But there was a huge gap between her being recovered from what had happened and her more or less forcing me into a coffee date. She may not have called it that, but I wasn’t so jaded that I couldn’t read between the lines on something like that. I’d stupidly given her an opportunity by throwing a twenty her way when she didn’t need it, and now I was about to go on a date with the woman Brock loved the most.
Except, no, he’dgivenme this opportunity.
Shit, things were getting fucking weird.
Brock came back just moments later. He had nothing in his hands.
“I thought you had to get something,” I growled.
“Yeah, I did,” he said. “Space.”
I just stared at him slack-jawed. He hadn’t just given me the opportunity. He’d gone out of his way to try and make sure it happened.
And what the fuck for? I couldn’t even be trusted around my sister, let alone the woman that compelled all of us to do what we did. The only thing I could say was Brock didn’t fully know why I couldn’t be trusted. Either way, it was a really fucking stupid move.
But I couldn’t deny that there really was just something about Rachel Reid that made me think maybe, just maybe, this shit was worth a fucking try.
* * *
The Next Day
“Move, move, move!”
Gunfire sounded above us as we crouched down low, taking cover behind an abandoned truck. In front of me was Steele; behind me was Axle. We’d barely spoken, but that was fine by me. I didn’t need the California Reaper to clink beers with me at the end of the battle. I just needed him to keep my ass alive.
“We need to cover and move,” I growled. “We’ll never get to where we need to go otherwise.”
“So cover and we’ll move,” Axle said.
“Since when did you get to decide you’d be the one to move?” I snapped.
“It’s not like gym class, dipshit. It’s not like the person who has to cover is the loser and the one who moves is the winner. You’ll just move right after!”
Yeah, training is not going well.
“I’m aware,sir,what cover-and-move entails. I am just asking why the hell it’s you that—”
Something struck Axle in the leg, causing him to yell and curse. He then yelled, “Halt! Halt!” so loudly that somehow, he overcame the rounds that were filling our ears.
“Everyone just fucking stop, right fucking now!”
Somehow, it all just stopped. If only it worked that well in fucking real life, then we’d move like superheroes and crush the Bandits with ease. Too bad life wasn’t a fucking movie or video game.
“What the fuck do you think you all are doing?” Axle scowled.
The look on the California Reapers’ faces suggested that Axle hadn’t had an outburst like this in quite some time. I did not give two shits.
“I asked you a question, boy.”
“Don’t you dare fucking call me boy,” I snarled. “I’m the oldest goddamn member of the Black Reapers here. I’m probably older than you are, at least your age.”
“The fucking point is, you spent so much goddamn time arguing with me about what cover-and-move meant and what it didn’t that if this were a real battle, I’d be bleeding out on the concrete right now with no hope of rescue. In other words, dead.”
Even the wind seemed to go silent at that very moment.
“If you can’t learn your shit, then we can just leave.”
“If you can’t learn we know some shit, then we’d love for you to fucking leave!”
