The Hard Way

by Katie Ashley

  “Oh shit. This ain’t good,” Darion remarked.

  “You know that guy?”

  He nodded. “That’s D’Andre’s dad, Ron. He’s bad news, like prison bad. He did time for gang shit and drugs.”

  “Damn. That is bad news.”

  “I’m pretty sure there’s a restrain’ order out on him that he ain’t supposed to be around D’Andre.”

  Vicki’s voice rose a few octaves. “I’m sorry I can’t do anything for you personally. If you’ll wait just a moment, The Ark’s supervisor is on her way out.”

  Avery came hustling out from the gym area. The hem of her dress kicked up, and I couldn’t look away from the view of her thighs. Jesus, I needed help.

  “I’m Avery Prescott. What seems to be the problem?” she asked.

  Ron turned his wrath from Vicki to her. “I came for my son, but this bitch is wastin’ my fuckin’ time by sayin’ I can’t have him.”

  Avery’s gaze bounced from Ron’s to Vicki’s. “There’s a red flag on D’Andre’s checkout list that Mr. Carnes is not to take him,” Vicki explained.

  “Fuck your lists. He’s my son!”

  “Sir, I’m going to ask you to lower your voice and refrain from using profanity,” Avery chided. I wanted to roll my eyes at her being all uptight and pretentious, but at the same time, I couldn’t help being impressed at how she wasn’t cowering back from this asshole.

  Ron’s hand smacked against the counter, causing Vicki to jump. “Bitch, don’t you be tellin’ me how to talk. I’ll come across this desk and pop you in the mouth.”

  Instantly, my fists clenched at my sides at his threat against Avery. Who the hell did he think he was to talk to her that way? And Vicki for that matter. They were just doing their jobs; it wasn’t their fault he was a gangbanger who wasn’t supposed to be around his kid.

  “Mr. Carnes, I’m not sure how to make it clearer for you. Just as Mrs. Laramie previously explained, you are not authorized to check your son out of this facility. Since there is no way we can allow you to have him, I’m going to ask that you leave.”

  “I ain’t leavin’ without my son,” Ron growled.

  Avery shook her head. “Since you’re unable to speak rationally about this, I will just let the authorities handle it.” She nodded at Vicki who then hit the panic button hidden under the table.

  “Daddy?” a voice questioned from behind us. I turned around to see a ten-year-old kid looking scared as hell. Although he resembled Ron in the face, he was small for his age. From the way he shrank back, I could tell he had been on the receiving end of some of Ron’s rage in the past.

  Ron’s face momentarily softened. “Yo, son. Get your stuff. I’m bustin’ you outta here.”

  D’Andre’s eyes widened. “B-but M-Mama said I-I’m n-not supposed to go with you.”

  “Bullshit. I’m your daddy and I’m telling you to come on.”

  “I can’t,” D’Andre replied with shake of his head.

  When Ron started toward D’Andre, Avery bolted out from behind the counter. She rushed ahead of Ron and past me to put herself in front of D’Andre like a human shield. “Mr. Carnes, the police are on the way and—”

  “You called the cops on me, bitch?” Ron demanded.

  “You are unauthorized to take your son, and you refused to leave the premises. I think the situation will be best handled by the police.”

  Ron reached into his pants’ pocket and yanked out a pistol. At the sight of the gun, Vicki screamed and dropped under the desk while the other kids who had come to see what the yelling was about scattered across the room with shrieks and cries of panic. Avery’s face paled considerably, but she didn’t move away from D’Andre.

  In a cold voice, Ron said, “Bitch, you got five seconds to get the fuck out of the way before I end you.”

  When he raised the gun and pointed it at Avery, every molecule in my body shuddered to a stop. The world began to crawl by in slow motion. It felt like I was standing outside of myself and watching the situation unfold.

  In that moment, I heard Avery’s girly giggle. I tasted her strawberry lip gloss from our kisses. I felt the soft curves of her body beneath mine when we had had sex. I knew I had to do something to save her—not because I should, not because it was the right thing to do.

  Because I still loved her.

  Doing what I did best, I broke into a sprint. I barreled into Avery, tackling her to the ground like she was my opponent on the field. As soon as we were down, I covered her body with mine, shielding her from Ron’s wrath. While I hated that I had left D’Andre exposed and vulnerable, I knew Ron wouldn’t shoot him. In his own warped and toxic way, he loved him too much to kill him.

  “All right, freeze! Drop your weapon!” an officer shouted.

  I exhaled the breath I’d been holding while I thanked God that The Ark was close to one of the downtown precincts. There was a flurry of movement behind me, and I glanced back to see Ron drop his gun and sink to his knees. Two police officers rushed over to him and handcuffed him while a female officer put her arm around D’Andre and got him away from his father.

  After rolling Avery onto her back, I stared down into her face, which remained paralyzed with fear. “Are you okay?”

  She was so shocked she couldn’t speak. Her body trembled as the shakes went through her, and I reached my hand up to tenderly touch her face. “Prescott, I need you to tell me you’re all right.”

  Finally, she murmured, “Mmhmm.” Tears pooled in her eyes, and from the way she was biting on her lip, I could tell she was trying hard not to cry. Typical Avery to try to be strong no matter what.

  Since I knew she needed more room to try to catch her breath, I eased off her and onto my knees. Her wild gaze spun around the room. “D’Andre?” she questioned.

  “He’s fine. An officer took him over to Vicki.”

  Once she knew D’Andre was safe, the dam that had been keeping her emotions in check broke and she began to weep uncontrollably. “Hey now. It’s okay,” I said as I drew her into my arms. I knew the best thing I could do was let her get it out of her system, so I just let her cry.

  “Miss Prescott?” one of the officers questioned.

  “Y-yes,” Avery replied in between her sobs.

  “I’m Officer Beasley. I have a few questions for you. Do you think you can answer them?”

  Avery eased herself out of my arms and then swiped her eyes. “I-I can try.”

  I rose to my feet and then reached down to help her up. I winced at the sight of her knees, which were busted and bleeding. Putting my arm around her waist, I guided Avery over to one of the chairs. After I got her seated, I remained at her side as Officer Beasley went through a barrage of questions about what had happened. Although I could tell she was close to losing it again, she somehow managed to keep it all together. She really was amazing.

  When he was finished with Avery, he glanced at me. “All right, hero, I’m going to need to get your statement as well.”

  Shifting on my feet, I protested, “I’m not a hero.”

  He grinned. “I don’t know what your definition of a hero is, buddy, but for me, I consider anyone willing to take a bullet for someone else a hero.”

  Part of me wanted to puff my chest out with pride and gloat about what I had done. I knew my father would piss his pants with excitement if the story got out about me doing something heroic, but another part of me felt uncomfortable taking credit for saving Avery. What kind of asshole would have left her in the firing range of some idiot? Fuck, he’d threatened to kill her. Kill. Avery.

  I had just finished relating what I had seen and heard when Vicki came over to us. “Avery, I called Jason, and he’s on his way in to cover for you. After talking with Tamar, we both feel it’s best you go on home.”

  Avery shook her head. “No, no. I’m fine, I swear.”

  “Prescott, you’re so not fine.” I motioned to her knees. “You’re bleeding for Christ’s sake, not to mention you’re emotionall
y spent.”

  Vicki patted Avery’s shoulder. “Cade is right, sweetheart. You need to get out of here and get some rest.”

  Avery nibbled her lip. “But the kids need me, especially the ones who just witnessed that.”

  “Don’t you worry one bit about the kids. They’re resilient, and Tamar is leaving her conference meeting to be here for them.”

  After weighing Vicki’s words, Avery finally nodded her head in agreement. “Okay. I’ll go on home.”

  “Good. Since you’re in no shape to drive, how about Cade drives you home?” Vicki suggested.

  Avery’s face paled slightly. “Uh, I don’t think—”

  “I’d be happy to do it,” I piped up.

  After snapping her gaze to mine, Avery said, “I appreciate the offer, Cade, but you’ve already done enough.”

  While on the surface her statement was positive, it also went back to our past. I had certainly done enough to her by breaking her heart and causing her so much grief and pain. I might’ve saved her life, but in the vast scheme of things, I still owed her. Hell, it would probably take a lifetime of good deeds to repay her. “I really don’t mind.”

  “If you insist,” Avery replied while forcing a smile to her lips.

  From her tone and expression, I could tell it was going to be an interesting ride home.

  AVERY

  Just when I thought things with Cade couldn’t get any more complicated, it reached a whole new level when he saved my life. Oh God, I could’ve been killed. I swallowed the rising bile in my throat when I was assaulted with a flashback of Ron pointing his gun at me.

  After Vicki left us to go back to the front desk, Cade and I stood in an awkward silence. With a wave of his hand, Cade said, “Come on. We need to go get you cleaned up before I take you home.”

  I was still too shaken to argue with him that there was no we. Instead, I trailed behind him as he started for the employee hallway.

  “Where’s a first aid kit?” Cade questioned.

  “The break room.”

  He opened the door and then held it open for me. Cade patted the counter. “Have a seat, and I’ll get you patched up.”

  While he got the first aid kit out of the cabinet, I tried hopping up on the counter, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to do it. Without a word, Cade put down the materials he had dug out, slid his hands around my waist, and hoisted me up like I weighed nothing at all. “Thank you,” I murmured. I tried ignoring the warmth of his hands through the flimsy material of my sundress. Even after four years, I could still remember what his hands felt like on me. The illicit reminder caused me to shiver.

  Staring intently at me, Cade replied, “No problem.”

  I ducked my head from his intense expression. When I did, I noticed blood staining my dress above my thigh. I furrowed my brows in confusion as I lifted the hem of my dress. A long gash ran midway down my thigh. “How did that happen?” I questioned curiously.

  “It had to be something sharp and pointy.”

  “I had my keychain in my hands from unlocking the storeroom.”

  Cade nodded. “The keys must’ve cut you when I knocked you down.” Remorse flooded his face. “I’m sorry I was so rough.”

  “You don’t need to apologize. You did what you had to do.”

  “I blame the adrenaline. The minute I saw that gun it went into overdrive.”

  “I can only imagine.”

  After we stared at each other for a moment, Cade gave a slight shake of his head before going back over to the first aid kit. Realizing I was exposing too much skin to him, I quickly dropped my dress back down.

  Cade came back to me with gauze and antiseptic then worked it over the broken skin on my knees. It didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would considering how rough the wounds looked. After putting a large bandage on both knees, I thought he was finished and started to get down, but Cade stopped me.

  When he started pushing my sundress up my thighs to clean the gash, I froze. There shouldn’t have been any difference between him attending to a cut on my thigh after he had done the same thing on my knees, but it felt very different.

  Inwardly, I was slapping his hands away before busting him in the mouth for even assuming he could touch me again with such familiarity…such intimacy. After all, I wasn’t the same Avery from years ago who had yearned for the feel of his fingers on my skin. While inwardly I boiled with rage, on the outside, I remained a perfect statue—a rigid, marbleized Avery Prescott.

  My reaction caught Cade’s attention because his hands stilled. Of course, that meant his fists were precariously close to my vagina. A heat began to coil below my waist, causing my vagina to thaw—if a vagina could actually thaw.

  As if we felt the same pull, Cade jerked his hands away, leaving my thighs exposed with the material of my sundress bunched at the top of my legs. His brows knitted together in concern. “Are you all right?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Peachy, except for the fact that I’m not used to being manhandled.”

  With his nostrils flaring, Cade countered, “Well, excuse me, princess. I was just trying to help you. It’s not like—” He then abruptly snapped his mouth shut.

  “It’s not like what?” When Cade refused to answer me, I spat, “It’s not like you haven’t seen it all before, right?”

  Surprise flooded me as a regretful grimace spread across Cade’s face. He raked his hands through his hair. “Fuck, I’m sorry. That was a totally douche thing for me to allude to.’”

  His apology took me so off guard that I was once again rendered frozen. “Thanks,” I finally mumbled.

  Cade nodded before dabbing more antiseptic on the cotton ball. When he touched it to my skin, I sucked in a breath.

  He glanced up at me. “Sorry about that.”

  “It’s okay. Not like you can help it.” I laughed. “I guess it’s more about me being a wuss.”

  Cade grinned. “I’d hardly call you a wuss. This cut is pretty bad.”

  “Think I need stitches?”

  “I don’t think it went that deep.”

  Silence then enveloped us as he continued cleaning my cut. As I studied him with his head bent in deep concentration, it was clear what I had to do. I had to thank him. Although it was just two little words, for some reason I was having a really hard time forming them on my lips.

  Maybe it was because, based on his usual cockiness, I imagined he was waiting for me to make a big deal out of him saving me. Maybe it was more about our prior history and how he had cut me so deep emotionally that it was hard to imagine thanking him for anything. Then again, maybe it was the fact that I could be a stubborn, hardheaded ass, as Grandpa always said.

  I exhaled a long breath. “Cade?”

  “Yeah,” he replied, making one final sweep along my cut.

  “I haven’t thanked you yet.” When he jerked his gaze up to meet mine, I said, “You know, for what you did out there.”

  He shrugged. “It was nothing.”

  Well hello, Mr. Modest. That was certainly a surprise. “You’re wrong. It wasn’t ‘nothing’. Ron had a gun…” I shuddered. “He could have shot Vicki or D’Andre.”

  “Or you.”

  I swallowed hard at both that thought as well as the intensity in Cade’s eyes. “Or me,” I whispered. The thought of how close I had come to being shot or killed caused a shiver to run through me. “You saved my life, Cade, and for that, I’m very, very grateful.”

  “Then I guess you’re welcome.”

  Cocking my head curiously at him, I asked, “Why are you being so modest about all this?”

  “I’m not,” he replied as he stuck a bandage on my thigh.

  “Uh, yeah, you are. The Cade I knew would be outside seeing if he could be interviewed by the media to brag about what he had done.”

  Cade’s growl of frustration took me off guard and he jerked one of his hands through his hair. “Maybe I’m not that douchebag guy any more. Maybe I realized that w
hile I might’ve saved your life today, it doesn’t erase what I did to you. Maybe I feel like a fucking mess as I’m trying to process what the hell just happened out there.”

  I stared open-mouthed at him. “Maybe,” I finally murmured.

  Cade started putting the materials back into the first aid kit then glanced at me over his shoulder. “You need a drink.”

  I snorted. “Is that the usual next step after almost being shot?”

  “Come on, Prescott. You’re pale as a fucking sheet.”

  “Seriously, I’m fine.”

  With a shake of his head, Cade countered, “You’ve been holding it all together pretty well. You’re going to bottom out soon, so you need something to settle your nerves.”

  Although I hated to admit it, Cade was right. Considering how jangled my emotions felt, I did need something to take the edge off. “Fine. We can stop by a bar on the way to my house.”

  “Glad you could see it my way, Miss Stubborn.”

  “I’m not that stubborn,” I protested.

  Cade grinned. “Do you get the irony that you’re being stubborn about being stubborn?”

  “Whatever.”

  When Cade’s hands once again came to my waist, I reached up to grip his bulging biceps. Gently, he eased me back down onto my feet. “Thank you,” I murmured.

  “You’re welcome.”

  Neither Cade nor I let go of each other. “Will you do something for me, Prescott?”

  “Yes. What?” I questioned breathlessly.

  “Will you not put up a fight when I buy you a drink?”

  Although it wasn’t the question I expected, I still laughed. “Okay. Deal.”

  Cade winked. “Good.”

  Cade hovered over me on the way out to his car. Although it was slightly irritating, I didn’t yell at him. Instead, I let him feel like he was what I needed.

  “I see you’re still a Benz fan,” I remarked when he opened the door for me.