Page 16 of Garrison's Creed

“I tried and failed.” He sat down next to her, opened the bottle, and took a long swig. The liquor’s fire coated his throat, so he took another. Propping his elbows on his knees, he hung his head and passed the bottle, not looking at Nicola.

Their fingers brushed, sending a cascade of awareness from his hand to his chest. She took the bottle and swallowed a Nicola-sized swig. And then again. “I’m scared to close my eyes. Vivid memories. You know?”

Yeah, vivid described that green bikini. “I was thinking the same thing. About to head for a run. I needed to clear my frontal cortex.”

“What were you thinking about?”

All night long, the moon had hidden beneath a blanket of clouds, but that moment, it decided to peek out a sliver, just enough to paint her in a gauzy, milky light. She was beautiful.

He sighed. “It doesn’t matter, Nic. Does it?”

“Guess not.”

She took another pull of Jack and handed it to him. Cash did the same, embracing the thought-pausing sear of liquor. He didn’t know what to think about her sadness-tinged voice. “Give me the wrap.” His run was never going to happen if he sat there making excuses to stay. Still, he took the bandage from her hand.

She didn’t look at him, keeping steady watch into the woods. “I’m not weak.”

“Never said you were.”

“I can do my arm myself.”

Cash shrugged, starting the process of binding her arm into a secure position. Her skin was silken, her arm toned. The girl had muscles, but not in a bulky way. A little deceiving. He liked it. Different from what she had been before: a little skinny, not flabby but no definition. Reaching behind her, he grabbed the sling and bent her arm in, careful to adjust the strap.

“Done.”

“Why are you being nice to me?”

“Shit, Nicola. I don’t know. I gotta figure you’re fucked in the head right now, as much as Roman and I are. True?”

She nodded. “You never told him?”

“What? About you and me?”

“Yeah.”

“That’d be a hell no. Hey, sorry your sister died, and, oh yeah. I was doing her on the side.”

“We were more than that,” she whispered.

Cash stretched his arms over his head, trying to alleviate the discomfort in his chest. Didn’t work. Instead, he leaned back on the table top and stared at the sliver of moon teasing the dark night. “Yeah, we were.”

A light breeze picked up. An owl hooted. Time floated by, until she also lay back on the table. He turned his head. Nicola was as stunning now, staring into the night sky, as she’d been in that pool years ago. “Life’s thrown a few curve balls, huh?”

“Did you ever think about what if?”

“Did you?”

“I did for a while. And then I drowned myself in work.”

“You going to tell me who you work for?”

“CIA.”

The CIA? Well, shit. Color him flabbergasted.“Not what I thought you were going to say.”

“You were thinking more like, FBI. Linguistics department?”

He laughed. “Yeah. Truth is, well, yeah.”

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