could do the sauce, but the base?
No. Not a damn chance.
He regretfully kept frozen pizzas for me. It was just another thing I did to wind him up. Really, I was lucky the man loved me. If he didn't, he'd kill me on a daily basis.
I put the pizza in the oven and set the timer so I wouldn't burn it—which had happened more than once—and walked into the front room to watch some TV. I had no idea what to watch, so I knew I'd end up on Netflix.
The saddest part of that was I knew I would get to Netflix and still not know what to damn well watch.
I turned it on anyway. Why not? It's not like I could do anything with my cat holding my laptop hostage and being virtually house-bound. Sure, I could have called Gaige and gone out somewhere, but I wasn't in the mood for his flirting. Besides, it was Friday, and he was always busy on a Friday.
And not busy work-wise. Busy 'breaking pussys' as he put it.
Sometimes it was hard to believe he was twenty-four.
Something banged in the direction of the office, and I craned my neck around although I couldn't see past the door. “Rossi!” I yelled. Silence followed, so I turned back to the TV and my mindless scrolling of Netflix's TV showed.
Watched. Watched. Didn't finish because it was shit. Watched. Didn't want to watch. Watched. Watched. Watched.
Apparently, I had a Netflix problem.
There was another sound, this time from upstairs, and I sighed heavily. “Rossi!” I yelled for a second time, putting down the TV controller and getting up. I poked my head in the office, but he wasn't there anymore, so he had to be upstairs and trying to break out of my window. I grabbed the banister and started going up. “You know how to get out. Stop tearing the damn place apart. Rossi.” I made a kissy kind of noise to get him to come to me, but he didn't.
I paused.
“Rossi?” I asked, this time softer. “C'mere, cat.”
Nothing.
I swallowed and turned back downstairs. I was pretty sure I'd left my bedroom window open, so he'd probably jumped out of it and onto the garage roof. It wasn't a huge leap.
Although, I did feel a little... out of place.
I shook off the unsettled feeling and checked on my pizza. Fine. For once, I had the timer right, because the ten minutes left would have it cooked perfectly. A chill coated my arms, so I rubbed my hands up and down them, then went back to the living room.
I barely heard the steps behind me until the hand was clamped over my mouth.
I screamed as I was slammed back into a hard body, but the sound was muffled by the gloved hand covering my mouth. Fear bolted through me as the cold metal of a gun barrel touched my temple. Adrenaline pumped harshly through me, lending me the strength to force my eyes open.
When I looked up, into the mirror, my entire world stopped.
Steely gray eyes, flecked with silver, looked back at me in the reflection.
I didn't need the balaclava gone to know who was standing behind me with a .45 pressed to the side of my head.
“Are you going to kill me, Hunter?” My voice was barely a whisper, muffled by the thick material of his glove, but I saw the shock flash in his eyes when I said his name. I swallowed hard, my heart twisting and tightening inside my chest.
Those eyes. Oh, god. Those eyes.
I'd know them anywhere.
He pushed the gun harder into my temple, not saying a word. His body gave him away, though. His finger shook. It wasn't even touching on the trigger, more hovering in front of it. His hand trembled where it covered my mouth, slipping slightly, freeing me up to breathe properly. The slightest hint of hesitance shone in his gaze. It was hard... cold... Glacial, even.
I closed my eyes. “Do it,” I whispered. I cleared my throat and said louder, “Do it, Hunter. It isn't hard. Pull the trigger. Do your job.”
He inhaled sharply. “How... How did you know it's me?”
Despite the gun against my skin, I smiled, opening my eyes. “I might have forgotten what your voice sounds like and what it feels like when you touch me, but I'd never forget your eyes.” And my heart would never forget to skip a beat when he's close, and my soul would never forget to reach out for his.