Rushing In

by Alice Winters

  I break my straight face and start laughing again. “We’re like thirteen-year-old boys, giggling about penis jokes.”

  “We are, but I’m digging it.”

  The waitress heads over and introduces herself before taking our orders.

  “You haven’t worked in Vintage Ridge long; what made you come here?” I ask curiously.

  “I actually grew up here then moved away for college. When I was talking about… the difficulty of putting distance between an abusive relationship and a victim, I was speaking from experience. Just mostly verbal abuse in my case. My father was an alcoholic and loved to berate my mother and me, but he was so good at playing the good guy part that she would never leave him. When I got old enough to truly see what was happening, I began to resent both of them and thought I would stop it by distancing myself. I moved away and eventually my mother also came to terms with what was happening and left him. It was like… the moment they were away from each other, the toxicity left both of them. I moved back to be closer to my mom. I see my father sometimes now and he’s such a different person, but it’s still hard to forgive him even if he asks for it.”

  I’m surprised by him opening up to me, but it makes me feel like he trusts me to do so. “That’s really hard to deal with, but I think you did the right thing.”

  “I hope. I had a lot of hatred toward myself for ditching my mom while I was away.” His face shows the pain he feels from what he’s been through, and I really wish I could comfort him and take all that pain away.

  “You were the kid in this situation. It should’ve been your mom protecting you. You shouldn’t have felt like you needed to protect her.”

  “I know… I wish I had a relationship with my father like you do with yours.”

  I set my hand on top of his and squeeze it gently. I know it’s not enough to make everything go away, but hopefully it’ll make things a little better. “I’m sorry you don’t. But it sounds like you’re close with your mother.”

  “I am,” he says as he pulls a finger out from under my hand and wraps it around my finger as I watch.

  I want to put a smile back on his face and show him that relationships don’t have to be anything like the one he had to deal with as a child. “And would you really want a father who tells everyone that you gave birth to a cat?”

  He starts laughing. “I don’t know. That’s a pretty amazing feat, if I’m being honest.”

  The waitress heads our way with our drinks, so I pull my hand back even though I don’t want to let go. It seems like Bradley doesn’t either because he holds on a moment longer.

  She gives us our drinks and tells us it won’t be long before the pizza will be out.

  “I like it here, though,” he says. “At the last place I worked, it was like no one knew how to have fun while working. But everyone here is much different.”

  “Yeah, I like the group. They’re pretty fun to work with.” Even more fun now that you’re here.

  When we get the pizza, we eat and talk, never letting a lull in the conversation happen. When we finish eating, he immediately grabs the bill.

  “I can pay,” I say.

  “Nah, you drove.”

  “Just because I was terrified of your death machine.”

  He grins at me. “You know, if your dad asks me on Monday how the bike ride went, I’m going to have to tell him the truth.”

  “You don’t have to do anything.”

  “He’s my superior.”

  “Yes, but who do you want to impress more? Me? Or him?”

  “Ehh… That’s a tough one,” he says with a grin as we head up to the counter where he pays. “Although, I bought you pizza. But if Lieutenant Michaels also likes pizza…”

  “He hates it,” I lie.

  “Liar.”

  “I don’t like being jealous of my father,” I joke as he grins at me.

  “He is Daddy material.”

  “Do not ever say that again,” I threaten, which just makes him laugh.

  When we step outside, he nods at the grocery store that is a short walk down the street. “Do you mind if we stop in there and just grab some chips or something?”

  “Of course not. Do we need drinks?”

  “Nah, they usually have enough.”

  We walk inside and head toward the food section, when I recognize two people in front of us.

  “Hey, that’s Tanner and Jamal,” I whisper as I nudge Bradley.

  He looks up and slows down. “Hmm…”

  Instead of turning down the chip aisle, both of us quietly stalk after them.

  “The cereal is down here,” Tanner says as he sets a hand on Jamal’s back to guide him into the aisle.

  When Tanner’s hand touches Jamal, Jamal’s body stiffens and he turns his body in a way that makes Tanner pull back. Since we’re behind them, I can only see a section of Tanner’s face, which instantly shows hurt. He says something, but I can’t hear him over the noise of the store.

  Jamal shakes his head and hurries into the aisle.

  “Well, that’s interesting,” Bradley says. “Either Tanner is very touchy feely or they’re in some type of relationship.”

  “It’d explain the look on Tanner’s face when Jamal was hurt and how panicked he was about us finding him,” I say. “Not that a friend can’t care that much, but he was very concerned. Tanner told us Jamal wasn’t in a relationship, though.”

  “Let’s make them see us,” Bradley says. “Can I hold your hand? If they’re concerned about opening up to us, it could help for them to see us acting normal together. Maybe then they’ll lose their opinion of us as scary uniforms.”

  “I think your uniform is sexy, not scary,” I assure him.

  He grins at me. “Thanks. You too. Can I hold your hand?”

  “You can do anything you want to me.”

  “Put you on my bike?”

  “Besides that.”

  “Tell everyone you gave birth to your cat?”

  “Besides that.”

  He chuckles. “So not anything.”

  “Anything else.”

  “Man, you’re a tough nut to crack,” he says.

  “Thanks. I’m good with nuts.”

  “Are you?” he asks with a grin.

  “I actually don’t know. That’s just what I tell myself,” I say as I hold my hand out.

  He instantly takes it and slides his fingers between mine, like we’ve done it a thousand times before. Even though I know we’re not doing it for real, I tighten my grip and give him a soft smile because I’m in paradise.

  “Let’s go.”

  We cut down an aisle, hoping to find them on the other side, but when we turn down the row they were in, they’re not there.

  “Whoops. We talked about nuts too long,” I realize.

  “Personal opinion. I thought we didn’t talk about them long enough,” he says. And then suddenly, we’re speed walking toward the back of the store, craning our necks to look down each aisle in hopes of finding them.

  “Did they disappear?” I ask as we reach the end of the store.

  “When we went across, they must have gone to the front,” Bradley says.

  “They have superpowers.”

  “Or… they have superpowers,” he jokes.

  “God, we’re smart. How’s it feel to be highly intelligent?”

  “Amazing.”

  “I know, right?” I say as we turn around and start our speed walk back.

  That’s when I see them down the candy aisle. I turn so fast that I nearly yank Bradley’s arm off and manage to ram him right into a cardboard display filled with candies.

  The display rams against the wall and the little puppy promising a “Wooftastic treat” gets its head snapped off between the shelves and Bradley’s body.

  “I am so sorry,” I say in horror as I look at the man of my dreams straddling a headless cardboard dog. “I thought you could read my mind and knew how much I was craving some M&M’s.”

 
; There’s no discreet way to greet Tanner and Jamal as I pull Bradley out of the display, but we did manage to keep our hands firmly linked through the power of love and my clammy fingers.

  “I will make sure you never live a day without M&M’s now that I know you have the hunger for them,” Bradley says, which is probably the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me. Then he turns to Tanner and Jamal like we hadn’t noticed them. “Hey! I know you two!”

  “The puppy’s head!” Tanner says with an amused look.

  I pick the cardboard dog’s head up and set it on top. “When you’re the police, you can do things like that and you’ll never get in trouble,” I assure him.

  He smiles, but when I look at Jamal, I notice his eyes are fixated on our hands.

  “Are you feeling any better, Jamal?” Bradley asks.

  Jamal’s eyes snap up and he nods. “Yeah, I’m fine… thanks.”

  “That’s good to know. Don’t forget that we’re here if you need us. Now I better get Clyde some M&M’s before he runs me into any more displays.”

  Tanner chuckles, but Jamal just watches us as Bradley leads me over to the shelf.

  “How many do you need to satisfy your hunger?” he asks.

  “Just one will do,” I say as I grab a bag.

  He grabs a second and stacks it on top. “Just in case.”

  When we turn around, I find Tanner back to looking at candy, but Jamal is still watching us. When he catches my eye, he turns away and walks near Tanner without standing too close. Then he reaches for his shirt before his hand falls away.

  We wait until we’re back in the car before we talk about anything that happened in the store.

  “What do you think?” I ask curiously.

  “That you’re vicious when you want M&M’s.”

  I snort.

  “Alright, joking aside, I think relationships always make things trickier. Do I think Tanner was involved in beating him up? My instincts are saying no, but we can’t write off that possibility until we know for sure. Jamal sure didn’t want him touching him though.”

  “Did you see Jamal reach for Tanner before we left the aisle?” I ask.

  “No, I didn’t. What’d he reach for?”

  “It looked like the back of his shirt, but his hand stopped halfway there.”

  “Interesting. Let’s hope things sink in and Jamal realizes that he can open up to us. I liked the added touch of slamming me into a display.”

  I grin. “Did you? I feel bad about that.”

  “As you grin.”

  “Well, I know you’re not hurt, so I’m allowed to be a little amused. I didn’t mean to do it though.”

  “Here, Jamal, look how safe and sweet we are as you throw me into a display,” Bradley says with a look of amusement. “We promise we’re not violent and we’re just like everyday guys, and here, Bradley, kiss the display!”

  I start laughing. “I’m sorry! I don’t know why I yanked you after me so hard. We were just speed walking, and… it’s partly your fault for following me. You’re heavier than me; you could have stopped me.”

  “I’ll follow you anywhere, though,” he says, sounding overly sappy while trying not to grin.

  “My heart just melted,” I say dryly, which makes him fail his attempt at not grinning.

  “Oh no! I didn’t mean to kill you!”

  “I’ll survive, I think…”

  “You’d better. You’re too interesting to lose now!”

  I shake my head. I knew that spending time with Bradley would be fun and that we would probably get along really well, but I never imagined to what extent we would.

  ***

  “That was a lot of fun,” I tell Bradley as I turn the car onto my street.

  Game night with Bradley’s friends turned out to be a blast. Bradley kept picking games that allowed us to work together as a team and annihilate his friends, which I feel is the best way to get to know someone.

  “Did you feel like we were just so much better than them?” he jokes.

  “Amazingly better.” I pull into the driveway and groan. “Ew.”

  “What’s wrong?” he asks.

  “I just saw that nasty thing in my driveway.”

  He starts laughing. “My bike? You know, the thing you were excited about? I actually recall you saying that you wanted me to pick you up in it when I told you I was going to drop it off at home. Something like, you’ve always loved motorcycles and had dreams about being on one.”

  “I would never say anything like that,” I say as I get out of the car.

  He laughs as he follows after me. “Alright, I’ll forgive you this once even though I’m positive that’s what you said.”

  I grin as I turn toward him before he leaves. “Maybe,” I say with a smile as he steps up to me.

  “I grabbed your M&M’s,” he says, but I sure hope he didn’t get this close to me just to pass off some M&M’s.

  I want him to kiss me, but I also don’t want to make the first move because if he doesn’t want to kiss me, and is actually just handing me the bag, I don’t want to look like an idiot. I would also understand if he wanted to wait, since we’re technically work partners and probably shouldn’t be in a relationship. Buuuut none of that seems to be of any importance as he reaches out to me and cups my cheek.

  “I had a lot of fun,” he says as I lean into him. Clearly, we’re beyond bag passing at this point, right?

  “Me too. My favorite part was running you into the display.”

  He laughs. “I’m glad I could give you so much joy,” he says before leaning in a little closer. Just a little bit more and those lips would be mine. They’re so close I can almost feel them, and why is he not pushing forward? Is this one of his BDSM things? To make me want it so much that I’m aching for it? I decide he’s taking far too long and I need to man up and close the gap.

  The moment my lips touch his, he presses into me so I can feel his chest, his groin, his thighs, all against me. One hand stays on my cheek as the other wraps around my waist.

  The first kiss is gentle, just a peck in case there wasn’t supposed to be anything more, but he doesn’t let me get away after that and I’m glad for it. Instead, he kisses me again, mouth open just enough I can feel his tongue. And as his lips move over mine, I feel like I could stay here all day, just feeling him and touching him.

  But we both also need to breathe and pull back after a moment.

  “Want to go out this weekend?” I ask without even waiting for him to recover.

  He smiles at me, and it makes me lean in and kiss him again before realizing that I never waited for an answer. So I make it a soft and sweet kiss before pulling back in hopes he’s not like, I’d rather not see you again because you think the weirdest things are funny and won’t ride my bike of death.

  “I’d love to,” he says with a smile.

  “Good! I’ll think of somewhere awesome for us to go,” I say as I grudgingly pull from his arms so we can go our separate ways before my brain turns to mush and I invite him in the house. I’m not someone who likes to move that fast, but I know that with him, my brain seems to randomly stop working.

  “Sounds great. Have a good night.”

  “Thanks, you too,” I say.

  And I walk up to the house as cool and casual as I can. I swing the door shut and look through the glass at that sexy beast as he straddles his death machine.

  Inks rushes up to my feet and meows at me.

  “It was amazing,” I say as I scoop the cat up. “He was so nice and kind and sweet.” As I hold Inks up, who is trying to bat my face playfully with his paw, I spin in a circle for some unknown reason. I guess it’s just me trying to control my excitement. “It was the greatest thing ever and we’re going out again,” I say as I stop turning and pull Inks in for a kiss on the forehead. That’s when I hear a knock on the door and look over at it. Since there’s no curtain over the window, Bradley is staring right in at me as I hold my cat before me, his legs d
angling, my lips on his fuzzy forehead.

  Alright. That’s fine. He just saw me kissing my cat. I’m affectionate toward my animals. Sue me.

  I hold Inks against my chest as I pull the door open and lean against the frame in a manner that has to be sexy or completely ridiculous. Especially when I’m holding the cat like those chain-smoking mothers do with their child when they open the doors in movies.

  “As I was getting on my bike, I realized that I still have your bag of M&M’s but… it looks like you’re busy,” Bradley says.

  I clear my throat as I hold Inks to me. “Not at all. What would make you say that?”

  “Was that a… rumba you were dancing with your cat?”

  “He likes it,” I say as I shake my head.

  He holds up his hands in mock defense. “I was innocently asking.”

  “It’s called the meowba,” I say.

  “You’re turning into your dad. That was the most dad joke I’ve ever heard,” he says as he starts laughing.

  I stare at him in horror. “NO! I don’t want to turn into my dad! I take it all back! Why have you done this to me, Bradley?”

  “I did it? I didn’t do anything but bring your bag back.”

  “This is horribly embarrassing.”

  “Nah, I love it so much,” he says before reaching out and petting Inks. “If I had a cute cat like this, I would dance with him too.”

  Inks starts purring and I stare at him, mystified. “My cat likes no one but me and he’s… purring.”

  “Aw, did I get the purr of approval?” he asks as he scratches behind the cat’s ear.

  “So about erasing your memory?”

  “Nah. No need. If I knew you weren’t watching, I would have done a little jig out to my bike too. I might have even skipped a little.”

  “Now I want to see you skip to make up for you witnessing this.”

  He chuckles. “I just… don’t even know how to skip, so I can’t. What’d you say his name is?”

  “Inks.”

  “He’s cute. He’s got your eyes.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Alright. Here’s your chocolate. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

  I take the bag from him. “See ya.”

  He turns around and walks toward the bike. Then he starts skipping and I nearly die as this grown man in his thirties skips to his bike just because he knew it’d make me laugh.