“Ah ah ah…”
“I’ll give you my first-born child.”
“Nope.”
“A lock of my hair.”
“Nope”
“A lock of my pubic hair?”
“Only if I’m picking it out of my teeth.”
“Dude, gross. Alright, what do you want?” His grin went wide, slowly enough that I could easily guess every little thought he was having as his lips moved. Pretty sure I was naked in most of them. “Well?” I said, because I wanted the damn aspirin. Fuck knows where I was gonna get some of that out here. Maybe Doc Hobbes would help…
“You’ll hang out with him after work today, yes?” Finn said, plucking the bottle out of Slade’s hands to his surprise and handing it over to me, obviously sick of our stupid antics.
I looked Slade over, his hooded hazel eyes looking right back. I could think of worse ways to spend my time, particularly as it was likely to feature me asleep. “Yeah, alright.”
“You going to join us, boss?” Slade asked, not looking away from me. His grin made it plain he’d heard all about last night.
“If I’m invited…”
Oh, shit, I thought, what was I bloody thinking last night? Army guy, who I’d yet to be introduced to, was also looking at me with that same naked interest. What had Finn said? My brain seemed to slosh around painfully in my skull, rather than provide accurate memories. ‘Everyone is waiting to see what it is you want.’ Yep, that was it.
But I didn’t have to decide today! I popped the lid of the Gatorade bottle and swallowed the drink down, it tasting like both manna from heaven and fizzy, slightly salty bile. I forced myself to scull it, some of it running down the sides of my mouth and spilling down my neck. I jerked back when I felt a tongue running up my neck to catch it. Slade laughed when I spat the last mouthful out, not even caring that it went all over him. He just wiped his eyes and grabbed me around the waist, “C’mon beautiful, we’re going to the gun range.”
11
Army guy was Aaron, apparently. He introduced himself once we bundled into the car, Slade taking the back seat, moving to sit right by my side and pulling my hand into his. “Y’know, I’d find you a lot hotter if you were a bit distant and unapproachable, like from the other side of the backseat.”
“Oh, don’t you worry,” he said. “You’ll find me plenty hot enough tonight.”
“Now I’m just scared,” I mumbled, and the whole car started laughing. Fucking men. “Why are we going to a gun range, again?
“We’re going to see how well you shoot,” Finn said, looking at me in the rear vision mirror.
I looked from one to the other, disbelief plain on my face. “Are you fucking serious?” I grated out. Extra strength the painkillers might be, but I still felt like warmed over shit.
“Sometimes we get wild animals that come into the compound. You’re restricted in the places you can go until we gauge your gun proficiency,” Finn said.
“And this has to happen the day I am stupendously hungover?” I said.
“I’m free, and Aaron’s back from a trip to town. Seemed like the best time to get it done.”
I mumbled something about Finn’s parentage, which just set the rest of the car laughing again. Apparently, I was nowhere near as quiet as I thought I was, and hilarious to boot. “What about some breakfast, then?” I asked. “I could murder a greasy bacon and cheese…” Aaron leaned down and plucked a wrapped white object from the cooler between him and Finn and passed it back, eyes on the wheel.
“Is that…? Oh my god, it’s still warm! Wait, what do I have to do in exchange?”
“Anything you want, honey,” Aaron replied, his lips twitching as he watched my expression in the rear vision mirror. I wasn’t comfortable with that, but dear god, pain relief and wellbeing were just a few bites away. I peeled the paper away to reveal a fluffy bread roll chock-a-block full of bacon and cheese. I took a bite, not giving a shit that bits sprayed everywhere. Today was gonna be messy, no matter what.
Slade groaned, shuffling back so as to get a better view of what I was doing. “Stop getting horny watching me eat,” I said, spitting crumbs.
“Too late,” he said, and reached down to adjust himself. My eyes widened when I saw an indication of what he was packing down there, but I kept eating.
I stumbled out of the car, feeling mildly better with food and medication in me. I was pretty sure they thought they could put something else in me to make me feel even more awesome, but I instead marched up to the door of the range. I turned the handle and stepped inside ... and wanted to walk right out again. Blam! Blam! Ratatatatatata! “Oh, fuck,” I groaned, grabbing at my ears, my headache back with a vengeance. The place, unsurprisingly, was full of men shooting guns. “Here,” Aaron said, and put some ear muffs on me. Now it sounded like a muffled gun fight was happening around me.
“So, what do I have to do?” I asked, probably too loud.