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Just as I relax my shoulders though, it turns around, and it hits me that I’m not strapped tonight.
“Riot,” I mumble and he doesn’t hear me. It’s coming back in our direction, and a sinking feeling develops in the pit of my stomach. “Riot,” I tug on his hand this time, speeding up my footsteps, nearly running toward the truck, dragging them both along with me.
“Zeke, wha-”
“Riot, we have company,” I gulp.
The SUV slows to a stop and the blacked out windows begin to lower. Riot’s eyes widen, his pupils eating up every bit of his irises, leaving no more blue, and then he screams.
“Get down!” he drops his grip on our hands as he reaches into his waistband and whips out his Glock. Cole is completely frozen in place, so I grab his hand and yank hard, spinning around in the direction of my truck, just as Riot jumps in front of both of us. Losing his balance, Cole bumps into me and loud, muted pops fill my ears as gunshots ring throughout the night.
Riot shoves Cole and I both, trying to push us out of the line of fire, and we run as he fires off shots in return at our assailants. Suddenly a sharp wave of nausea courses throughout my body and it feels like a 96 mile per hour fastball hits me in the back. I stumble, barely making it to the opposite side of the truck, pulling Cole along with me. A burning sensation spreads from my back, throughout my abdomen, and I drop one hand to my stomach.
My hand trembles as I move it away, and when I look down at my fingertips they are coated in thick, dark red liquid. My breathing grows stagnant as I collapse to the ground, pulling Cole down on top of me. Glass shatters, and there’s so much screaming, but the sounds all fade into the background.
The night sky turns hazy and I feel weight shifting on top of me as Cole’s body rolls off of mine. I faintly feel his hands all over me, pulling on me, and he’s talking to me, but he sounds so far away I can hardly understand him.
So fucking far.
A ring of light surrounds my field of vision as giant flakes of snow blur together, falling from the sky. I think they fall on my face, but I can’t feel anything anymore. Parting my lips, I try to talk, but the words don’t come out. Choking something up, I use all the energy left inside of me to reach for Cole.
“Ri-R…”
Cole says something, but I can’t really hear him. The words are hushed and jumbled.
Everything is so quiet and still.
Peaceful.
“I lo-”
I’m losing the fight. My eyelids flutter and I can’t hold them open.
It’s so cold.
So goddamn cold.
Chapter nineteen
Riot
He showed up. He fucking showed up.
Do I wish he showed up and declared his undying love and devotion? Of course, but I’ll take this. I’ll take it and I’ll do so knowing that I’m not settling, because Zeke looks different tonight. He looks like all that weight he’s always carrying has shifted, and for once he’s open to the possibility of a future. And all I can ask is for him to try.
Cole spins around, walking backwards to Zeke’s truck, still holding my hand, and the smile on his face lights up the entire night as he talks about chocolate fucking milkshakes. His smile does something to me that I can’t explain, but it makes me realize that I’d do anything to see that smile light up Cole’s face over and over again.
Cole and I have spent more time around each other than him and Zeke. Enough time that I know this growing, albeit confusing as hell, fucking attraction that I feel for him is more than just surface level. It’s deep-seated, taking root in the bottom of my heart. He’s been carving out a space for himself inside of me, right along with Zeke for months now, without either of us even knowing.
Zeke's fingers are intertwined with my opposite hand, and between these two men, I feel like someone who’s actually worth a damn for the first time in longer than I can ever remember. I’ve always felt like I was never good enough, and even though I had Zeke, until this moment, I didn’t really have him. But now? It’s the start of something real. I can feel it in my bones.
“Riot, we have company,” I feel Zeke tugging at my hand and he’s talking so quietly, I’m not sure I heard him right.
When I look to the side though, I see the blacked out SUV stopping beside us, and the windows rolling down in slow motion.
“Get down!” I shout, pulling the Glock from my waistband as the SUV stops completely, and four men in head to toe, black tactical gear jump out of the back. Gunshots ring through the air and I fire back, striking one man in the neck, blood spraying the snow as he falls to the ground. From my peripheral, I see Zeke grab Cole's hand and they turn for the truck, but they’re still in the line of fire.
They’re not fucking safe.
