AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Could've lost you." His voice softened, a whisper of vulnerability that contrasted sharply with his earlier anger. He was close now, too close. The heat from his body mingled with the chill emanating from her own.
"Didn't though." She met his gaze and held it, allowing the silence to stretch between them, laden with unspoken truths.
"Next time, we wait for backup." It wasn't just a request; it was a plea.
"Next time," she echoed, her eyes never leaving his. The promise hung in the air, a fragile thing.
"Promise me, Rachel."
"I'll try." The word was a soft surrender, a concession she made not to his insistence, but to the bond that tethered them.
The air in the breakroom hummed with the buzz of fluorescent lights overhead. Rachel traced a finger over the bruised skin on her forearm, a mottled canvas of violet and yellow. She kept her eyes down, avoiding Ethan's intense gaze.
"Why do you care so much?" she murmured.
And then she looked up, a soft accusation in those eyes.
"I... what?"
"Why do you care so much?" she repeated, enunciating the words. "Hmm?"
"Rachel..." There it was. The shift. Like the earth tilting on its axis. His anger evaporated, replaced by something else entirely. He stammered, stared.
And then he looked shy and bashful, just like the first time they'd met.
He swallowed, stared at the ground, and for a moment, it felt as if he were on the edge of his own precipice.
Then, he looked up, a resolve appearing in his eyes. "I want to take you out. Dinner, maybe?"
Her breath hitched. Surprised etched across her features. "A date?" Her voice was a thread, nearly lost in the hum of the refrigerator behind them.
"Unless protocol forbids it?" The corner of his mouth twitched, teasing. A hint of playfulness beneath the storm.
"Protocol be damned." The words slipped out before she could catch them, her heart thudding against her ribs like a caged bird.
"Then it's a date." He stepped back, a soldier retreating from the front lines, his expression unreadable once more.
Ethan's sandy hair seemed to glow under the lights, throwing his face into a stark relief that couldn't hide the reddish hue climbing up his neck. It spread upward, like a timid sunrise cresting over his cheeks. His usual confident stance wavered under the weight of his vulnerability. He looked down at his scuffed shoes, then back up at her.
Rachel's pulse quickened. Her bruised arms ached with the memory of the struggle of survival. But here, in the mundane sanctuary of the precinct breakroom, adrenaline morphed into a different kind of tension. She swallowed, feeling the hesitation bubble up like a spring. Curiosity tinged her thoughts, weaving through the thicket of caution.
"You really mean it?" he said.
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so."
"You guess?"
"No... I want to." She smiled.
A rush of air left Ethan's lips, relief in its wake. He stood straighter, but the blush still lingered, a flag of his earnestness. Rachel found the smile spreading across her own face, unexpected and unbidden.
"Then it's a date," she reaffirmed, her words clipped by an unfamiliar nervousness.
"Great," he said, the single word carrying a wealth of meanings.
She folded her arms, the motion gentle against her tender skin, watching as Ethan's blush finally began to fade, receding with the tide of his earlier anger. His gaze met hers, steady now, the stormy mix of emotions settling into a calm sea of anticipation.
A white noise backdrop to Rachel's thoughts was slashed through by the shrill chime of her phone. It vibrated against the cold, metal table, the sound grating against the newfound silence between her and Ethan.
