A beat of silence passed, then, “Yes! Finally.”
Her excitement had the smallest smile tugging at my mouth, but the bleep of the car alarm was testing my patience, and my humour didn’t last long.
“Can you carry both bags?” I asked, catching her eye over my shoulder.
She dropped her phone into her handbag. “Why? What are you doing?”
“Standing guard until you’re safe. They set the car on fire. There’s smoke everywhere, and they’re acting like a bunch of dickheads.”
“Afire?” She pulled her keys from her bag and looped the ring around her index finger. “Do you think they're going to make trouble for us?”
“Hard to tell.” I strode to the counter and grabbed the bags. “Thanks, mate,” I said to Drew.
Sadie followed me to the door and took a second to survey the scene. Her eyes met mine briefly. “They’re the kids from before.”
“Yep. They looked like bad news just crossing the road.”
It gave me a small sense of satisfaction seeing her take it seriously. “Can you walk these to the car?” I asked, holding the bags out to her. “Don’t run. I’ll keep an eye on them.”
Her fingers slid against mine as she took the first bag from me. A shiver skated up my arm, and I pulled in a breath, my pulse jolting. The air between us thickened, and for a moment, just a single beat in time, I forgot about everything else and focused on her. Protecting her. Keeping her safe.
Her eyes wouldn’t meet mine, so I knew she’d felt it, too.
Sadie took the other bag and pulled her shoulders back, adjusting to the extra weight. She chanced a split-second's eyecontact with me, then attempted another longer look as if she wanted to kill the sudden weirdness between us.
“Wait. Hold up a second,” Drew called out, grabbing a fire extinguisher off the wall. “You never know, they might turn on you,” he said through his face shield. “I’ll watch your backs and lock the store when you’re gone.”
My gaze meshed with his, and I regretted being pissed at him for counting us down. “Thanks. Appreciate it.”
He joined us at the door and took in the carnage. The car was engulfed in flames now, and smoke billowed from the wreckage. One teen was checking the street as if looking for another car to torch.
“Shit. I didn’t expect it to be that bad.” Drew hesitated for a second, then opened the door. He stepped out onto the footpath, planted his feet wide, and kept the fire extinguisher at the ready.
His appearance got the attention of the teens, and a couple of boys paused in their celebration. Curiosity came first, then the mood darkened.
“Don’t be idiots,” Drew said, his voice calm even if he wasn’t. “Just be cool.”
I estimated we had less than thirty seconds before someone made a move, so I gave Sadie a gentle nudge. “Go. No stopping.”
“Don’t wait too long to catch up.” With two heavy bags banging against her legs, she performed a shuffling walk straight for the car.
Acrid smoke floated on the breeze, and the car alarm pierced the air, the constant bleat grating on my nerves. The ringleader of the group zeroed in on me, and when he clocked a potential challenge, moved into a tough-guy stance. “What the fuck do you want?” he demanded.
“Mate, I told you to keep your cool,” Drew said. “This doesn’t need to turn into anything.”
As Sadie opened the rear door and threw the bags into the backseat, I stepped forward without saying a word. Direct eye contact and quiet intimidation had always worked for me, and there was no reason to think it would fail me now.
I willed them to be smart and keep their distance. I had twenty kilos on their biggest member, and I’d bet anything they wouldn’t want a physical confrontation.
“Keep back, and we can all walk away from this,” I warned.
The leader laughed and took another step forward. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to, Tatts?”
Tatts?How original.
Drew stood his ground, the type of guy I would have had a beer with if our lives had been different.
The slam of one door followed by another told me Sadie had secured the bags and jumped into the driver’s seat.
