AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I sigh and drop my duffel onto the porch. “It’s a long story.”
Elijah smirks. “Lilah banged the bounty hunter.”
Lucy’s jaw drops.
I fire a warning glance at Elijah. “Okay, maybe not as long as I thought…” I pull my sweater over my head and Lucy’s mouth sags a little more at the dried blood down the side of my dress. “It’s not as bad as it looks,” I assure her.
“Lucy…” Elijah slides his medkit off his shoulder, “can you get us some water, please?”
She nods and heads inside as the two of us sit down on the porch steps.
I slide the dress down my shoulders and turn the wound toward him so he can get a better look at it.
“Who patched you up?” he asks, gripping the bandage.
I wince as he tears it off with one quick rip. “He did,” I say.
The front door creaks open and Lucy returns with a clean cloth and a bowl of water.
“Thanks, Luce,” Elijah says.
She sets it down behind me and eyes the wound on my side. Not a lot of concern crosses her face, so I guess it really isn’t as bad as it seems. “I guess I’ll go talk to Dante…” she muses.
I chuckle. “Have fun.”
She breathes an understanding sigh and disappears back inside.
“This was sloppy,” he says.
I smirk. “It’s fine, Elijah. No stitches necessary. Just clean it and bandage it. It didn’t even hurt… much.”
“I wasn’t talking about that.”
My smile drops. “I know. I’m sorry.”
Elijah pauses as he wrings the excess water from the cloth. “We’ve always been a team,” he says. “You and me.”
“I know.”
“Then, why didn’t you tell me what was going on?”
I drop my head as he wipes the wound. “I just… you have a shot, Elijah.”
“At what?”
“You never wanted this.” I take a deep breath. “This lifestyle. You stuck it out for me. I wanted to give you a chance to be who you really wanted to be… for one night.”
He fishes through his kit for a new bandage, staying quiet for several long, torturous moments before he replies. “I get it,” he finally says. “I just don’t like how you did it. We know better than to assume any job will be easy.”
I nod. “I’m sorry.”
“And for the record… this is who I want to be.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is.”
I crane my neck to look at him.
