Page 55 of Captive Hearts
‘Don’t call him slow. Uncool,’ Greg said.
‘And I’m not anyway,’ Sam added. ‘I always come up bang on average in intelligence tests.’
Leanne rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever. But you’reallfucking stupid if you think this is just gonna end with him flying off into the sunset and us all waving him off.’
Privately, Ashley concurred. But she didn’t think it did any good talking about it. People needed to keep their spirits up, if possible. ‘Look, it’s not over ‘til it’s over. Maybe his son can talk some sense into him.’
Leanne laughed sceptically, a bit too loudly. Pete turned around and scowled at her. Her cynical smile dropped away. Pete turned back to his call; his low mumbling resumed.
But as soon as Leanne was sure his attention was on his son, she was off again. ‘Look, I’ve been thinking. I don’t think we should wait.’
Gina beat Ashley to her next question. ‘What the hell choice do you think we have?’
‘Look, it’s one guy with a little gun. We could just… I mean,theseguys,’ she nodded at Greg and Sam, ‘They could just rush him. Right now wouldn’t be a bad time. He’s never going to be more occupied than this.’
Ashley looked at Greg and Sam, both wearing identical expressions of horror at the suggestion. She turned back to Leanne. ‘First off, your little plan would get these two killed. Second, if that’s your big idea, why don’t you do it yourself?’
‘Because these two are big, muscly guys,’ Leanne said. Greg tutted. Sam checked out his biceps, flexing them subtly. ‘They could take him,’ Leanne went on. ‘I couldn’t. I’m only a hundred and twenty pounds.’
Tina snorted. Leanne shot her a face-melting glare. Tina’s smile dropped quickly, replaced with contrition. Once Leanne was sure Tina knew her place, she turned back to the guys. ‘So, you up for it?’ she whispered, flicking a look to Pete. He was still talking. ‘Because it’s now or never.’
Before Greg could open his mouth to tell her to piss off, Sam asked him quietly, ‘What do you reckon?’
‘You’re not considering this, are you?’ Greg whispered incredulously. ‘We’lldie.’
‘We might not,’ Sam said weakly. ‘And she’s right. We’re both bigger than him.’
‘Are we faster than a bullet, though? No. So shut up.’
‘Come on, Greg. Wecoulddo it,’ Sam said, warming to the idea more with every passing second.
Ashley had to shut this down quickly. ‘Sam. You’ll get shot if you do it, I can promise you. You will bleed out on this very floor.’ She gestured at the dirty, scuffed linoleum. ‘You’ll be lying there, blood pouring out of your body, and your last thought will be, “Why didn’t I listen to my friend?”
‘Boyfriend,’ Greg corrected, though he didn’t look happy to have the title.
‘Oh. Sorry,’ Ashley said, re-evaluating the pair. It actually made a lot of sense when you considered their dynamic. All that bickering. ‘Then you’ll be asking yourself why you didn’t listen to your partner.’
‘Whoa, I only said boyfriend. Don’t upgrade us to partners,’ Greg said quickly.
Sam looked at Greg, hurt. ‘You don’t think I’m husband material?’
Greg rolled his eyes. ‘Jesus, is it really the time forthattalk?’
Sam folded his arms and slunk down in his chair. ‘If that’s how it is, maybe I don’t have anything to lose by tackling Pete. Maybe you’d be glad to see me shot. Save you the trouble of breaking up with me,’ Sam sulked.
Greg sighed. ‘Oh my god, Sam, please… I love you, OK? So don’t be a prick.’
Sam didn’t say anything for a second. Leanne chanced her arm again. ‘If you were my boyfriend, I’d feel lucky. You’re clearly ripped, and you’re crazy handsome.’
Sam eyed her, chewing the inside of his mouth for a moment. ‘I’ve changed my mind. I’m not rushing him.’
Greg sighed, relieved. ‘Thank fuck for that.’
‘What? Why?’ Leanne asked.
‘You should have stuck to complimenting his biceps,’ Gina said with a small chuckle.
‘Yeah,’ Ashley said, picking up where Gina left off. ‘Next time you’re trying to appeal to someone’s ego to get them to risk their bloody life for you, probably a silly idea to move up to outright flirting with a gay guy. Overplayed your hand.’
