Page 120 of Coerced

“Dude,” I grinned, “if you’re not down with a little breaking and entering, I’m not sure we can be friends.”

Kerry had a bad scar on one side of his face. It stretched from the corner of his lip to his jawline and looked exactly like someone had gotten a hook in his mouth and ripped him wide open. I’d wondered at first if the injury had caused some nerve damage because he only ever half-smiled. Sure, he went from cute to hot in two seconds when he did, but it was sad to think someone had hurt him bad enough to paralyze half his face.

As soon as he heard my words, though, he gave me a full-fledged grin.

No. Definitely no nerve damage. Just one hundred percent gorgeous.

“Mira, I think me and you are gonna be great friends.”

I laughed, then told him he could let the others know we were leaving while I went to the motel office.

“Huh?” His face screwed up. “Let’s just go.”

That gave me pause as the phrase ‘lone wolf’ ran through my head, closely followed by ‘loose cannon.’

Either one fits.

“Uh, half your team got ambushed and you have wounded among the other half.” I flapped my hand. “It’ll worry them if you disappear without warning.”

“Oh.” He shrugged and pulled out his phone. “Hmm. Rome and John are sleeping, and Travis is busy with his research. I guess I’ll call Gigi.”

“Just text her.”

“Can’t. Dunno how.”

How could he not know how to text? My eyebrows flew up, but he was already talking to her, so kept my mouth shut.

I guess if he can’t read well, he can’t write much, either.

I wiped my hands on a rag, tossed it into a nearby garbage can, and had made it almost to the office by the time he fell in step with me.

“She said not to get caught because she ain’t got bail money.”

It was hard to tell if he was being serious or sarcastic. Gigi had warned me he got grumpy if he thought he was being laughed at, so I played it safe and went with serious.

“If we get caught, wedeserveto spend a night in the tank.”

That made him snort, and I had to agree with him. Weweregonna be great friends.

#

Kerry

We ended up not breaking any laws, which wasn’t nearly as fun. Saying he didn’t know about a junkyard nearby, the clerk at the motel office gave us directions to a building supply store that had late hours.

We found it pretty easy, and Mira picked out a few steel plates she wanted for the armor, then took her time fussing over what she wanted for the bird project. While she was doing that, I wandered around, got lost in a maze of kitchen cabinets, and ended up staring at myself in an aisle of mirrors.

Wow. No wonder everyone was walking on eggshells around me. EvenIthought I looked dangerous.

I should shave. And maybe comb my hair. Well, try to tame it down some, anyway.I tried to relax my shoulders.Might help on the surface, but my eyes tell the truth.

When we made it to the register, Mira started to pull out her wallet. I rolled my eyes.

“I got it, Boots.”

She wanted to argue, so I took her elbow and pulled her back, then got out my own wallet. I paid in cash, lugged it all out to the car, and shoved a giant sledgehammer out of the way to make room in the trunk.

“How’re you holding up?” I asked her as she drove us back to the motel.

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