didn’t even contemplate my next decision.

  It was a done deal.

  She was going to be mine.

  I’d just have to convince her of that.

  “Your ex is crying,” Downy said as he walked up to my side, both of us watching Reese as she zoomed in and out of traffic.

  “She’s breaking about eighteen laws right now,” I said to Downy, tucking the card back into my pocket.

  “Yeah, but she’s fucking hot doing it. I’d let her off with a warning,” Downy grinned before walking to his cruiser and pulling out of the parking lot.

  “Me too,” I murmured to no one.

  My eyes caught the movement at the front entrance, but I refused to acknowledge her.

  I didn’t have anything to say to her. And really didn’t want to listen to anything she had to say.

  Nothing she could do could ever repair the damage she’d caused, so what was the point?

  Besides.

  I had a new desire now.

 
; And she was currently on the top of my to-do list.

  Chapter 5

  Sisters are like fat thighs. They stick together.

  -T-shirt

  Reese

  “Reese’s Pieces. Will you do me a favor?” My sister asked over the phone.

  I sighed.

  “Sure. What do you want?” I asked, idly flipping through my magazine as I waited for my nails to dry.

  It was two days later, and I was relaxing after a long week.

  It’d been eventful, that was for sure.

  And I couldn’t seem to get my mind off the large blonde man.

  Him and his eyes. The ones that changed colors.

  In the darker light, they resembled more of a light honey brown with the inner edges taking on a greenish tint.

  In the light, they lightened, going from a light brown to a pale green.

  They were mesmerizing.

  Then there was his beard.

  It was sexy as hell, and I wanted to sink my hands into it while I rode his face.

  “Reese!” My sister yelled.

  I blinked, jerking out of my daydream about officer hot-stuff.

  “What?” I asked, inspecting my nails for any flaws.

  “Can you get the cake and decorations in the next couple of weeks?” She asked.

  I nodded. “Sure. But you know you’ll have to remind me. I can’t write it down right now because my fingers are wet. I just painted my nails hot pink with black dots.”

  “I need to do that. You should’ve just gone to get a pedicure with me,” she sighed. “Now I’ll have to go alone.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You know, pity doesn’t sound good on you. It makes you sound fat.”

  She giggled. “Fat has a sound?”

  “I’m sure it does,” I explained. “I just don’t how to put it into words.”

  She snorted. “Whatever. I’ll send you a text tomorrow. I’m going to bed…there’s a certain firefighter that’s making me horny.”

  “La-la-la-la!” I said as I hung up.

  Gross.

  She knew I hated talking about her sex life. Yet she did it anyway.

  She was such a shithead.

  Tru liked to call me a prude, but really, what the hell was wrong with not wanting to discuss your sex life in front of your little sister?

  That’s right. Nothing.

  Yet, she always got bent out of shape when I refused to tell her about my sex life.