“We have much bigger things to worry about,” he responds as he shoves me down into the ditch where the SUV is. “Get under the car.”
“What if the car blows up?”
“It’s not going to blow up! Get under it.”
He peeks around the bumper and starts shooting the gun he acquired from the man I tased as I quickly crawl under the SUV sitting at a precarious angle, one tire up in the air.
Now I’m worried about it falling down and crushing me, but Tavish… oddly enough, hasn’t steered me wrong yet. I mean… sure, he’s done some extremely sketchy things, but so far, he has kept me alive.
Tavish fires off another shot before moving up the slope.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
“My gun’s in the car. I need it.”
“Don’t leave me,” I plead.
“I have to get it.”
“I-I’ll get it. You keep them back. I’ll get it,” I say, knowing that if he stops shooting to hunt around for the gun, they’ll just make their way over to us.
My heart is pounding in my chest as I squeeze out on the far side of the car and grab the handle, but the door is crushed in on this side and won’t open. I have to get up to the passenger door, which I pull open.
A bullet hits the windshield, and I watch with wide eyes as cracks rush down it.
I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die.
“Tavish, I don’t want to die,” I say.
“I’m not going to let you die, El,” he assures me.
I’m not so confident that he can predict who’ll live or die, but I have little other option as I take a deep breath and push further.
Heart pounding out of my chest, I wiggle into the back seat and hunt around for the gun. I don’t see it anywhere, but who knows where it slid during the impact. Ducking down, I peek under the seat and see it at the far edge. As quickly as I can, I dig it out just before I see a face I don’t recognize creeping around the corner. Can Tavish even see him from this angle? What if he doesn’t have any ammo left? What if I just sit here and the man shoots him?
I lift the gun. I have a good view of his head from here. I just have to pull the trigger and then everyone will be safe. We’ll all be safe.
He must notice me and jerks back a little before realizing that if I was going to kill him, he’d already be dead.
I’ve fucked up. I’ve fucked up so damn bad. He smirks and lifts his gun a moment before Tavish slams the butt of his gun right into the man’s face, knocking teeth out and sending blood spraying.
He drives the man to the ground and then in one fluid movement he yanks open the door, gathers me in one arm, and pulls me out with ease. “I got ya. Stop fretting so much. I’m not going to make you murder anyone you don’t want to. I mean, if you wanna murder them, I’m fine with it. It’s definitely not a deal-breaker.”
“I… I don’t know if you’re joking or what’s happening right now.”
“I’m flirting,” he says.
“How the fuck can you flirt right now?”
“Is there a better time to flirt than when shooting a gun?” Tavish asks as he holds his hand out. I put my free hand in his and he holds it up and kisses the top of it. “As much as I’d love to hold your hand… do you think I could have the gun?”
“Oh my god,” I whisper as I realize he’d held his hand out for thegun. Why the fuck would I think he’d want to just like… hold my hand in the middle of people trying to murder us? I’m so wound up that I’m struggling to even get embarrassed, but I’m positive that I’ll add this to the things that haunt me. Quickly, I hand him the gun, which is much better in his hands than mine.
“Looks like we’ve pushed them back enough that we should be alright if the others get here. What the hell did they do? Stop for a damn snack or something?”
“I don’t know… but my dad literally left.”
“Join the dick dads party. Wait… that sounds a bit like a porno… hmm… The Dads are Dicks party. There’s definitely room for more,” he says. “Maybe it was better he left.”
