HavocI'm calling myself a ton of words, none of them good, as I all but agree to her plan. I'm not disagreeing, but maybe that's worse. If I were disagreeing, at least I would be putting up a fight and not just letting this happen. I've wanted her for too long, and I'm starting to lose the fight.Fact of the matter is though, I feel awful, and if the only way she's going to let me take a shower is with her, then I'll do what needs to be done. I'm sore, tired, achy, and perpetually horny. Any one of those things would be enough to put someone in a bad mood, but all of them at once? Shit, I'm gonna need the patience of a saint.Another cough rattles my chest, pulling against the not-yet-healed bruised tissue. It might be time to face the music and admit that I'm sick. Sick isn't a word I have in my vocabulary – I don't have time for that. But when it happens, it's awful and it takes the wind out of all my sails. I don't suffer from man flu like some of my friends do; when I'm sick
Leighton"No! Get back from the wall!"I'm having the weirdest dream. Holden is telling me to get back from some wall, and screaming at me to take cover. I feel a huge weight on top of me, strangling the breath out of my lungs. My eyes pop open and I realize quickly I'm not having the dream, Holden is.It's a nightmare. He's on top of me, his hands on my head, protecting me from some unknown flying object he's seeing in his dream. I try to get up."Stay the fuck down, we don't know when they'll come back around. We've got to radio in and let them know we're under attack.""We're good, Havoc." I purposely use his call sign. "We're good." I grab hold of his hand. "They won't be coming back around tonight."He opens his eyes, but he's not seeing me. They aren't focused, and he's not locked in on my face. "How do you know?" There's a tremor in his voice, and his face is pale, white with the flush of fever and fear.This man needs me, and by God, I'm going to be the person he
Havoc"You look even better in my clothes this morning."Lame. The words I spoke were so lame. Usually I'm much smoother than this. When I woke up, I'd been disoriented, wondering why I was still in bed with it being so light outside. Then bits and pieces of the night before had come back to me, and then I'd made the mistake of trying to swallow and almost come off the bed. Right now, it feels as if there are shards of glass working their way out of my throat and tonsils. Leaning against the wall, I cross my arms over my t-shirt covered chest, surprised at how warm it is in here."Sorry." She ducks her head. "It's cold out there, and I've been helping Ryan salt the porch.""Renegade?" I'm more confused than ever. How fucking long was I out for? And why in God's name are they salting the front porch?She nods. "Yeah," she replies, before she reaches down to take her boots off. "Why don't you come to the kitchen and I'll fix you something to eat? We need to get some more medici
LeightonAfter Holden got sick, things changed between us. I count myself lucky to have not gotten whatever it was he had. I smile to myself as I think how the past few weeks have gone. I've stopped hiding behind the fear I had he was going to leave when things seemed to straighten out for me, and I think he's starting to smile more. One thing I do know is we're starting to touch more, becoming comfortable with each other in a way we've never been before.Take now, for instance. We're on separate shifts for the next few days, and have been for the last couple. I'm getting up as he's entering the part of sleep where he's the deepest, and he's not even at home at night when I'm going to sleep. I've started something this week though, that's totally making me go to work with a smile on my face every morning.A couple of days ago, when I woke up, Holden reached his hand out to me, clasping our fingers together, pulling me to him in his sleep. At first, I assumed he was awake, but I r
HavocGlancing at the cell phone I hold in my hand, I check the time again. "Leigh, we gotta go if we're gonna make it."I hate to rush her, but these lessons weren't cheap, and I know she wants to do them. With a drive to Birmingham tonight, we're going to cut it close if we don't leave soon."I'm coming," she yells from the bedroom. "Do you think this is okay?"I look up from where I was texting with Mason and let out a wolf whistle. I can't help it, it's just a natural reaction to what's standing in front of me. Her long, dark hair is in soft curls, framing her face. Her makeup is more dramatic than I've ever seen it, causing her eyes to look huge, brighter than they ever have before. The dress she's put over her body is showing curves that I rarely get a chance to look at openly. It's low-cut up top and comes to a stop around her knees, a burgundy color, showing off the tan most of us keep year-round down here. On her feet are flats, thank God, because I don't want to worry
LeightonI'm dragging ass this morning, after Holden and I were out late last night at the class he arranged for us. I would do it again though, in a nanosecond. If I could just get myself to wake up."I can't believe I agreed to a shift this early on a Saturday," Caleb complains as he enters my car on the passenger side."Totally agree, but look at it this way, you can come home after you're done and take a nap. It'll be so early in the day you'll be able to go do something after you wake up.""Kinda like having a two-a-day." He grins at me.This morning I'm starting to see the man he's growing into, and he's going to be a heartbreaker, especially with a dad like Mason. He has a little bit of peach fuzz on his angular jaw and I don't think he brushed his hair. As a football player, he's building up his muscles, and I'm pretty sure that within the next six months he'll be able to get any girl he wants."Yeah, like a two-a-day," I agree.At the end of the driveway, I stop
Leighton"Why won't this thing save?" I beat the keys on the laptop harder than necessary. I growl at it, hoping that it feels my wrath by the way I'm shooting daggers at the screen."Be nice to it, and maybe it'll do what you want it to," Holden jokes as he comes through the front door, carrying a pizza."How long have you been standing there?""Long enough to hear you call it some not so flattering words and see you try to beat it to death. C'mon, take a break and eat dinner with me. I'll leave you along to finish when we're done."He hardly ever leaves me alone when we're at the house together, and it makes me feel good, because I know it's because he wants to be with me, not because he's worried I'll do something he doesn't like. "What are you going to go do while I work on this?""Probably work out," he answers tiredly. "Even though I don't want to, but it's been a couple of days."I get up from where I'm sitting and join him at the kitchen table, taking the paper pl
LeightonThe night I told Holden what happened with my dad, why he did what he did and cast me out, proved to be a turning point for us, and two weeks later, things are better than they have ever been between us.Oh there's still tension, lots of tension, but it's the good, sexy kind. Not the neither of us knowing if we're in this for the right reasons kind. Which leads me to my stress for tonight.This has been deemed something I've never done before: date night.It's never been something I've really ever experienced, but I'm excited for it to happen. Holden called me on my way home from work, telling me we're meeting a couple of the guys he works with and their significant others for drinks. While I'm pretty sure I know who he's talking about and I'm comfortable with them, I'm immediately nervous.What if they don't like me outside of The Café? What if I slip up and do something stupid? What if I embarrass Holden? What if I embarrass myself? I'm not sure I've ever worked my