Page 8 of Hitman's Prize

Javier’s eyes are dark, near pitch black. He must always frown whether he’s angry or not. Staring down with a scowl, my stomach tightens and flips around from simply being looked at.

“You want those?” I rasp, accidentally bumping into the machine. My cheeks feel hot now from being caught. When did he wake up?

“If I’m buying, yeah.”

He knows.Well, of course he does. I’ve stolen more than some money.

“You didn’t run,” he mutters under his breath as I spin back around. “Didn’t even try to tell anyone. You came for a fucking snack.”

Why does he sound so upset? Does he want me to tell someone what happened?

“I’ve got nowhere to go, remember?” I push in the bill and start hitting buttons. “You might find this surprising, but at the moment, you’re my best shot at actually having a life. As long as you really don’t plan on killing me, that is.”

“I’m not going to,” he reminds me for a third time. By now, he sounds angry when he says it. There’s that growl again, the one that makes it hard to blame the goosebumps I get immediately after.

A bag clunks to the bottom, then another. I’m just hitting random combinations at this point. It’s hard to think when I can feel his eyes on the back of my neck.

“I need shoes,” I mumble under my breath. “It’s hard to get around without them. Some necessities as well. Like a hairbrush.”

“We’ll make a stop.” He then leans down and grabs what I’ve picked out and pushes in the ‘change back’ button before I can hit anything else. “Get a drink too while you’re at it.”

There’s something authoritative about his voice that makes me do as he says. When I slide over to a different machine, he tells me what he wants and I get a cream soda for myself. He makes sure I get water too, just to stay hydrated while we remain on the road.

We get another odd look from the woman as we leave and that’s that. Back in the truck, I try my hardest to get comfortable.

I don’t know what this feeling is residing in my gut. It’s unfamiliar and a bit unsettling. At the same time, there’s an invisible pull between us, making it impossible to even consider stopping this feeling before I get too far ahead of myself.

He’s not upset that I stole from him. Honestly, he encouraged my purchases. I feel like his little thief now without any reciprocation.

Once we’re back on the road, he starts asking more questions about my life to help ease the silence between us.

He’s curious about my hobbies and what I do with all the free time I have once I admit where I spent most of my time.

“The internet is kind of spotty, but there are some streaming platforms that offer shows for free. Most of them are super old, but still entertaining. They’ve got some crime stuff too,” I explain like the information is enough to excuse my behavior. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’d heard of a few of them. “I like to sketch while I watch.”

The more I talk about myself, the more relaxed I become. I’m starting to feel like I’m simply going on a road trip. Crazy how that works out.

Our next stop is a small dollar store with an empty parking lot. Probably the best place for us to make a pit stop.

“They must have something in here,” he mumbles as he looks out toward the entrance of the store. “I hate overcrowded places.”

For a guy who works alone, that doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.

“I suppose we have something in common,” I murmur as I unbuckle myself. Too much time away from society has given me a bit of anxiety. While I’m sure he’d want me to stay in the truck, there is no way I’m going to let him pick out everything I need. When it comes to clothes, that is simply too embarrassing.

Javier doesn’t complain when I get out and walk alongside him. Though, I do feel his eyes glance over and my direction more than once.

The cashier hardly bats an eye at our arrival, too busy working on stocking the shelves with whatever is in the box he’s holding.

“Get a cart if you think you need one. Might as well get everything you need now.” He’s being a bit pushy and I can hear the discomfort in his voice. This must be pretty new for both of us.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it. Even though you don’t have to go this far out of your way, you are still willing to take care of me.” I give him a genuine smile and receive a grunt in reply.

We take each aisle one by one and I pluck out only what I need. While I might secretly enjoy him being willing to buy stuff for me, I don’t want to be greedy and take advantage of the fact.

“Have you decided where I am being shipped off to?” I ask as I pick out some toothpaste. “I wouldn’t mind somewhere warm, a place that doesn’t get weather like this. Somewhere south.”

He scratches his cheek, frowning at the toothbrushes. “Still deciding.”

---