“What is it, Angel?” “I just, I am not sure I am ready to take it that far. I mean we haven’t known each other exceedingly long at all, yet we are already moving things along this quickly. It is all just a little overwhelming I guess.” “Hey, look at me.” I reach to cup her cheek in my palm, so she looks at my face. “I am not asking you to push yourself to move any faster than you are ready for. Today was enjoyable but you don’t have to feel pressure to do any more than this. I honestly didn’t expect any of this so soon, but I wouldn’t change a second of it.” A lone tear escapes her eye as she smiles at me, and I rub it away with my thumb. “Thank you, Grant.” I pull her to me, and she willingly presses her body to mine as she hugs me back. I already felt protective of her before, but now that feeling has increased tenfold and there is no way I will let her go, for as long as she wishes to remain by my side. “Angel, there is a reason that I was up this early. We have somewhere t
I am so nervous I feel like I will jump out of my skin at any moment. We are in the car, Tojo is in the back with the dog grill up to keep him safe and we are almost at the station. As it comes into sight my palms begin to sweat and my body starts to tremble with nerves. “Are you okay?” “Yeah. Don’t worry.” Grant reaches over and takes my hand in his rubbing his thumb on the back in a comforting motion which helps relax me a little. With his touch my mind drifts back to this morning in his room and what we did making my cheeks heat. I also think about the conversation I had with Tom. ** That was incredible. I have never experienced anything remotely like it ever in my life. And to think that I would go that far yet still be comfortable with the other person. This feeling is completely alien to me, I don’t know what is going on with my body, but it craves Grant and won’t calm down. Whatever that was that we did, it has started a deep burning need within me that I have no idea how
Taking a deep breath, I steel my nerves and prepare to open up about my past with my family. “Yes, I am ready. What do you wish to know?” “Firstly, do you know the man who broke in?” “Yes, he is my stepfather.” “Your stepfather?” Both are shocked and I can understand why. If the officers wrote anything close to what they witnessed, then these two detectives must be wondering how it’s possible for Terry to treat me that way. “Yes. He and I have never had a good relationship.” “Would you please elaborate on that?” I sigh, I wonder just how much I should reveal, Grant squeezes my hand to encourage me so I take a breath and look the officers in the eye. “If you are going to understand everything, you may want to get us some coffee. This may take a while.” They look surprised but with one shared look officer Carmine stands and leaves the room. We sit in silence until she returns with a tray carrying four cups, a coffee carafe, a jug of water and other condiments such as sugar, mi
I feel guilty for not thinking about him sooner. But I put it down to being distracted by hearing Angel’s story. I never considered that her past was so painful. But I promise to ensure that her future is bright. As I exit the station, I see him laying down on the ground and I hurry over. “Hey boy, are you okay?” He lifts his head and greets me panting heavily trying his best to cool down. I untie his lead from the pole and tug. “Come inside boy, we have water for you.” He stands and follows me gladly with his tongue lolling out as he pants. “He is a big boy.” I look up surprised to see that officer Carmine followed me out. Seeing my confusion, he smiles. “If you were to come inside alone with him you wouldn’t make it past the doors.” “Oh, I see.” We walk in and head straight to the room where we left Angel. As soon as the door opens and Lobo sees her, he eagerly pulls against my grip wanting to run to her, so I let him. “Woof! Woof!” He bounds in and places his paws in he
“Lobo! Come here.” I shout and then whistle. He growls at the other dog and crouches lower, never taking his eyes off of it, while ignoring me. I continue to hurry over to them and as I get closer the other dog becomes increasingly aggressive. Looking around I cannot seem to pick out its owner and I worry that it is a stray. Lobo growls and the other dog also growls before lunging toward him, but he dodges and snaps his jaws at its paw. Then all hell breaks loose as both dogs begin to fight. People closest to us grab their dogs and scatter screaming. Everyone else, wanting, to get as far away from the fight but no one was willing to help me to stop them. I fear for Lobo as I don’t want him to get injured or catch a disease from this other dog, but I also don’t want to get bitten while trying to separate them. Desperately I look around for something to help me get between them safely when I spot a large thick stick on the ground. Picking it up I test it once then run toward the two
I’m in shock. I barely feel the pain from after her hand impacted my face anymore. Grant is quiet next to me as we drive back but I can feel he is livid on my behalf and yet he is confused because I claimed not to know her. The truth is, I did know her but now I don’t know what to think and the more I think about what happened the more confused I become. I don’t remember falling asleep but when I awake, I find myself on the bed in Grant’s bedroom. I stand and walk into the bathroom, looking in the mirror to inspect the damage. Horror fills me as I see a perfect handprint still visible on my cheek from where she struck me so hard. I gingerly press my fingers to the area and wince at the sting before I hear a whimper behind me. Looking around I spot Lobo watching close by and smile at him. “Hey boy. Come here.” He walks forward into my embrace, and I cuddle into his fur. “Thank you. You came to defend me from the mean lady, and I love you for that. Of course, Grant came too didn’
“Well, Miranda, is my mother’s name and also the name that woman uses so I’m a little unsure there, but something tells me that Miranda, really is my mother. My dad is Henry but I’m not sure what my real surname is as Grey is what 'fake' mother told me my name was, but she changed hers to match Terry.” “Were you at their wedding?” I frown thinking about it and then shake my head. “No, I asked once, and she told me that she met and married him while I was in a coma after the accident. She never told me how long I was in the coma though.” “The more I hear the less I like the amount of pain you have had to suffer through, Angel.” I squeeze his hand reassuringly and he smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes, so I sigh and stand. “Okay enough of the heavy topics. Let's have something to eat.” He nods and then it seems he remembers something. “How do you feel about asking your colleagues to join us for a meal out soon? I would also invite Ellis, and maybe, Jack, is it? Maybe he can b
Listening to her talk to her friends and seeing her face brighten I felt the urge to treat her and through her, her friend too. I want her to feel good and I hope that getting to buy a nice outfit for the meal will be a step towards that. After dinner Angel follows me to the office where I take down both Anya and Jacks’s contact details along with Anya’s home address that she sent to Angela immediately after the call finished. “I need to work for a little longer, I am sorry Angel.” “Oh, don’t worry, I don’t want to get in the way. Would it be alright for me to watch some tv?” “Of course. Do whatever you want, I will join you as soon as I can.” She pecks me on the cheek and then leaves me to work. I begin by calling Ellis and he picks up on the second ring. “You really need to get a woman Ellis.” “What?” “Do you ever stop working?” “No, because you are always working and even when