Sullivan"Are you okay over there?" I ask Shelby as we head south on the interstate. She hasn't said much since we left."I am." She turns to me, and although I can't see her eyes behind the cloth covering them, I can tell she's sort of irritated I'm keeping her in the dark. "Slightly bored," she huffs. "Thinking about doing something to entertain myself.""Oh yeah?" I shift gears, getting up to speed to go with the flow of traffic. "What are you planning on doing?""I guess I could show you."The glow from the street lights allow me to see as Shelby sneaks her hand up in between her thighs."Oh, Counselor," I groan, putting the car on cruise control. "You horny?""For you? Always, but I would love to point out that you were up on that stage lookin' all hot.""You should've seen yourself, and fun fact, I have a fantasy about you wearing a skirt and letting me fuck you."She breathes heavily through her nose. "A fantasy?""Yeah, one I'm going to make come true when w
SullivanA Week Later"Are you sure there's no one else you want to take with you?" I ask my sister before I practically inhale a drink of the coffee we stopped and picked up. "I'm not sure I'm the person you want to help pick out a wedding dress."She looks over at me from the driver's seat, a grin on her face. "No one helped me the first time around, and this time, I feel like it's important. You're my best friend.""But I'm not a girl.""You don't have to be a girl," she argues. "You more than anyone, know me. You understand what I like and you've been there for me since the beginning.""But shouldn't you bring Mom or something?""If you didn't want to go, you could have said no," she reminds me."I know." I take another drink. "I do want to go, but I have to be sure you want me here."I invited you!""Okay, okay. I'll stop being so self-conscious about it.""Please do, I'm supposed to be the nervous one."I give her that, especially after the first marriage
ShelbyI'll be glad when this shit is over and I'll never volunteer for anything like this with the LSERT again. I'd been led to believe there wouldn't be anyone not vetted, but I guess money is money. Something told me not to do this, but I'm the new one here and I wanna help all my new friends. I've had a shitty feeling about this since I got the directions to the dinner tonight. All of our correspondence has been done by email. To be honest, I wanted to get this over with, so I agreed to meet them on the first day they requested.It's not in a part of Laurel Springs I've ever been in, and I don't recall there being a restaurant in the building I've been directed to, but I gave my word and here I am. "I'm here," I tell Rowan. "If you don't hear from me in an hour, send help," I half-way joke. "I know this is supposed to be a new place, but it doesn't look open.""Be careful."As I get out of my car, I lock the doors and make sure the pepper spray I like to carry is within
Sullivan"Where is Shelby?" Menace asks as I stride back into headquarters, going to the equipment room to load up on what I feel I need."She's at the hospital. They're going to keep her overnight. Concussion."I don't want to speak to him or anyone else. There's only one thing on my mind and that's finding Frank. "Then why aren't you there with her?" Menace questions."I have other things to do.""You don't want to do this." He grabs hold of my shoulder, stopping me from going any farther."You have no idea what I'm about to do." I throw his hand off me."No, I do." He grabs hold and pushes me back against the wall. "I know exactly how you feel. When Rina was pregnant with Kels, she was held at gunpoint by a fellow teacher. I wanted to run in there and grab her, make sure she was okay, kill the fucker with my bare hands. But I couldn't." He holds onto my arm. "I had to be off the case, I was too close. In my anger I wanted to go in there and kill everyone, which woul
Shelby"This is The Café," I tell my parents as we make the trip down the sidewalk from my office to the place where most people in town go to eat. They've been here for almost two weeks. Since I was brought to the hospital and now that I'm home. They leave tomorrow, and I finally feel well enough to take them on a tour of Laurel Springs."It's all so quaint." My mom grins. "I can see why you love this place.""It's not hard," I admit. We walk in being greeted by so many people who have become friends and family to me in such a short amount of time. Seeing three swivel chairs at the soda fountain free, I lead them to my favorite place to sit. That's when I notice Ransom, Cruise, and Havoc standing in a group together, cracking up."Hey guys." I wave. "What's going on?"Ransom giggles as he looks at me. "Your man is in a slow speed chase.""Slow speed chase?" I ask, not sure what he's saying. I'm not sure I've ever heard of a slow speed chase. "Mr. Honeycutt is refu
Sullivan"I love that shirt almost as much as I love you." I wrap my arms tightly around Shelby's waist. Since she came home from the hospital, I've had her within my reach.She wrinkles her nose up cutely at me. "I have no idea why.""Oh you know." I turn her around in my arms. The front of it says Laurel Springs SWAT Team and on the back it says Baker. One day I'll make her last name the same as mine. We're in no hurry. For the first time in my life, I'm not in a hurry.To prove to my family how much better I am than my brother.To do what everyone thinks I should be doing. Finally, I'm becoming my own man. "You gonna be there at the end?" "Oh yeah, hooting and hollering for the hottest guy on the course."I smile, shaking my head. "You're good for my ego."She reaches up, running her fingers through my hair. "You're good for me period.""So if we win, does that mean I get to do whatever I want to you?" I rub my nose against her neck."I believe you said
SullivanMy heart swells in my chest as Rowan walks down the aisle toward the man who will be her husband. Standing in front of the church, along with the man who she'll give herself to, I swallow hard. The dress I helped her pick out looks incredible as it sparkles in the candlelight of the chapel. As much as I thought she was beautiful then, she's gorgeous now. The wide smile across her face, the wetness in her eyes, and the sparkle that radiates from inside competes with the one she wears on the outside.Our dad is like the rest of us in our dress uniforms. Even though he and I don't always see eye-to-eye, I'm still proud of the awards he wears on his chest.As they step to the altar, Cutter comes down, holding out his hand for Rowan. "Who gives this woman to this man?""Her family and I do," Dad answers, before kissing Rowan on the cheek and heading over to where Mom sits. She wipes at her eyes, which means she's crying. Mom always cries at important moments in her
DevanteAs has become my habit when I'm working the morning shift, I park the ambulance in front of A Whole Latte Love. "You want anything?" I ask Cutter who's feverishly texting. Ten bucks says it's to his brand-new wife, Rowan."Black, one cream, two sugars.""Then it's not black, is it?" "Don't give me shit this morning. Ro gained two pounds and she's convinced she won't be able to fit into any of her clothes now. Never mind we've already gotten married.""This is why you got married, and not me," I remind him. Marriage isn't my deal. Never has been, probably never will be."I'm gonna call her, try and talk her down from the damn ledge.""Good luck with that my man."Gratefully, I leave him in the ambulance by himself. I might be happy for him, but he's driven me crazy talking about this wedding the last few months. Walking into the coffee shop, I expect to see Eden at the counter with a smile on her face.That's how I've seen her almost every day since she opened