“Your kid?” Malachi asked.
I looked up at him with eyes that were pure fire.
He held up his hand. “I don’t know, man. Maybe you met a pregnant one. You’re always a weirdo and get turned on by the pregnant chicks.”
I rolled my eyes.
But he was kind of telling the truth.
I did find pregnant women attractive. I wasn’t sure what it was about them that hit me the right way, but I honestly couldn’t fuckin’ wait to see Hastings showing with my kid.
The thought of it had me absolutely giddy.
Not that I would show any of them that.
“He’s heading this way,” someone murmured.
I dropped my pen to the table then, knowing that pretending to fill it out would be useless at this point.
Standing up, I placed both of my fists on the desk and leaned into it, hoping by grounding myself it would keep my hands off the asshole walking into the SWAT area as if he owned the place.
“Gentlemen,” Patman drawled as he looked around the room.
His eyes skipped over me as if he didn’t want to take too long of a look.
“Get out,” I snapped.
My voice sounded like I’d grated it out of a wood chipper.
Patman’s eyes came to me with a condescending brow raised. “I’m sorry, but who made you God?”
“You slammed my pregnant girlfriend to the ground last night.” I stood up straight and let him see just how pissed I was. “Did you think that I could forget about that so easily? You could’ve caused her to lose the baby! And you fucking knew, so you can’t even give me that excuse.”
Patman’s eyes rolled as he scoffed. “I did no such thing. It was barely a tap.”
“Barely a tap, my ass.” I rounded the corner. “I was watching, motherfucker. I know exactly what you did. Because I was worried about her being with you. And guess fucking what! I should’ve been!”
Patman curled his lip up. “She’s fine.”
“She is fine,” I confirmed. “But that doesn’t mean that you couldn’t have hurt her last night. You have no fuckin’ clue what you did to her at the time. I can’t wait to see if the academy keeps you after she files assault charges on you.”
Patman’s chest puffed up as he rounded the only piece of furniture that was keeping him from being knocked the fuck out.
The moment he came at me, chest puffed, violence in his eyes, I found my excuse.
He pulled his arm back as if to hit me, but my fist connected with his jaw first.
The crack of my knuckles connecting with his chin was glorious.
Absolutely, positively glorious.
I would never, not ever, forget the feeling, either.
I’d resented Patman for years.
He was an asshole.
He was full of himself.
He’d given me a fucking concussion during my own police academy.
And he’d gloated about it.
But all of those things paled in comparison to last night.
This moment would stay with me forever.
Watching him fall down onto his ass and raise his hand to his jaw had me grinning.
“Enough.”
I cursed when I heard our assistant chief’s voice fill the room.
“I want to press charges!” Patman said, scrambling to his feet.
I rolled my eyes.
“If you’d like to pursue those assault charges,” Downy, the assistant chief, drawled from somewhere behind us. “Then, by all means, file them. But just remember that we have your assault on camera. An assault that you performed against a civilian taking one of your classes.” He paused. “We recommended to the civilian last night to file the charges, but I think we could persuade her not to.”
Patman looked like he’d rather swallow a bullet shot from a gun than to give in.
I knew I would. I wanted those charges pressed. I didn’t fuckin’ care if I had charges filed against me and lost my job. It’d be fucking worth it.
“It’ll look really fuckin’ bad,” Downy continued, his honeyed voice incongruent with the words coming out of his mouth. “What will the wife think? Didn’t she almost leave you a few months ago after you got fired?”
Patman said nothing.
“And she’s really fuckin’ broken up about your son,” Downy continued.
That had Patman’s back straightening. “Don’t mention my kid.”
“Don’t mention that he’s a stone-cold killer?” Downy asked. “Because he is. Wonder where he learned that from?”
Damn, he’d gone there.
But it was understandable that Downy was still bitter about it. His baby, Ares, had almost gotten killed by the man’s son. Downy was allowed to say something.
Patman picked up the hat that he’d been wearing. The one that’d been knocked to the floor when he’d taken my left fist to his jaw. Then he walked out the door without another word.
“He was lucky you used your left hand instead of your right,” Louis muttered as he took in my fist. “Did you break it?”
It sure the fuck felt like it.
Worth it.
Soooo worth it.
Downy looked at me with a shake of his head. “That was fucking stupid.”
I shrugged my shoulder. “I don’t give a fuck.”
Downy rolled his eyes. “Y’all are a bunch of fucking children. Take the rest of the day off. Go get that checked out, and for God’s sake, stay the fuck away from Patman.”
I couldn’t promise that, and he knew it.
If Patman chose to poke the bear, the bear would goddamn eat him.
“Get checked out for what?” I asked, clenching and unclenching my hand.
“For your hand, moron,” Louis muttered. “Fuck me. That looks broken.”
It was only as I looked at my hand that I’d punched Patman with that I saw all the bruising.
“That’s why I used my left hand,” I admitted. “Can still do all the fun stuff like shoot people and drive.”
“Shoot people and drive.” Downy shook his head. “Get out of here. Don’t think to take the day off tomorrow, either.”
“I’ll take him,” Malachi said. “I had shit I needed to do at the hospital anyway.”
My brow went up. “You did?”
He nodded. “I heard that one of the nurses up there might’ve gotten ahold of my dog that my parents gave up for adoption when I was set to deploy. I want to follow a lead.”
I shrugged and said, “Fine by me.”
Snatching up what was left of my reports, I was just about to leave when Downy’s words stopped me.
“Luke and I did a little digging last night after the event took place. Patman used to be partners with Baker Hughes. I had to ask a couple of old-timers this, but looks like they fought over Adrianna Hughes, and Baker won.”
“Is Adrianna the mom?” Louis asked the question that was on the tip of my tongue.
“Sure is,” Downy confirmed. “And from what I understand, the only reason Adrianna had turned him down at the time was because of her best friend. Which just so happens to be Taryn Patman.”
I groaned. “Messy.”
“Messy indeed,” Downy confirmed.
Chapter 15
Let’s get shit faced while the sun is out.
-Aurora to Hastings
Hastings
“Hello?” I answered distractedly.
My hero was sucking on my heroine’s nipples, his fingers buried deep in her pussy, and they were about to get it on. Outside.
Right in the middle of everything and everyone.
Though, my heroine and hero were at a camp out on the beach and there was no light to be seen except for moonlight.
“Um, yeah.” There was a gruff male’s voice on the other end. “Is this Hastings?”
The scene in my head started to slip away from my grasp.
I frowned as I said, “This is she.”<
br />
Her? Was it this is she? Or this is her? I could never remember.
“Yeah, this is Malachi, one of Sammy’s friends?” He paused. “We’re on the SWAT team together. I’m in 377B at what you call ‘cop row?’”
I tilted my head and looked away from my computer screen.
At the mention of Sammy, my heart started to speed.
“Yes,” I said. “I know who you are.”
And I did.
I knew who all of them were.
I made it my business to know.
If they were living around me, I wanted to know who they were.
That was that.
I was also getting to know their women, and even their animals. But, as far as I knew, Malachi didn’t have a woman.
Though, he’d recently acquired a dog that he started to pay a pet deposit for.
“Yeah, there’s no easy way to say this but, I’m at the hospital with Sammy,” he said. “Sammy’s fine, but he’s gonna need someone to drive him home. He got into a little bind today, and I have to get back on duty.”
I was up and out of my seat in seconds.
“I’ll be right there.” I paused. “Which hospital?”
Then I smacked myself in the forehead. The other hospital in Kilgore, Mercy, had slowly started to be shut down over the last month. My sister had been let go from her job, and had recently moved over to the freestanding one in Longview.
Mercy no longer had an Emergency Department.
“The—” he started to say, but I interrupted him.
“I’ll be there in a bit,” I said.
“Okay,” he said, sounding amused.
I wasn’t amused.
I was flustered.
Which had to be the reason why I got up out of my chair and decided that only putting leggings on as well as a pair of UGG boots was the best course of action.
I didn’t grab a hair tie for my hair. I didn’t brush it. I didn’t even swipe on deodorant.
And let’s not even talk about the fact that my boobs were bouncing this way and that as I ran to my car.
Starting it up, I zoomed out of the driveway only to slam on my brakes when I realized that there was a woman running down the road in my direction.
“I’m sorry!” I hollered. “Pew, pew, pew.”
Her name was Amelia and we’d met last month during an altercation that had turned sour with a movie star that was visiting our town.
Amelia waved me away with a wave of her hand. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t be wearing all black. I know.”
She shouldn’t, but that was no excuse for my almost hitting her. It was mid-morning and she was quite recognizable. As long as she wasn’t standing next to the all black motorcycle that I’d almost plowed into, too.
“I just got a call from the hospital saying that Sammy was hurt. And he was at work today, so my brain’s not all there,” I admitted, squeezing my eyes tightly shut as I tried to control my urges to blurt out random shit. “I really am sorry.”
Amelia’s lips tipped up.
“So you and Sammy?” she asked as she peeled the shirt off over her head leaving her in her sports bra.
That was when I saw the slight pooch of her belly.
She saw where I was looking and smiled. “I’m about six weeks. I have to admit, I was under the impression that my pregnancy would be under wraps longer than this.”
“Yes, me and Sammy.” I licked my lips. “I’m pregnant, too. Seven weeks.” I scrunched up my nose. “Not that me and Sammy… shit. Let’s just say it was a surprise.”
Amelia’s eyes widened. “We’re going to be pregnancy buddies!”
We were. Which kind of made me a bit happy.
Though, I wasn’t showing anywhere near as much as she was.
“Now I feel extra bad that I almost hit you,” I admitted. “I’m sorry.”
She rolled her eyes. “If it were Adam hurt, I would be in the same shoes. Be careful on the way to the hospital.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
After rolling up my window, I made sure to drive sedately all the way there.
As I arrived, I decided to park my car instead of leaving it at the entrance, and practically ran inside the building.
The only thing really stopping me was my breasts that were flopping this way and that.
The first lady that I saw smiled at me. “Can I help you?”
I nodded.
“I’m here to see Samuel Spurlock,” I said. “He’s a cop. I’m…”
“I know where he is.” She gave me an unreadable smile. “Everyone does.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Oh, you’ll understand in just a second,” she said as she rounded the corner of the hallway and led me through a set of glass doors. “I…”
“Heyyyy!” Sammy cried loudly upon seeing me. “You’re having my baby! Louis! She’s having my baby! I’m going to be a daddy!”
“That’s why,” the nurse snickered. “Enjoy.”
Then she was gone, leaving me to walk the rest of the way to the room in silence and not a little bit of trepidation.
I paused in the middle of the doorway, staring in shock at the man inside.
“Ignore him.”
I couldn’t.
It was nearly impossible to ignore a man that was half-naked, hot, and staring at me like I was the air he needed to breathe.
“Did you know that she has Tourette’s?”
I choked on my own spit.
That was when Louis, Sammy’s cousin, came up to stand beside me.
“Pew, pew, pew.” I closed my eyes tightly, then blew out a deep breath. “Ignore me, too.”
Louis’s laughter was sweet as he said, “It’s okay, darlin’. I’m going to ignore you both. But, just sayin’, he’s done nothing but talk about you for thirty minutes.” He paused and looked at Malachi. “I didn’t know you were called, though. To be honest… Sammy’s a lot to handle when he’s like this.”
“When he’s like what?” I asked curiously.
“When he’s been given drugs,” Sammy answered in a sing-song voice.
“When he’s been given drugs, yes,” Louis agreed. “He’s got a reaction to them. Not a bad reaction, per se, but a reaction like this.” He gestured at Sammy who was half-naked on the bed. “He gets the good shit and then all of a sudden, starts acting like a teenage girl.”
“I resemble that remark.” Sammy frowned. “Resemble? Umm, no. That’s not the right word. What’s the right word?”
He threw his arm out at me as if I would always give him the right answer.
“Resent,” I supplied helpfully.
“Yes, I resent that remark! You’re no longer my family!” Sammy pushed Louis away. Hard.
I doubted Sammy even knew the strength he had just used.
Louis rolled his eyes. “It’s like he’s drunk and high at the same time. Or something. There’s nothing quite like it.”
Sammy sighed dramatically. “I’m ready to go home.” He squinted his eyes in Louis’s direction. “I don’t like you enough to allow you to take me home. I’ll be riding with my baby mama.”
Louis gave me a ‘can you handle this’ look.
I nodded.
“That’s fine,” Louis said. “But I already called your mother.”
I nearly groaned aloud at that news.
Sammy gasped in outrage. “You didn’t!”
“I did,” he said, then looked at me. “That’s who I was talking to when Malachi called you. She’s handled this… before.”
My lips curled up into a smile.
“It’s fine,” I promised. “We’ll just have visitors and go to his house.”
Louis nodded. “That’s where I told her to meet us anyway.” He lowered his voice and moved a bit closer to me. “I wasn’t really sure that he would want you to see him like this since y’all are so… new.”
New.
/>
You could call our relationship that for sure.
“It’s okay.” I smiled. “Just gives me some more book fodder.”
Louis’s laugh escaped him in a short huff. “Please, please, please tell me that I can read it when you’re done.”
I shrugged. “As long as you like reading about sex, I have no problem with that.”
He gave the air a fist pump.
“I don’t.” He paused. “I’m more interested in urban fantasy novels than romance. But if it’s about him, I’ll read just about anything.”
I tilted my head to the side.
“Have you ever read Jim Butcher? Illona Andrews?” I asked curiously.
His eyes widened. “No. Who are they?”
I gasped. “You claim to say that you read urban fantasy, and you’ve never read them?”
He grinned. “I don’t have much time for reading, but I’ll definitely be looking them up now.”
I winked. “You do that.”
“I’m ready!” Sammy said.
I turned to find him only an inch away from my face.
Damn, he was big.
I looked up into his face and stared at him as he grinned goofily down at me.
“He’s like a large Great Dane,” Louis said. “He’s harmless, but a big motherfucker who doesn’t realize the strength he wields.”
“I’ll remember that,” I murmured. “You ready, Sammy?”
“I’m ready, Tasty Cake,” he agreed.
I felt my face flush.
“I got the reports,” Malachi called. “I have to make a pit stop to visit someone on the NICU floor, but when I’m done, I’ll drop these back off at the station.”
Louis nodded. “I’m heading on patrol.”
Then he was gone just as fast as he’d appeared.
Malachi gave us a chin lift and disappeared, leaving me standing there with Sammy.
“Can we stop for ice cream?” he asked, holding out his bright pink cast. “Will you sign my arm?”
I felt my lips curl up into a small smile. “I’ll sign it at home. Is that okay?”
He nodded. “Now, about that ice cream?”
After making sure he was, in fact, allowed to go, I loaded him into my car and started to Sonic.
Once there, I ordered him the largest Blast that they offered with M&M’s, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Snickers.
I ordered a mini with Butterfinger.
Say It Ain't So (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 9) Page 13