“You’ve seen me outside in the sun, clearly not a vampire.”
“I’m still not convinced.”
“I willingly helped your friend and I’ve yet to hear a thank you from you.” I move a little closer to her, my shoulder brushing hers.
“Nobody forced you to help.”
“No, knowing you owe me something is enough.”
She rears back slightly. “I don’t owe you anything.”
The corner of my lip quirks up slightly. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to cash in soon.”
I don’t give her a chance to retort before I’m walking away and joining the small group of people, even though it makes my skin itch trying to be social. I push through because I know I’m getting under Bailey’s skin and it only makes it worse when she can’t do anything about it.
To some,my job as an Apache pilot is unreal, a lot of people really don’t think about what we do. To me, it’s just another day’s work. We lift off into the air, the heavy machinery moves easily under my control as we navigate the sky.
We’re preparing to do just that, the anticipation always gets to me while we inspect the choppers before heading out.
There’s a loud booming sound.
“What the fuck?” my copilot, Chris, exclaims.
I’m looking around, searching for the threat.
A flash of light.
Another booming sound.
There’s yelling to take cover. But I try to grab anyone I see to take them with me. Chris drags me down, stopping me from running out toward anyone else.
More booms, more explosions, there’s dirt, debris, and metal pieces flying everywhere. There’s no time for emotion, all we have is pure adrenaline. We do everything we can to remain calm as the world around us explodes and we’re unable to do anything to stop it.
There’s another boom even closer, this one makes my ears ring. There’s a pain in my leg that’s so bad I’m blinded by it. Then everything goes black.
I jolt awake, heart racing and drenched in sweat. My breaths come in sharp, uneven gasps as I struggle to orient myself in the darkness. The scar on my leg pulses with a deep, familiar ache. A reminder of the metal buried beneath the skin, fused to me since the surgery. I’m wide awake now, tangled in the sheets. Dropping my head into my hands, I try to calm myself as the memories from that day assault me.
We all understand what we might experience the day we sign up for the military, but nothing prepares you for it actually happening. I know sleep is going to evade me for the rest of the night. Needing to distract myself, I throw on some clothes, grab my keys, and drive out into the night.
By the time I get back home, the sun is rising, haloing the trees in a soft glow. I cut the engine and just sit in silence. I wait for the exhaustion to hit me, wait to feel anything, but the numbness has taken over. It always does. It’s neverif, it just depends on how long it takes to get here.
There’s a pounding on my window and I immediately go into defense mode. When I see it’s Bailey standing there, my shoulders relax. Instead of rolling down the window, I open the door and step out. She’s tall for a woman, and it’s one of the things I liked about her from the start, but right now as I tower over her with the half a foot I have on her, the numbness begins to fade away.
Even while she scowls at me, I feel myself drawn to her even more.
“What’s the problem, Angel?”
The nickname only makes her scowl deepen, which also has my dick hardening. It may be inconvenient, but another outlet when I feel this way has been sex. Until that stopped helping and started to leave me feeling worse afterwards.
Except when it was with her. That one time felt different. And nothing has felt the same since.
“You waking up the entire street this early is my fucking problem.”
I look down and notice she already looks dressed and ready for the day in jeans and a basic shirt, her unofficial uniform for work.
“Looks like you werealready awake.”
“That doesn’t mean everyone else is.”
