Page 16 of Hesi-Dating
He picked up one of the coffee cups and chucked the contents toward me. Missed. "There's your coffee. Who the hell do you think you are to snap orders at me?"
The sheriff, asshole."I'm gonna ask you real nice a second time to head on your way." I nodded toward the counter, hoping Billy had pushed the button.
"Fuck you." He pulled out a gold gun from the back of his pants. I always thought the gold-plated guns favored by many gangs as a status symbol were ridiculous. I preferred a standard Glock to the gold gilded, unreliable piece of shit this kid had aimed at me. "Now, who's she going with?"
As I reached for my own weapon, Joley launched herself out of the booth and hit him with some sort of karate chop to his gun hand. The golden gun hit the floor with a dull thud. He swung around and slapped her in the face, but before he could lift his hand to go at her again, I punched him, swiped his legs to drop him to the floor, and rolled him onto his back to cuff his wrists.
"Any statements that you make can and will be used against you in court. You have the right to an attorney and if you can't afford one, one will be appointed for you. You're under arrest for assault and attempted murder." I made eye contact with the clerk. "Billy, did you hit the button?"
"Yes, sir. Should be here in?—"
Sirens sounded outside as two sheriff cars pulled up.
I yanked up Mr. Tank Top and said to Joley, careful not to use her name, "I'm real sorry about this asshole underestimating you."
She stood and leaned in to place a kiss on my cheek. "Thanks for saving me."
ChapterSix
JOLEY
Shouldn't have done any of that. Shouldn't have kissed Seth's cheek. Shouldn't have touched Seth suggestively while in the booth. I'm sure all of it was caught on security camera, which meant Nosh would see it at some point soon. I was in so much trouble.
"Let me make sure I got this straight." Deputy Sheriff Whitcom sucked his lower lip between his teeth and tilted his head. "You hit his gun arm to make him drop his gun?"
I hugged myself, chilled by the over-cooled air in the convenience store, which I hadn't noticed before. "For the second time, yes."
"You know, ma'am, you got lucky. I'm sure the sheriff already said this, but that could've gone south ten ways to Sunday."
Seth hadn't said anything of the kind.
The look up to where the deputy towered above me from my seat on the edge of the yellow booth was a long way up. The khaki uniform looked designed to accent his dark skin and buff body. Sure, the bulletproof vest underneath his shirt gave him a stiff appearance. His condescension, though, grated on me.
"Either I chose to do something, or that guy would've shot Seth. Would you have preferred I let the guy take a shot at him?"
"Seth's a quick draw. I would've put my money on him rather than risk my life. Still, you did try to be heroic. It worked out." He cleared his throat. "Then he hit you?"
"Yes."
"I think we're good, aren't we?" Seth interrupted. He put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently.
I glanced up, relieved to have him there. Silently, I begged him to please make the inquiry stop. "He thinks I should've let you get shot."
"For the record, I didn't say that. If things had gone different she might've been hurt more than happened." Deputy Whitcom's tone held a level of exhaustion that went far beyond what this current investigation could account for. His gaze communicated he meant well. "What were you two doing here to begin with?"
Seth glanced from me to the deputy. "She had a flat tire. I brought her here for some coffee while waiting for the tow to arrive."
Whitcom nodded. "You notice he was Red Crips, sir?"
"Get him processed before their lawyer gets wind of it and arranges bail. I'm going to run her home." Seth held out his hand to me.
My tension eased when I took his hand. I longed for him to hug me until the relief this night was ending could sink in. Tears welled in my eyes. I willed them to stay put.
In his truck Seth turned on the cab's overhead light and gently turned my face with his large hand to evaluate the cheek that got hit. "Does it hurt?"
"Not really. Does it look okay?"Please don't let it be visible. If it was, Bruno would go nuclear. He tolerated a lot of my wildness, but anyone hurting me or my sister, Amber, wasn't allowed.
Seth touched along my jaw. "I'm sorry."
