Page 19 of Falcon

“I have felt like a chicken with its head cut off all day long.”

“Why did you have such a long morning?” Rose asks, pushing her raven black hair behind her shoulders.

She’s just a year older than me and she’s a paralegal at one of the law firms in the Victorian District. She’s a badass and I love her for it.

“Remember how I told you Nora’s brother was in town?”

“The boxer, right?”

“He’s not a boxer. He’s a fighter. MMA,” I correct her.

“Oh, the really bloody, hardcore stuff. Got it. Continue.”

“Well, I was out for a run this morning and he was kind of following me, I think? Anyway, I tripped and fell,” I hold up my hand to show her, “and he helped me back to the house. Patched me up. Asked me out. It was the craziest thing, Rose. I don’t understand. He’s so cute, SO CUTE, and I guess I just…”

She holds up a hand, cutting me off, “First of all, you’re literally talking a million miles an hour. You always do that when you’re overwhelmed. Breathe. Second of all, he asked you out?” she basically shouts. “What did you say? You better have said yes.”

“I told him I needed to think about it.”

“What? Why the fuck would you do that?”

Jason is dropping off our waters when she says this. His eyebrows rise sky-high then he turns and walks away.

“Say it lower, will ya?” I say, taking a sip. “I don’t really know him, Rose. Not at all. You know I can’t just dive in like that.”

“Uh, why not? I’ve seen you do it before.”

“Yeah, well, this is different. He’s my friend’s brother, and he’s so…intimidating.”

“Are you afraid of him?”

I let the question rattle around in my brain for a moment. At first, you’d think the answer would be yes. I’m a five foot nothing, one hundred twenty pounds, twenty-four-year-old with walls a mile high. I should be afraid of someone like him. Someone who seems like he could eat me up and spit me out alive.

But I’m not.

I’m just not.

“No. I’m not afraid of him. At all.”

“Then, what’s the problem? He’s only here for a short time, right? He’s interested, clearly, and he seems nice based on what you’ve said. Have some fun. Don’t you think you deserve it?”

I’ve dated on and off since I moved to Savannah, after dropping out of college. It wasn’t instant, by any means, but I did. It’s been good, and it’s been bad, but I’ve kept it easy, casual. I never let my guard down and control is firmly in my hands. Falcon seems like he’ll test that. I don’t think anyone can control him.

“Let’s just eat. I can’t think about him anymore. Not yet.”

“Fine, but you know how I feel. Do it. It’ll be one hell of a story, if nothing else.”

***

With a full stomach, I plop back down onto my chair behind the front desk at Savannah PD. With a squeeze of hand sanitizer on my hands and a roll of my lavender essential oil behind my ears, I settle back into work.

I’m able to shut off the personal side of my brain here, and sometimes that’s really needed. We are so busy here, being a tourist town; I’m able to just work.

Paperwork, invoices, phone calls, oh my.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

It’s harder some days than others, but in the end, I love my job. This job saved my life.

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