my rush over to him.
“Sexy,” I say as I try going through the door first, but he also tries going through the door first and we both end up smashing into each other. The door clearly wasn’t meant for two grown men to pass through side by side.
“Let me go through first,” he says as he tries pushing me back.
“No, let me through first.”
“You two are idiots,” a man says as he steps into the hallway before us and Jackson shoots him before I can.
“Oooh,” I say, body hesitating which allows Jackson to slip inside first.
“You’re welcome,” he says as he moves forward, checking the room. I shut and lock the door behind us so no one can creep up on us. Then I follow after Jackson as he moves toward the man rolling around on the ground in pain.
“You guys are fucking weird,” he says.
“I’ll cut your tongue out if you diss my sexy man one more time,” I threaten.
The man slowly drags himself through an open door and shuts it.
“He couldn’t handle our heat,” I assure Jackson.
“Or maybe he liked his life and tongue?” Jackson says as he continues on. We reach a corner where Jackson hesitates. That’s when the door behind him but in front of me opens and I grab for the man as Jackson hauls someone out from behind the corner. I’m so busy watching him to make sure he doesn’t get hurt that the guy I’m in the middle of choking out nails me in the balls.
“Fuck,” I cry as I stumble back enough to elbow him in the face. I spin him around and put him in a proper choke hold before dropping him to the ground when I’m done with him.
“You alright?” Jackson asks.
“I’m fine. Big Bubba and Mac Attack aren’t doing too well.”
“Um… do I know them?”
“Those are the names of my balls, Jackson. Duh.”
“Uh… huh. Sure, okay. I’m sorry your balls hurt. Please stop staring at me, I’m fine. Stay focused.”
“I’m worried you’re going to get shot,” I admit. “It’s making me a bit panicky.”
“Focus on your badassery, okay? I’m fine,” he assures me.
I nod because now is not the time to fight about it, but I really wish I could make sure nothing bad would ever hurt him. But I can’t smother him. I hated it when he did it to me; I can’t do it to him. So I have to trust him and stay focused so I can keep myself and him safe.
“I’m sorry, I’m just getting anxious, but I’ll force myself to stay focused.”
Oh, but it’s so fucking hard when a single bullet is all it’d take to put Jackson down.
Thirty
Jackson
We step into the open area of the house where we start our search, digging up little until we find a door to the basement. Leland and I slowly move down it after checking to make sure the door doesn’t lock and it’s not a setup. When we reach the bottom, I see a safe room door Hutson is most certainly hiding behind.
“Did you bring the rocket launcher like I asked?” Leland questions me.
“No, because we don’t need rocket launchers,” I say, positive he’s a bit crazy but loving him anyway.
Leland waves at the fireproof door. “Clearly, we do.”
“Clearly we don’t!” someone from behind the door says.
The voice is muffled, but definitely sounds familiar. “That you, Hutson?”
“Fuck… Jackson? Is that you?” Hutson calls back, sounding surprised.
“Come out and see who it is,” Leland calls. “We promise we won’t hurt you.”
“You were just talking about blowing me up with a rocket launcher!” he cries.
Leland sighs. “Some men are so dramatic. It was merely a jest.”
“Jackson, I don’t know what the fuck you’ve heard, but you’re under the wrong impression—”
Leland kicks the door, cutting off Hutson. “Why don’t you come out here and show me the right impression then before I beat your face in for hurting Jackson?”
“I didn’t fucking hurt him! I don’t know what the fuck you’ve heard or what the hell is going on with you, but it’s not me—”
“Bullshit,” Leland says. “Get out here so I can murder you.”
“You were the one who organized all of this. All of these people and this shit revolves around you, Hutson,” I remind him in case he forgot, which I can’t believe he has.
“All of this shit has been Anna from the fucking beginning. She pulled me into it back then. I was… stupid in love with her and I did whatever she fucking asked. She said