Page 142 of His Big Bad Stick

Someone laughs.

I don’t bother opening the window.

Fuck it.

I throw Chad at the window.

Truthfully I have no idea what’s going to happen.

If it were some action movie he’d go through the glass and fall down to the sidewalk.

Instead, reality dictates this…

Chad’s head and face smash against the window.

It splinters, cracking, and Chad bounces back and falls to the floor.

There’s blood all over his face.

He’s staring straight up, completely dazed.

The room falls silent.

I walk to the bed and grab for Abrielle’s shirt. I place it over her chest and scoop her up off the bed.

Nobody says a word to me but they get out of my way.

I carry Abrielle out of the house, to my car, and I drive her back home.

I carry her into the house and down the first floor hallway to her bedroom.

I tuck her in and then sit on the floor next to her bed.

That’s where I sit.

I stare out the glass door.

A couple times I tell myself I’m going miss Abrielle.

Then I smile…

We’re going to forget about each other by the end of the first week of her leaving.

I wake up to Abrielle staring at me.

I’m sleepy and grumpy and she’s fucking beautiful.

Her face is glowing. Her eyes are awake yet tired.

“I think this is the quietest it’s ever been near you,” she whispers.

“We should just stay here forever, just like this,” I say.

“Colver Caspian, are you being romantic right now?”

“What?” I growl. “Fuck no.” I feel trapped. I need a diversion. I reach under the covers and touch Abrielle’s belly. “How’s our surprise?”

“I’ll hate myself for saying this now when at the end I’ll look like a blimp… but… I feel different…”

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