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“Take care of yourself, Hastings.” I started to walk to my bike but turned halfway there. “If you need me, call.”
I hoped that she called.
But I could tell by the look on her face that no matter what, she wouldn’t.
Not even if she needed me.Chapter 10
I’m on a new diet where I eat everything and hope for a miracle.
-Hastings’ secret thoughts
Hastings
One week later
“Are you sure you want to do this?” my sister asked.
I looked over at Aurora and rolled my eyes. “I am.”
“But why do I have to do it with you?” she whined.
I grinned. “Because if you don’t, I’m going to be all alone.”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t like it when you do stuff alone. You being in Alaska the last month has really sucked. Especially that you were all alone.”
Which was how I got her here in the first place.
The city of Kilgore was putting on a new program for their inhabitants.
A citizen’s police academy.
The moment that I’d heard about the academy, I’d known that this would be absolutely perfect for me and my book research.
So, I’d signed myself and Aurora up.
“How long is this again?” she grumbled.
“Well, today is the first part of the basic self-defense category. It’s two hours this week, and two hours next week. And one hour the last week. Things that you can and can’t do to help you get out of a sticky situation,” I explained.
“You know, our father has already taught us basic self-defense,” she pointed out.
I looked at her.
“When was the last time that you did anything that remotely had to do with protecting yourself?” I questioned. “With you going out and hanging with your friends, as well as working at the hospital, you should really have this refresher.”
She grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like ‘bullshit’ under her breath.
My lips curled into a smile as we walked up to the desk where we would be signing in.
The woman at the desk offered a friendly smile as she said, “Go ahead and sign in, ladies. Welcome.”
Aurora picked up the pen and signed us in just like she always did when we went out and it was required while I glanced around the room and took everything in.
We were at a building downtown that the police department owned. My dad had said it was the old strip club when I asked him where it was, but that hadn’t helped me any.
It sure didn’t look much like a strip club, at least not on the inside. It looked like a large warehouse that’d been renovated into a weight room/workout area with a bunch of obstacles and stuff in it. There were ropes hanging from the ceiling near a large bay door. A large bay door that was open and allowing fresh air in.
“Do you want us to put our names down using a pen?” Aurora asked as she pointed at some name tags.
The woman stood up and revealed an extremely large pregnant belly as she bent over and picked up a Sharpie off of the floor.
“Sorry.” She handed the Sharpie to my sister. “It fell and I was too lazy to pick it back up.”
I pressed my hand to my belly wondering if I’d look like her when I was that pregnant.
“My sister is pregnant, too,” Aurora said as she wrote my name down onto a nametag. “How far along are you?”
“I’m a few months out from being done,” she said. “Twenty-eight weeks and counting.”
I grinned. “You’re finally in the third trimester, though.”
The woman fist-pumped the air.
“Score!” She laughed. “No, this pregnancy has been great. How’s yours gone so far?”
I grimaced. “Morning sickness from…”
I trailed off as a familiar face made his way through the crowd.
Swallowing hard, I whispered, “Pew, pew, pew,” under my breath and squeezed my eyes tightly shut.
“Ashe,” I heard the familiar voice.
When I opened my eyes, it was to see Sammy addressing the beautiful pregnant woman.
“Yeah?” Ashe asked, turning slightly to see the man that made my heart squeeze.
“Chief said to make sure that you’re asking about any medical problems,” he grumbled, his eyes staying on me. “So the instructors can avoid any exercise that could cause any conflicts.”
Ashe gave him a thumbs up. “I’ve already been doing that. Noting it on the form that they’re filling out.”
Sammy nodded once and walked away.
I could feel my sister’s heated gaze staring at me to make sure that I was okay.
My heart tugged in my chest at the sight of him walking away.
I wanted him to come back. I wanted him to talk to me.
He’d said he’d call, but it’d been a week and I’d heard nothing from him.
Not that I could blame him or anything.
“I’ll be noting that you’re pregnant in your form,” Ashe pointed out. “Really it’s just basic self-defense. There shouldn’t be anything over the top when it comes to it. I don’t know that you’ll even need any special accommodations, but better safe than sorry, you know?”
