She sighed and looked up at me with those eyes that seemed to look straight into my soul. “Hunter, I don’t hate you. I just can’t be with someone that doesn’t have any boundaries.”
“I know.” We continued walking and even though nothing was resolved, the weight on my chest didn’t feel quite so heavy anymore. “So, how’s teaching going?”
“It’s good. I really like it. The students are definitely challenging and it’s a lot harder to teach at a college level than I thought it would be.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just keeping the students interest is different. They already know a lot, so I want to be able to hold their interest and make it more exciting for them. I think most college professors think that the students are adults once they’re in college and they have to put in the effort to do the work if they want to succeed, which is true. But I also want them to be excited to come to my class. I remember a professor I had in college and his world history class was what made me decide that I wanted to be a teacher. He was so engaging and made me really want to learn. I guess I want the same for my students.”
“It sounds like you’ll do a good job.”
“I hope so.”
“Have you made any friends?”
“There’s Graham,” she said hesitantly. “He’s a history professor also. He’s been helping me get my footing and we’ve spent a lot of time discussing strategies.”
I knew I didn’t have a right to be jealous. I had ruined things between us and showing my jealous side would only push her further away. Since we seemed to have a truce, I swallowed my wounded pride and smiled. “That’s great. I’m glad you have someone to help you out.”
She looked a little shocked, but hid it quickly. We walked for another block in silence and then we were at her apartment. I didn’t want her to go, but I didn’t have any reason to stop her. She hesitated and didn’t walk upstairs right away.
“Hunter, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“What made you not want relationships?” I studied her eyes and thought about not answering, but now wasn’t the time to hold back. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I just thought that there must be some reason that you have such a hard time letting people in. I’m probably wrong, but I thought I’d ask.”
“There’s no great reason,” I said before she could walk away. “I don’t have some fucked up past or a woman that left me untrusting. I guess the only reason I have is that my parents weren’t the best role models. They didn’t fight a lot, but they just existed together. When I think back to them, I see two people that basically tolerated each other. My parents slept in separate rooms and I don’t know if that was because they didn’t love each other or if my dad snored. They didn’t go out on dates. Maybe because we didn’t have a lot of money, but maybe they just didn’t want to. I guess, I just don’t know what really happened with them. They didn’t give me any good example of how two people in love behaved. They divorced when I went into the military and I always assumed that they never really loved each other.” I shrugged. “I just don’t know any other way. I’m trying to figure this out as I go. Apparently, the first time I tried it, it didn’t go so well,” I said jokingly.
She smiled and laughed lightly. “Maybe you’ll do better the next time around. Thanks for walking me home, Hunter.”
“You’re welcome.”
She took the bags from me and walked upstairs. I shoved my hands in my pockets and headed for my truck. I didn’t have her back, but at least she understood a little of where I was coming from. I walked along the deserted streets, looking up at the sky and wondering what it would be like if Lucy ever decided to give me a chance. I knew that if I had the chance again I wouldn’t blow it.
I hit the ground, my face smacking against the pavement. My eyes blurred as something filled my vision, but I vaguely saw a figure running away from me. I tried to shake my head to try and see better, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. I didn’t understand what was going on. The world started slowing down in front of me. Even my eyelashes seemed to blink at a slower rate. Had I been drugged? The next time my eyes slid closed, they didn’t open again.
✯✯✯✯✯
“Dumb fucker got shot walking down the street.”
“Sebastian, are there any jobs that went wrong? Anyone that would want to take a shot at him?”
“Sure. There are always jobs that go wrong, for the other guy. I can’t think of anyone off the top of my head that would go after him.”
I pried my eyes open and hissed at the pain that shot through my head.
“Welcome to the land of the living.” Derek was standing next to me, grinning at me like it was his birthday.
“So, what can you tell us?” Sebastian asked.
“About what?” I was confused as hell. I looked around the room and saw Sean Donnelly, Sebastian, Derek, and Knight all crowded in my small hospital room. What the hell was I doing in the hospital? “What happened?”
“Shit. We were hoping you could tell us,” Cap said.
Sean stood at the foot of my bed with his notepad. “Why don’t you tell us what you do remember?”
I blinked hard, trying to focus, but my head was throbbing. It took me a minute to clear the fog. “I ran into Lucy and walked her home. Then, I headed back to my truck. That’s the last thing I remember.”
“You were just down the block from the grocery store,” Sean said as he wrote down something in his notebook.
“You still haven’t said what happened.”
“You got shot in the head.”
“And I’m still alive? Unlucky shot.”
“Or lucky,” Knight said. “The bullet only scraped your skull.”
“What caliber?” I asked.
“.22,” Sean replied. “I would say that whoever shot you wasn’t trained.”
There was probably a logical reason he was saying that, but my brain just wasn’t functioning at the moment. “Why’s that?”
“Because, a trained shooter would have made sure you were dead.”
“So, this wasn’t related to us,” Cap said.
“I would guess this is a gang initiation or something,” Sean said. “I can’t say for sure, but that’s what it looks like to me. Unless you’ve pissed off some random citizen.”
“Not that I can think of,” I muttered, though something was nagging at the back of my mind.
“You haven’t slept with someone’s wife or girlfriend?” Cap asked.
I shook my head gingerly. “You’re such an asshole.”
“Look, I know you have a thing for Lucy, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t strayed.”
That was it. “The notes to Lucy. Someone was pissed that she was seeing me. At least, I’m pretty sure it was me.”
“So, he gets pissed that she’s still hanging around you and he tries to eliminate the competition,” Sean surmised.
“Is someone still with Lucy?” I asked Derek worriedly.
“Someone’s been on her twenty/four, seven. No one’s approached her yet. After you left Lucy at her apartment, Chance stayed with her.”
“Unfortunately, there are no cameras where you were shot and there were no witnesses. So, unless you can remember something, we’ve still got nothing,” Sean said.
I laid my head back against the pillow and closed my eyes as the guys continued to talk around me. It got quieter or maybe I had drifted off. I wasn’t sure which one, but when I opened my eyes again, the room was empty except for Knight.
“Why are you still here?” I asked, clearing my throat of what felt like sand.
Knight handed me a cup of water. “I couldn’t leave. I kept thinking about all that time that you thought I was dead and now I know what that feels like.”
“Except I didn’t die.”
“No, but when Cap called me, all he said was that you had been taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. Not many people survive those unscathed.”
&n
bsp; “Not many people survive a knife to the chest in the middle of a fire.”
“Guess we’re lucky bastards,” he smirked.
“So, when are they letting me out of here?”
“Don’t know. The doctor said he would stop by when you were awake and check you out. I would assume since you’re fine, they’ll let you go soon.”
“Anyone else stop by while I was out?”
“You mean Lucy?”
I sighed and stared at the ceiling. Guess it was too much to hope that Lucy would make sure I was okay. Of course, since she wasn’t my girlfriend, there would be no reason for her to come.
“Do you want me to call her?” he asked. I shook my head. Just because I walked her home didn’t mean that everything was fixed between us. If anything, I had proven to her that I would never be ready for all she needed.
The doctor checked me out an hour later and said that I was good to be released. He suggested I take some time off work until the symptoms of the concussion I received were gone.
Knight drove me home and shut off the truck when we pulled in the drive.
“I’m fine. You don’t need to stay.”
“You’re always supposed to have someone stay with you after a head injury.”
“I’ve had a severe head injury before. Believe me, this is nothing.”
“I’ll help you inside and make sure-”
“Knight, I’m fine. I don’t need a babysitter.”
“You’re so fucking stubborn.”
“No, I’m just fucking tired and I don’t need someone watching over me.”
“Fine, but I’m checking up on you in the morning and if you don’t answer, I’ll tear the fucking door down to get inside.”
“No need. There’s a spare key hidden in the loose board in the porch on the right side of the door.”
I slammed the door and went inside to relax in peace. My head was fucking pounding and all I wanted was some medicine and my bed. I went to the bathroom and got some pain meds. When I looked in the mirror, I cringed. I looked like hell. My eyes had deep bruises under them and my skin was pale, which was saying something since my parents were Brazilian. I removed the bandage from the right side of my head and examined the staples they had put in. The cut ran from my ear forward a few inches.
I went to bed and slept for a good portion of the day. When I woke again, it was to pounding, which just pissed me the fuck off. I told Knight where the fucking key was.
“Shut the fuck up,” I shouted as I swung the door open. Lucy was standing on the other side, red cheeks and a startled look on her face.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-” She turned and stepped away from the door, but I grabbed her arm and stopped her.
“Hey, I thought you were Knight. I was pissed because he said he was coming over and I told him where the key was. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“Oh, okay. I didn’t mean to wake you, but Derek told me what happened and I wanted to make sure you were okay.” She bit her lip as she looked at the side of my head. “Does it hurt?”
“That spot doesn’t hurt so much, but I have a killer headache.”
“Do you want me to give you a scalp massage? It helps me when I get headaches.”
“I’ll try anything at this point.” I stepped aside and let her in, then went over to the couch to sit down. She sat down on the other end and patted her lap. “Why don’t you lay down with your head on my leg?”
I did as she asked and closed my eyes as she started to massage around my temples and certain points around my eyes. The pain was slowly dulling and soon she was running her fingers through my short hair in a way that wasn’t a massage, but still relaxing.
“I was scared when I heard what happened. Derek said you were very lucky.”
I grunted, enjoying the feel of her fingers on my head.
“Do you remember anything that happened after you left my apartment?” I shook my head slightly and her fingers stopped moving. “Do you want me to leave? I don’t want to bother you.”
“Stay. I like the sound of your voice,” I said, keeping my eyes shut. She was quiet for a moment and then what she said shocked me.
“When I was six, my mom died. It was winter and she got a bad cold, but she kept telling my dad she was fine. Then one day, she couldn’t get out of bed. Dad insisted that she go to the hospital, but she just kept saying that she needed some rest. By the time Dad got her to go to the hospital, her organs had started shutting down. They couldn’t do anything to save her. She had contracted pneumonia and it was slowly killing her.
“After that, it was just Dad, Claire, and me. Dad did pretty much everything to make sure that we were always happy. He never let Mom’s death get him down. He used to have one of his friends take us into town to trick or treat on Halloween and he stayed home and made a haunted house for us. He would tape the light switches down so that we couldn’t flip on the lights and he would have creepy music playing in the background. One time, we had to pass around organs that he made. I think there was a heart and lungs. It was disgusting. And then we had to walk through the whole house. He had taken wadded up toilet paper and put it all over the floor. It felt like we were stepping on mice. Then the vacuum cleaner started chasing us down the hallway. I still don’t know how he did that one.”
She was silent for a minute as she continued to run her fingers through my hair. It was soothing me to the point that I thought I might fall asleep, but I didn’t want to waste this time I had with Lucy. I wanted to hear all her stories because chances were when she left, I wouldn’t be seeing her again.
“I think my dad always worried that Claire and I didn’t have a good enough life with him. Like he didn’t make life interesting enough or something, but all the memories I have of growing up were great. There was one time that Claire and I were sure that there were ghosts in the house. We were walking down the hall to our room and there was a bookcase against the wall. I swear to God, there were pens and pencils flying off that bookcase and shooting into our room.
“And then there was the time that Claire and I stayed outside to watch the meteor shower. We were laying out on blankets in the dark and all the sudden Claire couldn’t see. She started patting around on the ground and shouting, ‘Lucy, I’ve lost my eye! My eye is gone!’ We looked all over for it, but it wasn’t anywhere on the ground. We ran inside to my dad and showed him that her eye was gone. He started laughing at us because her eyes were swollen shut. There had been cats outside and Claire was allergic. Dad never let her live that down.”
I smiled as she continued to tell me stories from her childhood, but eventually, I drifted off to sleep. I hadn’t been that much at peace in a long time.
✯✯✯✯✯
I was grumpy after waking up on the couch alone. I had this insane idea that I would wake up in Lucy’s arms and she would tell me she wanted another shot with me. Of course, that didn’t happen, so I spent the rest of the day moping around my house. By the next day, I knew there was no way that I could spend another minute at home. I had to stay busy or I would end up going over to Lucy’s and demand that she give me another chance. She would turn me down and I would be depressed all over again.
I went into work and into the conference room where everyone was sitting around the table, getting their assignments. They all looked up at me and Cap shook his head.
“Get your ass out of here. You heard the doc. No work for a week.”
“I’m good. There’s no way I’m sitting at home another day. I’ll go crazy.”
An evil look crossed Cap’s face. “Alright. You can help Knight today.”
I looked at Knight who was also grinning at me. “This is gonna be great.”
Now I was nervous. “What’s going on today?”
“Sean’s sending over some possible recruits. We’re going to put them through the course and see who has potential.”
I started shaking my head immediately. “No. The last time we were looking at recruits
, Knight got shot.”
“Exactly,” Cap grinned. “Good thing you’re a medic. Just don’t get shot. Kate’s out of town at a conference. You’d have to tend to yourself.”
“This sucks,” I muttered.
“Hey, you want to be here? This is the job I have available for you.”
“Fine.” Anything was better than sitting at home.
After Cap finished handing out assignments, Knight and I made our way down to the training center. “I can’t believe I’m doing this shit. They’re not even recruits for here. This should be good.”
“Relax. I do this all the time,” Knight said, slapping me on the back. Sean Donnelly walked through the doors to the training center and came over to stand next to us. We watched as the recruits bantered with one another, each one thinking they were top dog.
“How do you deal with this shit?” I asked Knight.
“Kate taught me some breathing techniques. It’s really been helping. Otherwise, I’d shoot half the people that walk through here.”
“Half the people that walk through here are Reed Security Employees.”
“Exactly,” he deadpanned. “Alright. Here’s what you do, take one deep breath in through your nose and hold it for five seconds. Then blow it out through your mouth. Repeat until you feel calm.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I can do that. It actually works?”
“Not yet, but I haven’t killed anyone, so it must be helping at least a little.”
Hunter: A Reed Security Romance Page 11