“Look how far you’ve come,” she says, shutting the computer after having set me up in business, it seems. “You should be proud of yourself, August Trouble. Because I am.”
I have no response to those words.
Not once has anyone ever said they were proud of me. That’s something someone like me never hears uttered.
“August.” She touches my arm.
Maybe it’s her words, maybe it is just her.
But what I do next, I told myself I would never do again.
But for some reason, I can’t help myself.
I’m a starving man, and she has served up my three-course meal.
Chapter 19
Rylee
I should be pushing him away. I know this. But when August’s lips touch mine, and he pushes me backward on the couch, I’m a helpless woman. Besides, it wasn’t my idea to keep things platonic between us. That was all him.
So when his hand slides up my skirt I know, I just know, we’re more than friends.
Maybe friends with benefits?
August’s lips capture mine.
And in that moment, nothing is more important than keeping that kiss going, even when his fingers slide past my panties and straight to where I want them. I pause only for a second, my lips frozen in pleasure before I bite down on his bottom lip. His fingers start pumping inside of me while he makes these amazing noises with his mouth.
Just as I go to reach between us to touch him, something bangs on the door, loudly. It’s as if it’s being kicked. August stops abruptly, then is off me in the next second before he moves to the door with a bat in his hand, freezing mid-step as the door is kicked in. Two men stand there, facing me, both wearing black balaclavas. I can’t see their eyes, but I feel them all over my skin as I remain immobile on the couch, for some reason just blinking.
“Look what we got,” one of them says, as the other attempts to move forward in my direction. August swings the bat, knocking the one closest to him in the backs of his knees, forcing him to the floor with a loud scream.
I shiver, covering my ears at the crack the bat made when it connected with his bones.
“What the…” Before the other can do anything, I open my eyes to see August do the same thing with him, but the crack isn’t as loud as the guy jumps, getting whacked in only one leg instead of both.
“August.” I say his name, but he doesn’t hear me as he rushes over to the closest one, tears the mask off, and bends down, his hand gripping the intruder’s shirt, and he pulls him up, making him whine out in pain.
“You are either brave or stupid to try to enter my house. Which is it?” August growls.
I stand on shaky legs and stare at August. I’ve never seen this side of him.
He’s so… dark.
His fists move fast as he punches the dude’s face. I hear the crack of bone and flinch at the sound.
“August.” I say his name again, but he doesn’t seem to hear me.
“You stepped into the wrong house, fucker.” He hits again, knocking the guy unconscious. The one whose leg he hit pulls something from his pocket. I freeze, and a scream rips out of my mouth when I realize it’s a gun.
August pauses but only for a split second, which is enough time for the guy to shoot, but because he’s on the floor and August is fast, it only hits August’s shoulder. August barely registers the bullet, not even recoiling when it strikes him. He keeps moving and knocks the gun from the guy’s hand. Then, in one fast movement that I’ve only seen in the movies, he knocks that guy unconscious as well.
August stands, touches his shoulder, then looks over at me. “You should leave.”
I shake my head, knowing I’m not going to leave him.
“Leave, Rylee.” I can’t even get caught on the fact that he’s used my name because the blood that’s flowing out of his wound has me moving toward him not away from him. Reaching out, I want to touch him to make sure he’s okay. I step over the bodies that lie on the floor and gently touch his shoulder.
His voice becomes softer when my hand caresses him. “Leave,” he almost whispers.
“No,” I tell him. I know it won’t be long before the police arrive. After all, a gunshot would have been heard by the neighbors.
Not knowing how long we’ve been standing there, time seems to be going in slow motion right now. My heart is hammering in my chest, and my mind seems to be struggling between wanting to run and wanting to stay. The battle is constant, but somehow, I manage to keep grounded. Somehow keeping myself as centered as I can.
Sirens, I hear them, and they are coming this way.
Shock.
Alarm.
Panicked.
All feelings, all genuine, but all dismissed as quickly as they arrive when two police officers appear through the broken door. The two unconscious men are immediately spotted, so they both pull their weapons from their holsters.
“On the floor, both of you. Very slowly.” I quickly glance at August, who simply nods, doing what they say. One of them speaks into the radio on his shoulder before another police car arrives. When I check outside through the floor-to-ceiling window, I see the neighbors coming out on their front yards, and they’re all looking this way.
“August.” Paige’s father is standing there, hand on his gun but not raised like the other two. “What’s going on here?”
“He’s hurt. They shot August,” I tell Glenn.
His eyes fall to August, who appears to be having trouble keeping his eyes open.
“An ambulance is on its way. Can you tell me what happened?” Glenn asks.
My eyes fall to the men lying beside me.
One of them starts to move, and I jump up, not wanting to be anywhere near them.
“They broke into the house through the door. See, it’s broken. August…” I look and find his eyes are opening and closing, but he’s trying to keep an eye on the man whose eyes are still shut. “They didn’t get far, but one had a gun.” I point at the gun one of the officers is standing in front of. “He shot August. August did nothing wrong. We were having dinner when they—”
“Thank you, Rylee. I’ll need you to come to the station to make a statement, but other than that, you’re free to go.” I step back and look at August, who’s still on the floor and bleeding badly.
“What about August?” I ask.
“He’ll have to come with us after he goes to the hospital.”
“But, he did nothing wrong,” I tell Glenn.
He doesn’t answer.
So I reach for my phone and call my sister, who picks up straight away.
“Is Noah with you?”
“Umm… yes,” she says, her voice confused.
“Can you put him on, please?”
She doesn’t ask any questions, which I’m thankful for.
“Rylee, everything okay?” Noah’s voice echoes through the phone.
“No. Two people just tried to break into August’s house, and he got shot. The police are taking him in for some reason after he’s been to the hospital. Can you help?”
“Where are you?”
“Still at his house.”
“Don’t move. Collect your things. I’ll be there soon.”