Page 243 of Things We Never Got Over (Knockemout)
“What’s wrong, baby?”
“Are you shot? Did you hit your head?”
“No, Daze. I’m fine.”
“Did I hit my head?”
“No, baby.”
“I must have. I thought I heard you just say we were getting married.”
“You think I’m dumb enough to let you two go?”
“Uh, yeah,” Waylay, Lucian, and Nash said together.
“Can I have a dress for the party and a dress for the wedding?” Waylay asked.
“You can have ten dresses,” I promised her.
“You’re going to spoil her,” Naomi said, running her hand over Waylay’s hair.
“Fucking right I am. I’m gonna spoil you too.”
Her smile put pieces back together inside me that I hadn’t even noticed were broken.
“Where’s Duncan?” Waylay asked.
Lucian got to his feet and scanned the space. “He’s gone.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Nash muttered. “This is why amateurs shouldn’t get involved in police business.”
“I can’t wait till I’m a grown-up and I can swear all the time,” Waylay announced.
We all heard footsteps on the stairs at the same time. Nash shifted to point his gun at the door. I pulled mine from the waistband of my jeans and aimed.
Lina and Sloane burst into the room together.
“Christ, I could have shot you,” Nash complained, lowering his gun. “What the hell are you doing here? How’d you find us?”
Sloane looked a little green around the gills. “We followed Nash.”
“You left a trail of bodies from the parking lot. Didn’t leave any fun for the rest of us,” Lina said, kneeling next to my brother. Gently, she pushed the sleeve of his shirt up. “Popped your stitches, hotshot.”
“Can barely feel it,” Nash lied through his teeth.
Sloane spotted Naomi and started toward us. But Lucian was already in motion crossing the room like a god about to crush a mortal.
They met in the middle of the room, stopping inches apart.
“I told you to stay in town,” he snarled.
“Get out of my way, you big…” Her voice trailed off, and I saw she was staring at the body Nash had dropped. Her face went white.
“Sloane.” When the librarian didn’t look at him, Lucian grasped her chin and firmly turned it toward him.
“Knee. Balls. Nose,” Naomi whispered to me.
“That’s my girl.” I gave her a squeeze.
