Chapter Four - Madden

“Push it.”

Ansley spotted the middle-aged woman on the weight bench while motivating her. She looked in her element. After the night before I wasn’t sure how she’d be this morning. When I heard her in the kitchen, and noticed the time, I knew she wouldn’t let this Marcus kid get to her.

I was glad. I didn't always know the right thing to say to someone, especially a hurt female.

Seeing those tears in her eyes really pissed me off. I could have crushed his trachea the night before. When I pressed my boot against his chest, I felt the fear in him. I liked it. It wasn’t normal to find pleasure in someone’s fear, and I recognized it as dangerous early on in my time overseas. I shoved it aside, the excitement of hurting our enemy, and crammed it down so deep I thought I’d gotten rid of it.

Guess not.

Mr. Ernest, Ansley’s favorite trainee, dramatically turned the page of his newspaper and shook it for effect. Ansley tossed him a deadpanned look before going back to help the woman perfect her lunges.

I noticed Mr. Ernest glanced over at Ansley when she wasn’t looking and smiled.

He loved getting a rise out of her. He caught me looking a moment later and straightened his face. “Mr. Ernest, right?” I asked.

“That would be me. Who’s asking?”

“Me,” I said, picking up a dumbbell and curling beside him.

“You that girl’s new beau?” he asked. “I’m sure you’re better than the last one. Kid's a thug.”

I wouldn’t argue there.

“Did he come in a lot?”

Mr. Ernest flipped the page. “Umm-hmm. Sat in the lobby and watched her like a creep.”

I glanced at the empty lobby chairs hoping he didn’t show up. “Why aren’t you working out?” I asked.

He chuckled without humor. “I’d rather be golfing. My wife is making me come. I’ll show her.”

I smiled down at my feet. Ansley watched me from the corner of the room with a curious look.

“You ever think she’d drop it if you tried? In a few weeks, you could be on the golf course, cruising around in a golf cart with some kid carrying your gear around for you?”

Mr. Ernest looked at me over the rim of his glasses but went back to reading. At least he thought about it. Seed planted. A red-haired trainer walked over and talked to Ansley for a bit, giving me looks over his shoulder.

She laughed and I wondered what he said to her. I noticed a wedding ring on his finger when we arrived, and the way he stared at me like a gorilla walked into the room.

Probably another overprotective person in her life.

I finished working out, watching the window for any funny activity out the glass windows. No sign of Marcus. I didn't know if that was good or bad news yet.

Ansley finished half an hour later. She tossed her bag over her shoulder and stopped in front of me. “You ready?”

“Yeah, what’s next?”

“Thursday is a short day. I go take a shower, study and run errands.”

I wiped my palm over my head in relief. “Fine by me.”

Ansley lead us out of the gym and into the hot Louisiana sunlight.

We got to her Honda when Sarah, her friend from the softball field, hollered her name across the parking lot. She raced over in a pair of athletic shorts and a tank top. She was more muscular than Ansley and much more skeptical.

Her eyes said it all.

“Hey, Sarah,” Ansley said, tossing her bag into the backseat.

“Hey, so, the girls are going out to the barn tonight, you want to come?”

Ansley pressed her palm to her neck and gave me a stare. Sarah didn’t like that. “Why are you asking him with your eyes? He isn’t your dad. Didn’t you say he was your roommate?” She turned to look at me. “Are you her shadow?”

Hostile much? I couldn’t help but smile.

“Don’t smile at me. Are you like in love with her or something? What’s up with the puppy dog act?”

“It’s fine, we were just working out, Sarah. And yes, we’ll come tonight.”

Sarah gave me a stern look before walking toward the gym.

Ansley sighed. “We so don’t have to go if you don’t want to—,”

“So, is Sarah a lesbian?”

Ansley opened her mouth but then shut it. “She’s never said.”

I chuckled. “She is,” I said, getting into the passenger seat of the car.

“She doesn’t like me,” Ansley said starting her car.

“So all of your friends chew out your male friends? Was she this way to Marcus?”

Ansley pressed her lips into a thin line. That would be a yes.

“What barn is she talking about?” I asked, checking my phone. “Will Marcus be there?”

Ansley shrugged. “There is a possibility. Maybe we shouldn’t go.”

“Do you want to?”

“Does it matter?” she asked. “No one has cared about my opinion lately.”

“That’s not what this is supposed to be, Ansley. I’m not here because your family hates you, but because they love you. If you want to go we can go.”

Ansley tucked her bottom lip into her mouth in thought as we drove back to her apartment. There was no sign of Marcus when we parked and went back upstairs.

She stripped out of her over shirt and turned to face me. “This is going to be awkward. How am I supposed to have a normal night at a party with you there?”

I lifted a brow at her, my curiosity getting the best of me. “What’s a normal party for you, huh? Do you expect to bring a guy back? I’m not a cock-block, Ansley.”

Her cheeks turned a bright red. “No, that isn’t the plan. But what if I want to … flirt? Or dance.”

Leaning back against the kitchen counter, I crossed my arms. The image of her dancing with another guy didn’t bother me, or flirting, she was in college and that’s what college kids did. But her bringing someone back struck a nerve.

It shouldn’t and I knew that.

“Then flirt or dance,” I said. “I’m not here to rain on your party, Ansley. I’m here to make sure you’re safe.”

Ansley’s mouth twisted to the side before she let her arm fall with her shirt hanging from her fist. “I guess we can go for a little while, if you promise not to … interfere.”

I raised my palms in surrender. “No interference here. I’m just a grown man following around a girl that needs my help.”

“I’m a grown woman, too, Madden. If you haven’t forgotten.”

Oh, I haven’t forgotten. How could those curves let me forget?

When I smiled, she rolled her eyes. “There are some premade salads in the fridge. Go ahead and grab one if you want it." She walked passed me and grabbed her one. “What did Mr. Ernest say to you today?”

I chuckled, sliding by her to grab my food. “Nothing much. The guy doesn't talk much.”

“I’ll say. He hasn’t pedaled more than five minutes for the entire two months. Dude hates working out.”

I pulled opened the plastic and smiled. “I think he likes giving you a hard time.”

The corner of her mouth pulled into a smirk. “I’m sure.” She shifted her gaze to mine and pointed toward her bedroom. “I’m going to take a shower and do some quick homework. Call me if you need anything before I finish.”

I nodded and watched her walk into her bedroom and shut the door behind her. I checked the parking lot before eating my salad at the dining room table. There hadn’t been any sign of Marcus for the day, but I had a bad feeling he’d show himself at the party.

Part of me wanted to go because of him. I dare him to do anything out of line tonight. Sitting back in my seat, I began to second-guess the party. I would expose myself if he showed up, and made a scene.

I couldn’t let him touch her. To be honest, he wasn’t supposed to be near her. Not that I really could help it with their intertwining schedules.

Groaning, I slid my palm down my face and took a deep breath. One night wouldn’t hurt.

***

After we ordered pizza for the evening and Ansley’s phone blew up seventeen times, she answered it. I was sure it was Sarah, since she had a monster crush on her, and wanted Ansley to come to the party.

Ansley pinched the bridge of her nose and propped her feet against the coffee table. “I … I can’t come without him, Sarah.”

I laughed as I sharpened my knife in my lap, shaking my head at the image I conjured of Sarah barking orders on the other line.

“Because,” Ansley looked at me for help. “I know he’s just a roommate, but … he has seizures.”

I dropped my knife onto my lap and gave her a really look.

She covered the phone and whispered, “You should have come up with something better.”

“I can’t leave him alone, Sarah. He won’t bother us … swear.” After ten minutes of Sarah, pleading, Ansley hung up the phone and groaned. “Gosh, she’s so abrasive.”

I chuckled.

Ansley’s gaze shifted to mine. “Stop it.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You laughed.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “A guy can’t laugh nowadays?”

She mumbled underneath her breath while bringing the pizza box into kitchen. When she came back, she placed her hands on her hips and sighed. “I’m going to get ready. Are you wearing that?” she asked, gesturing toward my outfit.

I gave her a deadpanned look.

“That’s what I thought. I’ll be ready in thirty minutes.”

Ansley walked out around forty minutes later, a pair of dark wash skinny jeans molded to her curves, and a red t-shirt that brought out her tan complexion.

Standing to meet her, she kept her eyes turned down while I grabbed my gun and situated it on my side. “Do you have to bring that?” she asked.

“Really, Ansley? The guy just forced you out of your job last night. Did you expect me to come unarmed to a party where his friends will be?”

She tucked her dark hair behind her ear. “People—Sarah—are asking questions. They are going to realize that you aren’t really my roommate.”

“Well, I am your roommate, Ansley. That’s not a lie.”

“Okay, can we take your truck? It rained the other day and it’s a gravel road.”

“Sure,” I said. I doubled checked her windows and doors before we started our drive out of town. The buildings began to disappear and the willowy trees took their place swallowed by pastures and fields. “You sure you aren’t taking me here to knock me off?” I asked.

Ansley laughed. “Right, because I could take you down if I wanted.” She pointed up toward the right. “The bomb fire is going.”

Billowy gray smoke traveled up into the darkening sky. If I weren’t on assignment, I would have enjoyed the night with a beer and no worries.

However, my assignment sat on the edge of her seat as if she was nervous. “What’s wrong with you? You’re legs are shaking.”

She pushed back her hair and let out a shaky breath. “I’m not shaking.”

I gave her a long sideway glare while she clutched the seat beneath her. The music grew louder as I parked along the makeshift parking spaces in the field.

Ansley hopped out quickly, slamming the door and walking toward the entrance of the old barn. I kept my distance from her, surveying the vehicles for Marcus, but his Hummer wasn’t there.

College-aged kids stood around, holding beer bottles and red solo cups. Country music blasted from someone’s pickup, which was parked right beside the opened barn doors.

The floor of the barn was littered with hay, the empty horse stalls were bare of any reminisce of a horse being there in years. A few hay bales sat in the corner, indented from pressure of someone sitting there over the years.

The fresh smell of the field and woods surrounded us, and despite the overcrowding of couples pressed into corners and a raggedy ping-pong table, it was relaxing.

I found Ansley standing by a beam on the first floor of the barn, a beer bottle in one hand and the other shoved into her jeans pocket. Sarah stood beside her, along with a couple of girls I recognized from the softball team.

I snagged a bottle of beer from one of the many coolers lining the furthest wall and propped myself up against it, taking in what I missed by going into the Marines straight out of high school.

Not too much.

As the songs changed, the girls began to get tipsy and most of them took to dancing on each other in the middle of the barn. I didn’t mind looking, but felt like a creep for staring.

Sarah drug Ansley out forty-five minutes into the party, and I watched the excitement on her face when Ansley swayed against her. When her dark eyes met mine, I lifted a brow and tilted my drink toward Sarah, who snarled and turned her head away from me.

If Ansley could see the happiness on Sarah’s face.

The time ticked by, and I’d finished my first bottle of beer, a cool wind eased into the barn. A girl with bleached blonde hair and a pretty smile walked over toward me, holding her elbow against her side, she smiled. “Hey. You haven't moved all night. Did you come alone?”

She couldn’t be more than eighteen. “Yeah, I’m here as a designated driver. What about you? Not drinking?”

She shook her head quickly. “No. I’m cheering this year and it’s against the rules.”

A rule abiding college girl. I'll say. I chuckled and crossed my arms, giving a glance around to make sure Marcus hadn’t weaseled his way inside.

“What’s your name?” she asked, rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Madden. Yours?”

“Lesley. Nice to meet you.” She offered me a handshake that I took, only for it to be knocked down.

Lesley yelped and stumbled back against the wall. Ansley stood in front of me, arms crossed, the smell of some girly drink heavy on her breath that was ultimately close to us.

“Well, well, well,” she said sarcastically.

Oh God … she is drunk.

“Making friends, Madden?” she asked.

I narrowed my gaze at her, not going to admit how much I loved the look of jealousy on her face. She was tipsy, and I wouldn’t hold it against her—not much at least.

Lesley shifted nervously. “I thought you said you didn’t come with anyone,” she whispered.

I gave Ansley a look and glanced back down at Lesley. “This is who I’m driving home. We’re not here together, not like that,” I said.

She looked confused.

Ansley laughed loudly, stumbling toward one of the beams holding the second floor up. “Lesley Cartwright,” she said. “Don’t you dare flirt with him. I know you’ve been seeing Chance from the Lacrosse team.”

Lesley’s cheeks turned a bright red. “That was a rumor,” she said.

“Ansley,” I interrupted. “Come on, we’re going home. You’re totally wasted.”

Ansley jerked her arm from me, lifting her chin in a challenging way. “You’re not taking me anywhere, flirting with random girls at my school. How. Dare. You,” she spat, poking me in the chest with every word.

“I’m not going to say it again,” I said lowly, hoping she heard the irritation in my voice.

Ansley slid her tongue against her top teeth. “Make me.”

Lesley must have sensed the danger and eased away from us. I didn’t blame her because we looked like jackasses. Ansley’s soft breath hit my mouth again and I felt it in my dick.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I grabbed her and hauled her up and over my shoulder. Ansley let out a huge exasperated sigh and began to complain. “Put. Me. Down, G.I Joe!”

I resisted the urge to slap her ass. Oh, I wanted to make her cheeks red from my palm. We made it outside when I heard Sarah yelling after us.

I groaned and stalked quicker.

“Hey, she wants down. Let her go!” Sarah yelled. I felt her jerk at my elbow and when I swung around, she ducked from Ansley’s failing legs. Sarah was drunk herself. “Put her down,” she said, waggling her finger at me.

“Ansley is starting trouble in there, and it’s time to go home. You should go home too, Sarah. Do you need a ride?”

“Not from you!” she shouted. “What are you? Some kind of cave dweller, carrying a woman around like some doll. She’s not your doll.”

I bit my tongue to keep from lashing out at her. “Go. Home,” I ground out, but she wouldn’t stop.

“You listen to me. I’ll call the cops!”

I swung around again, this time pointing my finger in her face. “Does Ansley know you want to be more than just friends?”

Her face fell.

“I didn’t think so. Go home, Sarah. I’m taking Ansley home where she needs to be. Piss off.”

I stalked toward my truck, and tossed Ansley into the passenger side where she rolled around and groaned. “Oh, my head.”

I slid into the driver’s seat, and she laid her head in my lap. I didn’t object as we drove back to town. Ansley’s eyes popped opened and she stared at me through the moonlit cab of my truck.

“You like that Lesley girl, don’t you, Madden. You like blondes?”

I folded my brow. The shadows from the wooded area we passed drew across her face, making me want to press my thumb against her bottom lip to stop the frown.

I didn’t answer her plea, because it was a ridiculous one, and I wouldn’t remember that girl’s name tomorrow. When we got back, I double-checked the parking lot before carrying her upstairs.

This isn’t part of my job description.

Ansley tapped my shoulder when we made it to her bedroom, but I ignored her and sat her on the bed. She sat up, staring at me over heavy-lidded eyes. “I’m not drunk,” she sputtered out.

“Right,” I said, going to leave when she grabbed my hand and yanked hard. Not expecting it, I fell forward on my palms, Ansley’s body beneath me.

“Why don’t you kiss me,” she whispered against my mouth. “Why don’t you put me out of my misery?”

Her misery? I watched the dare dance across her features. I could kiss her senseless. Taste that smart mouth as I’d wanted to since I arrived only two days before.

But this was an assignment. A job. One from a trusted member of my circle.

“You’re drunk,” I whispered, not bothering to move.

Ansley chuckled, the liquor on her breath only drew me nearer. “So? I want you to kiss me.”

I screwed my eyes shut but pushed off the bed, leaving her there. “Do you need help with your leg?” I asked.

Realization crossed her face, and though still drunk, she turned her face and shook her head. “No, I have it. I’m fine. Go.”