Page 16 of Smoke

“I did.”

Our gazes locked for a moment. She swayed slightly from side to side, looking as cute as she was. I bit back a smile at the thought.

“You ready for your session?” I asked.

“Yes. My sister tried to bombard her way into coming, but I had to put my foot down. She’s… she’s a lot at times. No filter. Says what’s on her mind. Loud as hell.”

“Shiiit, she would fit right in.”

“I figured as much at the wedding. Nowshewould have been the life of the party. I could see her and Shar being friends. She absolutely would have tried to hook Renay up with your brother or cousins.”

“One of them would have taken the bait. Come on, let’s get you prepped and ready.”

I led her toward the back, where the training rooms were. As we passed Kaylynn, she offered Romi a smile. As soon as her back was to her, Kaylynn made kissy faces at me. I stuck up my middle finger and continued on my way. Once I went over all the release forms and safety precautions, I helped Romi get situated in her gear.

“So we use the safety glasses to protect your eyes from ejected brass casings, ricocheting fragments, powder residue, and any potential mechanical malfunctions that could potentially send debris flying toward your face at a high speed. We wouldn’t want to mess up this pretty face.”

She blushed as I secured the glasses onto her.

“Got it.”

“Now the earmuffs are common sense. Gunfire produces extremely loud sound waves, and that shit can fuck up your ears with immediate and permanent hearing damage.”

I placed the muffs on her ears and tested her hearing. Once I confirmed they were a good fit, I had her take them off so we could go over a few more things.

“A couple things first. Number one, always treat every gun like it’s loaded. Number two, never point that bitch if you don’t intend to bust that bitch. Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire. You gotta be sure of what your target is and what’s behind it. The last thing you want is for that bullet to ricochet and hit your ass.”

Her hand flew to her stomach. “I definitely don’t want that.”

“Good to know. You ready to try your first gun?”

“Yes.”

I walked over to the gun safe and grabbed a gun with a box of bullets. After loading the gun, I handed it to her.

“I’m gonna start you off with a .22 caliber pistol. This is a great gun for beginners since it has minimal recoil. Thatkickback can be a muthafucka. First, let’s talk about the proper stance. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart.”

I demonstrated myself, then helped her into the perfect stance. Standing behind her, I slightly grabbed her hips and pushed her feet apart with my own. She had a slight tremble, which was normal for a first timer.

“You gotta relax, love,” I said softly. “It’s just you and me.”

“I know. I just… I’ve never touched a gun before. It feels weird in my hands.”

“You’ll get used to it. The only way to get over a fear is to push through it. You got this. I’m right here. I promise I’m not gonna let you kill yourself or me,” I added with a chuckle.

She elbowed me in the gut. “Very funny, sir.”

“Are we here for a shooting lesson or to throw hands? Just let me know.”

She looked back at me. “Devin.”

I bit my lip. Something about the way my name rolled off her lips did something to me. Nobody but my mama called me Devin. If it wasn’t her, I didn’t answer to that shit. Hearing it come from Romi had me thinking of all the ways I could make her say my name. The way she had me fucked up was blowing me.

Clearing my throat, I focused back in on the task we came here to do.

“Lean slightly forward,” I directed, adjusting her. “That’s it. This gives you the most stable platform. If you aren’t stable when you fire the gun, you could easily miss your target. Now, I want you to grip the pistol with both hands, like this.”

As I cupped her hands around the gun, I caught a whiff of her sweet-smelling scent. She smelled so damn good that I just wanted to sink my teeth into her flesh.

---