Page 103 of Double Daddies
The distance between us shrinks—he’s tired and knowing this might be over soon gives me a burst of energy that allows me to close the distance even further. I can hear his low, ragged breathing now, just before he darts down an alleyway.
Mistake. I sprint around the corner and see him, chest heaving, against the brick wall of an old, crumbling building. It’s a dead end. An end for Ortega.
Except… wouldn’t he know that? He’d grown up on these streets, dealt drugs with the same kids he used to make mud pies with.
I snatch my weapon out of its holster with trembling fingers. He’s close enough that I can make out his wide, dark eyes. The way his mouth tips in a smile a second before I see the glint of his gun.
“Stop!” I order. “It’s over, Ortega!” My harsh order doesn’t stop his smile, or the weapon he’s pointing at me. I pull the trigger, but I’m a second behind him deploying his own.
I feel the shock of the bullet’s impact just moments before I hear the sound of my taser clattering on the gravel beneath my feet.
Ryle
When I got Cami’s text, I felt a rush of emotion. Excitement, followed by hope, surged through my veins. All I needed to do was to see her, and I could make her understand that all I want is what’s best for her, what’s best for the baby. I know it.
But when I open the door and step inside, I see the boyfriend sitting up in a hospital bed instead. All of my earlier high hopes come crashing down, smashing on the floor.
“Hey.”
I hold up my cell phone. “Cami asked me to meet her here.”
There’s a shadow of a grin on his face. “I did, actually. She leaves her phone all the time. I was going to bring it to her, but?—”
As he’s speaking, my eyes rove the room as I realize that he’s hooked up to a machine that is measuring his heart rate and other stats. “Are you okay? Did something happen? Is Cami…”
“She’s okay. She doesn’t know I’m here, actually.”
I arch a brow and fold my arms across my chest.
“Could you close that door?”
I hesitate, but in the end I push it closed. Then I turn back to him, waiting expectantly.
“I got shot on a stake out today.”
My jaw clenches and I nod. I’m not sure what he’s expecting me to say, but if I thought finding him here in Cami’s place is strange, this announcement giving so nonchalantly is more so.
“It got me thinking about… well, about everything.” His smile flashes again. “But especially about Cami. About what would happen to her if…”
He trails off, and I see from his face he can’t say the words aloud.
“If you died.” I don’t hurl the words, or weaponize them, but I’ve spent some time thinking about death recently, and I know it’s best to be honest, no matter how hard it is.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine this time. But… I want to know she’s going to be okay, if… if that ever happened.”
I wait, still not certain what he’s getting at.
“I thought about a lot of things. And I think it’s better if Cami, if the baby, if they both have more people to love them.”
My hands ball into fists at my sides.
Is he saying what I think he’s saying?
“Maybe we could try to make this work… the three of us.”
“I’m flattered, but you’re not really my type,” I intone dryly.
Ben surprises me by laughing. It takes some of the tension from the room. “I hear you. And I’m with you on that. But for Cami’s sake, for the baby… do you think we could try?”
