Page 23 of Bazooka
When I was done with the ankle, I inspected his legs, but he had no serious wounds there.
“Take off your T-shirt,” I said, and it made his jaw drop.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he mumbled as a flush crept up to his cheeks.
“Yes, English patient,” I joked.
“I’m too ugly to look at, aren’t I?” he said sulkily, and I suppressed a smile.
I didn’t tell him that no amount of damage to his face could ever make him look ugly. It was a face that belonged in a museum, but I kept it to myself to avoid another flirty remark.
When he took off his T-shirt, I shifted closer to him so I could inspect his chest. His skin was marred with purple bruises, but it wasn’t as bad as yesterday.
“You’re healing,” I murmured, shifting my gaze to his flat belly. “Turn on your stomach.”
When he did what I said, I made a face, hating what I saw. His back took the worst punches, and it showed. He had a few nasty hematomas there that were too ugly to look at.
“Can you describe your assailants to me?” I said, applying the cream to his back.
He talked while I listened, memorizing it all in my head. It wasn’t difficult because my anger fueled me. I wanted to slam my fist into a wall, but instead I imagined what I would do to those assholes if they were here.
“I’ll arrange for the sketch artist to visit you tomorrow,” I said when Luz finished talking. “He will do a composite sketch that will help us identify them. I will also need to talk to your friends.”
“Mhm,” Luz murmured with his eyes closed. “Should I tell them to come here?”
“Yeah, that would be best,” I mused. “Tell them to come tomorrow. After you get better, you’ll come to the station to look at some mugshots. Maybe we will get lucky.”
“I’ll text them later,” Luz said sleepily, and I was relieved to see him fully relaxed. The stinky cream treatment obviously helped.
“You can turn on your back now,” I said, closing the jar. “We’re done.”
“I can’t,” he mumbled.
“Why not?”
“I have an erection.”
I rubbed my forehead, unable to believe he’d just said that.
“Jesus Christ, Luz,” I said with an exasperated sigh. “You can’t just drop a bomb like that on me.”
“Well, it’s the truth. And it’s not a bomb. It’s my dick. By the way, I have never been this hard in my life.”
I dragged my hand down my face, giving up.
“Are you hungry?” I asked him. “I bought us some food.”
“Mm-mm. Thank you, though. For everything.”
“I’m sorry your birthday was such a shitty one,” I said honestly. “And I’m sorry for what happened to you.”
He propped himself on his elbow and looked at me over his shoulder. His turquoise eyes were bloodshot and glassy. Filled with heat, too, which meant he wasn’t joking about the boner.
“Will you get me something for my birthday?” he said, blatantly checking me out. “Something that will make me feel better.”
“What would you like?” I said with a smirk, crossing my arms over my chest.
“A kiss.”
