Impossible (8 page)

Just then, the driver side door opened and Coleman climbed in. “Hey, you’re awake!”

Well, thank God, he hadn’t been there to see me wake up, so I guess that was something. “Yeah, how long have we been here? I have research to do.”

He inclined his head in my direction and reached out to tuck my hair behind my ear. “Don’t worry, baby. We just got here. I noticed all the other chasers so I stopped here, figuring it would be a good spot.”

Other chasers? Oh, Jesus. They had seen him too. He had gotten out of the car. Crap, I wouldn’t hear the end of this.

He talked right through my freak out, casually mentioning, “I actually met a couple of them. They were nice.”

Of course they were nice to him. Number one, he was a man. And secondly, it was like he was some kind of freaking narcotic. He mellowed most people out, and they had warm, loving reactions to him.

Though, I guess that could work the other way, and someone could react strongly against him. But I hadn’t seen it happen.

Looking down at my lap, I tried to sound casual as I asked, “Not one named Max, right?” but failed.

His eyes narrowed and his jaw tensed. “No one named Max. But why’d you ask me like that?”

I faked innocence, knowing I had just opened a door I hadn’t intended to. “Ask like what? I didn’t ask like anything.”

“Don’t shit me, Banty. I’m not a fool. What happened between the two of you?”

Sweet lord, his alpha was coming out full force. He could be so sweet to me, that is, when he wasn’t being an asshole, so I forgot he could be so intimidating. “He’s just never been really nice to me. Doesn’t like the idea of a female chaser out here amongst you men.” I paused and looked into his eyes, but he raised a brow.

Okay, so he wasn’t buying that that was the whole story. I took a deep breath, shrugged my shoulders and finished, “Especially one who wouldn’t let him into her pants.”

“He do anything to you?” he whispered, as the muscle ticked in his jaw. I could tell he was just barely keeping it in check. Max better hope he didn’t end up one on one with Coleman, that was for sure.

“No. I did, however, do something to him.”

The anger cleared from his face, but it was promptly replaced with confusion.

“I kneed him in the balls.”

A smiled lit up his beautiful features, so I added the last detail. “Hard.”

At that, he burst out laughing. “Shit yeah, Banty.” He winked, which melted me into an absolute puddle of goo in my seat before whispering, “That’s my girl.”

“You like that I knee guys in the balls?”

“Other guys, absolutely. Me? Not so much. You can do other things with them though.”

My eyes bugged out and my mouth fell open. “You did not just say that to me!”

“I did, baby. And I’ll tell you somethin’ else. Hang around me long enough, and you’re probably gonna hear a lot worse than that.”

The beginnings of a smile tugged at one corner of my mouth, but I fought hard not to give him the whole smile. He didn’t need that much encouragement. The twitch of my lips had been enough. Instead, I opened my door and hopped out, figuring changing seats with him was long overdue. I needed to get ready, and I needed to follow my routine. He could observe, but I needed the rest to be the same and I needed him to not distract me.

I took in my surroundings to see that there were several other chasers there, thankfully the mild mannered ones, and we were in the parking lot of yet another restaurant. I rounded the hood, headed for my seat, but Coleman hadn’t moved and didn’t look like he was going to.

I opened his door and stepped into the ‘v’ that it created, prompting Coleman with a “what are you waiting for” look.

Taking me off guard, he leaned out grabbed my hand and pulled me so that I fell into his body. He got right in my face and asked, “Be honest. Would you rather I went in the restaurant and hung out so that you can get ready like you usually do, without my distractions?”

The way I was feeling with him in my space at the moment was a clear indicator of the correct answer. “Yes.” Absolutely freaking yes.

A chuckle escaped his mouth just before he leaned down and touched his lips to mine, his tongue darting out and licking the crease my two lips formed.

Oh. My. God. “You’re awful at not being a distraction.”

He chuckled again, touched his lips to mine
again
, and then shifted me out of the way and headed into the restaurant.

I swear I could hear the silence coming from the other chasers, it was bleeding out of them so strongly. If I had to guess, I’d say they were almost as shocked by my behavior as I was.

The best thing to do was ignore it, so that’s what I did. I climbed into the driver’s seat, closed the door, and only allowed myself a glance at Coleman through the rearview mirror as he opened the big glass door of the Podunk place.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed him out of my mind, and fired up my computer.

It was time to find us a storm to chase. Hell freaking yeah.

Chapter 7

It was go time. I had just finished my research, picked out what I thought was the best area to position ourselves, and the adrenaline was pumping through my veins. As much as chasing was a vehicle to escape my problems, I also really loved it.

I kicked open my door, jumped down to the ground, slammed it closed, and hightailed it into the restaurant to get Coleman. True to his word, he had stayed in there and out of my hair, but now it was time to roll.

As I jogged to the door, vehicle after vehicle of the other chasers pulled out of the parking lot getting started just like we were about to.

I pulled open the door, hopped inside, and let my eyes adjust to the lighting of the restaurant before scouring it to try and find Coleman. I didn’t know how I would find him when I got in there, but the way I did was not at all what I expected.

He was in a booth toward the back, and there was a line of people waiting to see him.

I carefully pushed my way forward, afraid that I was going to start a riot when I got a load of the looks people were giving me. Coleman heard the grumbles, lifted his head, and upon noticing it was me, promptly put an end to it- and made my heart skip a few beats in the process. “Relax, everyone. It’s my girlfriend.”

Girlfriend
?

Holy shitdizzle. Someone freaking hold me up because I was losing the ability to stand on my own.

He kept his eyes on me and asked, “Ready to go?”

My eyes went back and forth, taking in all the people who were now staring at me, and I answered, “Um, yeah.”

He smirked, a facial expression that was solely aimed at me, before pulling his eyes away and changing his face. “Okay, you heard her, I’m outta time. So as I come by you, I’ll sign somethin’ if you want, but I don’t have any time to talk. Sorry.”

He really was a rock star of the rural world, and I guess the boonies of Oklahoma were a prime location for his biggest fans.

Wow. That was unreal. And totally un-freaking-expected.

He did as promised, making his way to the exit, but quickly signing everything that people held out to him as he went.

He finally got to the last person before the door, pushed it open, and held it for me as I walked through it into the hot outside air.

“Sorry I held you up, Banty.”

I ignored that and moved on to the elephant sitting on my chest. “I’m your girlfriend?”

He tossed his arm around my shoulders as we walked and explained, “Think of it as an affirmation or visualization on my part. You know. My way of testin’ the theory that you can wish something into reality by basically pretendin’ it’s true.”

I knew if I questioned him this would turn into a much bigger conversation, one that we didn’t have time for, so I let it go.

“Just get in the car, Oprah.”

He scoffed, “Do you know how rich she is? If she wished that shit into reality, I’m all about givin’ it a go.”

I couldn’t help it, my cheeks started to puff out as they lifted. Once again, he had me freaking smiling. It was impossible to be anything but happy when he was being playful.

Shaking my head as we separated at the back of the car, we each walked to our doors and opened them simultaneously.

I climbed in, started her up, and made sure all of my software and other various equipment was up and running. Remembering the camera I had mounted on his side of the car, I said, “Do me a favor and fire the camera up for me.”

The look on his face turned mischievous as he jested, “I can think of a few things we can do with these cameras if we can’t find a storm.”

Pulling my face into a scowl and raising my finger, I told him, “You promised you would be good.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll behave. Scouts honor.” He raised his hands and gestured his oath, but I wasn’t buying it.

“Something tells me you were never a boy scout.”

The corner of his mouth lifted as he murmured, “And you’d be right. I didn’t have time for that shit, I was on a bull.”

I pulled the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot as he finished, “Or chasin’ girls.”

I shook my head and grinned as I retorted, “Something tells me you didn’t do very much chasing either. I’m pretty sure they flocked to you.”

A bark of laughter escaped his lips before he challenged, “Oh yeah? Well, I’m sure as shit chasin’ you.”

When he put it like that, I couldn’t deny it. I didn’t
understand
it, but I couldn’t deny it.

********

After that, neither one of us said much, until I got an indication on my radar of a cell I wanted to commit to. I focused, and Coleman helped me with anything I asked. He stayed quiet otherwise, which I was thankful for because it made it easier for me to pretend he wasn’t there and do what I normally did.

We were on a gravel road, just off the two lane highway, leaning against the side of the car and waiting to see how it panned out, when a familiar feeling crawled over my skin. Rolling my head and eyes to the left, I spotted the reason why.

Son of a bitch. Of all the freaking cells out there, Max and Tony were following the same one as me.
Again
.

Coleman still had his eyes on the clouds, no doubt trying to figure out what the hell I was seeing, when I muttered, “Shitdizzle,” under my breath.

His eyes came to me and then promptly followed mine to the approaching vehicle. I had been hoping that Max’s injuries would keep him locked up in the hospital a while longer, but apparently he wasn’t as bad off as I thought. That, or he was just good at ignoring doctor’s orders like me.

Coleman squeezed my hand to get my attention before muttering, “Who’s that?”

I knew this wasn’t going to go well, so I shook my head, puffed out a huff of air, and answered, “You don’t wanna know.”

Coleman didn’t miss much, and he certainly didn’t miss this. “Aha, so it’s the set of balls you’ve kneed and the man who owns them.”

“Yep.”

The motion of him straightening to his full height and stepping close to me was hard to miss. At the same time he muttered, “This should be interesting.”

My thoughts exactly.

Standing there and waiting, feeling like hours were passing, I held onto a shred of optimism that this would end some other way than the scenario playing in my head.

As they were pulling to a stop, I finally gave up on the hope that they would keep on driving and leave us to our peace. Knowing it would bite me in the ass if I didn’t, I rushed to tell Coleman the other set of important details involving Max and Tony.

“By the way, the stitches-” I pointed to my head like a spaz, as though he didn’t know what I meant when I just said it, and continued, “They’re kind of the reason I have them.”

Coleman’s face turned to granite, and it didn’t take me long to realize I hadn’t chosen my words well. “No. No! I mean we were chasing in Alabama, got into some trouble, them more than me, and I went back to help them. Debris hit me in the head. That’s how I got the stitches.”

The tension in his face eased a little, but I could tell he was going to need a minute to fully calm down. “Christ, I was literally about to kill him, Roni. Thank God you clarified.”

Thank God, indeed.

However, as Max climbed out of the car, and I got a clear view of the cocky look on his face, I knew it would be mere moments before Coleman was back to wanting to kill him.

“Roni, baby. I heard the rumors that you had a man with you today.”

Oh God, here we go.

I just knew he wouldn’t stop there, and he definitely didn’t.

He
definitely
didn’t stop there.

“If you wanted a cock to ride, you know you could have asked me,” Max fake cooed in a voice that he thought made him sound sexy.

Of all the ways for him to take this encounter, this was probably the last direction he should have gone. I closed my eyes and my chin hit my chest. This scene was going to get ugly, and it was going to get that way fast.

At least I knew how to use OnStar to call the ambulance this time.

Tony tried to mediate by stepping forward, putting a hand to Max’s chest, and shaking his head. I did my best to be a buffer too, but I knew our efforts were going to be futile in the scheme of things to come.

Never one to shy away from fighting my own battles, I answered with a saccharine voice, “Why would I ask you, Max? If I’m going to ride a cock, I want it to be big enough to feel it,” before Coleman had a chance to say anything...or throw any punches.

Max looked furious, Tony looked scared (perhaps hoping he wouldn’t get beat up via the adage of guilty by association), and I could hear Coleman chuckling lightly behind me.

Max took a menacing step toward me, his fists clenching at his sides, and Coleman’s mirth died abruptly.

“Think long and hard before you take another step in this direction, Bud,” Coleman growled. His voice was low and fierce, the playful version of him was nothing but a memory, and ‘Bud’, a word that would normally be considered a frequent conduit of communication between friends, was the absolute antithesis of friendly.

Max’s face twisted into an ugly glower as he barked, “Oh yeah? Who the fuck are you?”

“Roni’s boyfriend.”

Contrary to what I would have thought, I was starting to like his ‘wish it true’ bullshit. Maybe this would get Max off my back and I wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore. Plus, there was a little flutter in my chest, one that no one else would ever know about, that happened when he said it.

Thinking it might kill two birds with one stone by both calming Coleman and frustrating Max, I scooted close and slid my arm around Coleman’s trim waist. He looked down at me and I could tell he was wondering if this was another act done purely for show or if maybe I was looking for a little comfort by being in his arms.

I’d like to tell you it was strictly the first reason, but the truth was, it was probably a little bit of both. I didn’t want to give in to the way he made me feel, the way he turned on all of the emotions I’d been careful to keep numb for years, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t notice how good it felt.

As I looked into his mismatched eyes, I got lost for a few seconds. Honest to God, the tense situation, the two other people standing close, and the way the wind howled with the weather all faded away as I got sucked into the way his eyes seemed to go perfectly together even though they weren’t the same. His green eye was like the inside of an avocado, a perfect bright green rim around the outside that faded into a remarkable pale green right around his pupil. The other eye was a faultless sky blue, the complete opposite of the stormy atmosphere surrounding us.

As his soft, scruff encircled, lips started to curve into a smile, I knew I had gone too far in my perusal. He was onto me, and he was liking the effects he had caused.

Satisfied that a show had been made and scared that I was convincing more than my intended audience (namely
me
), I stepped back and pulled my emotional armor back up. It seemed like I’d been out of it for hours, but really it had only been a few seconds and Max was still focused on trying to stir up conflict.

“Whatever. She’s a frigid, lousy fuck anyway,” Max jeered and my face contorted at the thought of actually having sex with Max. Gross.

Coleman was pissed, but I wasn’t. He was only saying that shit because he
didn’t
know what kind of fuck I was and never would.

I placed a hand on Coleman’s arm and shifted the focus of the conversation because the one we were having was utterly ridiculous. “Sweet baby Jesus, enough conversation about dick size and
imagined
lack of sexual prowess. If you haven’t noticed, we’re in prime storm conditions, and I for one want to see a freaking tornado.” Jerking my head at Coleman in an effort to signal my desire to get in the car, I added, “This cell is a dud, but there are plenty around here with potential. Let’s get the hell on the road.”

Coleman’s actions were the picture of concession as he moved to round the back of the Tahoe to get in on his side. Unfortunately, Max wasn’t feeling like letting it go.

For reasons only known by him, seeing as the confrontation was pretty much over as far as everyone else was concerned, he took another step toward me, his body tense and aggressive, and yelled, “Stupid fucking cunt!”

The next events happened so fast that they almost didn’t register in my brain until they were already over. Coleman turned on his heel and ran straight at Max, landing a blood spattering punch to Max’s face before he saw it coming. To be honest, I don’t think any of us saw it coming. Max went flying, his ass and lower back slamming to the ground at the same time that his hands flew to his nose. He pulled them away for a fraction of a second and I could see that they were already acting as a crater, a perfect holding place for the lake of blood that had escaped his nose. Coleman leaned in, got right in his face, and growled with barely restrained ferocity, “If you even breathe in Roni’s direction, speak like that about her again, or even fuckin’ think about her in an unkind, ungentlemanly way, I will find you. And you’ll be fuckin’ wishin’ you were breathin’ through a tube.”

Holy crap. In all of my years with Josh, he had never acted like that. In fact, he probably would have been the one to tell me to let it go. I wasn’t sure if I liked this completely different attitude or if it scared me.

As I subconsciously compared the two men, I was worried that the situation would escalate even further.

Completely surprising me, it didn’t. Unaffectedly, as if nothing had just happened, Coleman turned, walked toward the Tahoe, inclined his head to indicate I should get in, rounded the back, opened the passenger door, and climbed in.

As I scrambled inside and shut my door, I took a deep breath and steeled my nerves for the raw anger I was expecting to encounter. But when I looked over, there was a little smirk just starting to curve one of the corners of his mouth upward.

With a bewildered expression clinging to my face, I murmured, “Um...thanks?”

His lips curved even higher, further cementing my state of confusion. “I’m sorry, I’m confused. Why are you smiling right now?”