Page 71 of Overkill

“As your girlfriend,” I teased, bumping his shoulder.

He bit his lower lip, hiding a smile. Then he leaned in, hooking his index finger under my chin to turn my face to him, and kissed me gently. The kind that barely parted our lips. Like we’d kissed over and over, a hundred times.

“I told you, you’re not a girl-anything.” He nipped at my lip, and I giggled once more.

Greg wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him, and I noticed the gazes again. At the counter was Riley Lyons in his fireman uniform, grabbing something to go. Despite his rain jacket and boots, he looked soaked to the bone.

“Thanks El,” he said to Ellen as she handed him a heaping big stack of to-go food.

“You and your boys stay safe out there,” she replied.

He tried to hand her a card, but she waved him off. “On the house.”

When he thanked her, Greg called out, “Captain Riley, y’all need help?”

“Not yet, Vedder!” He lifted the food in his arms in a motion that resembled a salute. “You know you’re my first call when we need it.”

As Greg opened the front door for Riley, they exchanged some words and laughed before doing that manly head-nod-thing and grunting in farewell.

How long had Greg been here? Almost two years? That was still new compared to the generations most people had to this town.

In that time, he’d endeared himself to almost everyone. To Riley, Captain of the Fire Station, and to Ellen, whom he’d helped rebuild the back porch. To the guys at the hardware store, and of course, to all the women who now stared daggers at me as he returned to my side.

He’d done in two years what I hadn’t in two decades. He had the approval of the small town I’d grown up in.

“You know.” I turned until our knees touched. “Being with me…it’s not going to win you any points in town. I’m not…I’m not exactly liked out here.”

He’d done the right thing by me so far, so I wanted to do the same for him.

“Well, thank god I’m only trying to win points with you.” He kissed me on the temple, apparently oblivious to the fact that we had an audience.

“What I’m saying is I come with a lot of baggage. I wouldn’t…” I sighed. “I wouldn’t blame you if you changed your mind.”

“Baggage?” He scoffed. “That’s not a nice way to talk about your brother.”

I snickered.

He nudged his nose on mine. “Thatagirl.”

“What?” I asked.

“You’re smiling. I like it.” He linked our arms at the elbows as Ellen walked over, her little notepad in hand. “And to hell what anyone else thinks. It’s just you and me.”

“You waiting for someone else?” Ellen was the same age as Riley, but they looked a decade apart. She was a rough woman; a little bitter, a little mean, but she was a competent businesswoman. While some stores downtown closed their shutters, she always stayed open and profitable.

But like most people, she didn’t care for me.

Rumors flew fast, and opinions were contagious. When one person hated you, you could be pretty sure the entire town did too. No one questioned it.

Ellen glanced from Greg to me, then cleared her throat disapprovingly. I removed my elbow from his, but he took my hand and flattened it on his thigh, interlacing his fingers with mine until I relaxed.

I liked it when he did that. I liked the little routine things he did with me. It was comforting.

“I’m waiting for my usual group,” he said.

“Is that right?” Ellen asked, giving me a dirty look. Like I didn’t belong here with him and his friends. I bristled and reminded myself that I was a patricidal murderer, so…maybe she had a point?

Everyone liked Greg, and so everyone liked Greg’s friends, too.