Dream Of You - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,41

over the heavy ceramic vase, spilling plastic flowers across the surface. The vase rolled toward me.

“Get moving,” he ordered.

My gaze zeroed in on the vase. It was within grasp. Right there. My heart rate seemed to slow. Everything slowed down actually.

“Goddammit.” He balled his fist in my hair and yanked my head back sharply. Pain tore down my neck, shooting into my back. “Get your fat ass fu—”

My brain clicked off as I grabbed the vase and spun around. The man cursed and he leveled the gun again, but I was fast when it counted. The gun went off just as I slammed the bottom of the vase into the side of his head. There was a sickening crunch and something warm and wet sprayed into the air and across my face. The gun went off again, just as wood splintered on the back door. It flew open just as the shooter crumbled to the floor.

Colton barreled in, dressed as he was at the bar, in jeans and a worn shirt. He had a gun aimed and his bright blue gaze took in the situation. Behind him, uniformed cops streamed in.

He took a step forward, keeping his gun on the shooter. “Abby?”

I was still holding the bloodied vase as I croaked out, “I’m not a coward.”

Chapter 13

“You’re becoming a repeat customer,” Lenny, the repairman who’d previously replaced my broken window, said with a wry grin. He’d just finished fixing the broken back door, which ended up being an entirely new back door. Placing the bill on the TV, he started past me with his toolbox in hand. “I’m glad to see you’re okay, though. I heard about it on the late evening news last night. This town is getting crazy. All the violence coming in from the city.”

I smiled faintly as I followed him to the front door. “Thank you for coming out on such short notice. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem,” he replied, stepping outside. “If you need anything else, you know to call me.”

“Thanks.” I closed the door, sighing.

Turning around, I eyed the freshly plastered wall behind the dining room table. Lenny had also covered the two bullet holes. All I needed to do was match up the paint and then it would be like nothing had ever happened.

Last night felt like forever ago.

I’d spent the bulk of the night sitting in the ER, getting checked out and then answering a thousand and one police questions. Come to find out, the shooter had a name—Charles Bakerton. Didn’t sound like a homicidal maniac’s name, but Charles was still alive. I hadn’t killed him with the well-placed vase of death swing. I was relieved to hear that. I didn’t want to know what it felt like to kill someone.

Through the endless hours that had crept into early morning, Colton had remained beside me, mostly silent and very pissed-off looking. Those blue eyes were practically on fire. We didn’t get a chance to talk, nothing other than the basics before he was called out. Surprisingly, Roxy and Reece had showed up at the hospital and had driven me home. That was…weird.

I was so lucky. Everyone kept telling me that. I had looked a lot worse than I was. Not even a concussion, and the crack upside the head hadn’t even required stitches. A fistful of ibuprofen had taken care of that ache and the rest of the minor pains.

I could’ve died last night, so yeah, I was really lucky.

Moving to the couch, I started to pick up the remote when there was a knock on my front door. My stomach dropped. Placing the remote down, I went to the front window first. Totally learned my lesson last night. I peered out the front window.

It was Colton.

“Oh my, wow,” I murmured, settling back on my bare feet. I didn’t let me head race into fantasy land. Him showing up after what went down last night wasn’t a surprise. In a daze, I slowly walked to the door and opened it.

His hands were planted on each side of the doorframe and he was leaning in. Blue eyes met mine. “Abby.”

Somehow I plastered a smile on my face, and I had a feeling it was a crazy looking smile. “Hi, Colton!” The enthusiasm was a bit much, but I couldn’t tone it down. “How are you—?”

“Don’t do that,” he cut in, and I felt my creeper smile wobble and then fade. “After what happened yesterday, don’t pretend with me.”

Well then.

He lowered his hands. “We