Page 11 of Ride Forever
Chapter 4
Sloane
Chaser’s admission had all kinds of messed-up thoughts swirling in my mind.
I knew he wasn’t able to save Madison, but if she’d been able to fight, would her fate have changed? I didn’t know enough about her to answer that question. I knew I had the strength to pull the trigger if I had to, but in a situation like that, where I only had my fists? I wasn’t so sure.
People could stew over what-ifs their whole lives and never be prepared for the future. In the grand scheme of things, I didn’t know much at all. I was just a woman who’d become brilliant at hiding. Scratch that. Marini had always known where I was, so who the hell knew what I was good at other than shooting my mouth off with clever words.
“Chaser?”
“Hmm?”
“I want you to teach me how to fight.”
Chaser glanced at me, the lawn chair he was sitting on creaking. I hoped it didn’t break under his weight. All the furniture up here was so sun bleached even the metal had turned brittle.
“I can fire a gun, but all the other stuff…” I trailed off and shrugged. “It’s just… We’re going to be here for a little while yet, and I know I’ve kicked a few bad guys in the balls already, but I can’t help thinking it was all just dumb luck.”
Chaser threw a look over his shoulder, his skin glistening with sweat. “Up here?”
“Where else?”
“If you get cut, you’d have to get a tetanus shot.”
“Don’t wrap me in cotton wool, Chaser.” I rolled my eyes and let my head fall back.
“You’re the last person who needs cotton wool,” he drawled, grasping my thigh.
I wondered about Madison then. I remembered the woman from the photograph Chaser had in his wallet and couldn’t picture the man he was now with a sweet-looking woman like her.
“What was she like?”
He tensed but didn’t pull away. “You really want to know?”
I couldn’t imagine what he’d felt the night he saw Madison die. I knew he was worried about the effect shooting Marini had on me, but it was different. The man was my father, but I never loved him. Not since I was that innocent little girl whose mother tried to shield her from the brutal reality of her life. Besides, I’d come to terms with his betrayal a long time ago. What Chaser went through was different. He genuinely loved his wife.
I didn’t know if I was being stupid or not, but I was still jealous of a woman who’d died seven years ago. At least a little bit. She still haunted his dreams.
“I suppose I don’t.”
“It’s not a competition, Sloane.”
“Wherever there’s a roof, you seem to find it,” I said, ignoring his statement. “Why’s that?”
“I like high places,” he replied with a shrug.
“You can see the stars better up here at night.”
Chaser glanced up to where the moon hung, a white wisp against the blue sky. “It’s a perspective thing.”
“Perspective would be helping me prepare before heading into one of the many layers of Hell,” I quipped. “As much as I love our fighting and fucking and these deep and meaningful conversations you loathe so much, I need to be able to protect myself. What if we’re separated like we were on the train, huh?”
“It’s my job to protect you.”
“Nuh-uh, it was your job. Now it’s our spiritual right to protect one another. Tits and cocks have nothing to do with it.”
Chaser snorted, his lips quirking.
