Page 55 of Then and Now (The Edge of Retaliation 3)
I stand and rush in after her.
No way she’s getting away with not tell me all about this.
The moment I’m in there, I whisper-hiss, “Did you just fuck Tatum, you animal?”
She laughs and puts a finger to her lips, “Shhh.”
“Oh my god, you did, on my patio!!”
She comes closer, and leans in, “I was just standing out there, and he came out and told me how much he’s missed me and then his mouth was on my …”
“Nope!” I say, shaking my head. “God nope. You’re not telling me about your oral sex when I haven’t had any for so many fucking years. God, I miss that so bad. Was it good? It was good right?”
She nods. “It was even better when he fucked me after it.”
“Man,” I squeal happily, and she nudges me to remind me to shut up. “I’m so jealous.”
“It was so worth the wait, my god, I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Was his tongue game on point?” I ask, nodding enthusiastically.
“Oh. Yes. Yes, it was.”
“Dang it,” I punch the air. “I’m so jelly, girl! I want some tongue in my pussy, like, yesterday.”
A throat clears and I spin around to see Tanner standing in the kitchen, a smirk on his face.
“Oh god,” I say. “Tell me you didn’t hear any of that.”
Jo giggles. “I’ll leave you to it.”
She rushes out with a drink and my cheeks burn.
I dare to look at Tanner, and he’s still grinning. “What?” I say, throwing my hands up, “So a girl tells the world she is missing a bit of tongue, what’s wrong with that?”
He chuckles, “Nothing at all. Thought your boyfriend would be filling that gap for you.”
I snort. “He’s not my boyfriend, I called him and told him we can’t see each other anymore, for your information. Also, we never had sex.”
“Hmmm,” he murmurs, grabbing the bottle of vodka and pouring a glass. “Unlucky for him. You taste fuckin’ amazing.”
My mouth drops open just as he turns and walks out.
Oh my word.
My. Word.
Ethan pops his head in, takes one look at my face and rolls his eyes. “I don’t even want to know. The pizza is here, I’m going out to grab it.”
“Yay!” I clap.
He chuckles and turns, walking out. I take my drink and step out into the living room just as I hear it.
The worst sound I could possibly hear.
A sound that will forever echo through my mind.
Tormenting me for the rest of my days.
Two gunshots, loud, roaring, feeling like they come straight through the apartment.
My head whips around at the open front door, where Ethan just went to collect the pizza from out front.
My mouth opens, and the only thing that comes out is his name. “Ethan!”
Ethan!
No.
Oh god. No.
MY LEGS CAN’T CARRY me fast enough as I charge toward the front door. An arm wraps around my waist and hauls me backward, and Tanner hisses in my ear, “No. It could be dangerous.”
“I don’t care,” I scream, thrashing in his arms. “Ethan is out there. Tanner, let me go.”
“No,” he barks, holding me tightly as Tatum rushes out the front door, gun in hand.
I watch him go and for those few moments he’s gone, I can’t breathe, I can’t think, I can’t do anything but stare at the door and wait, wait to hear the words I’m praying I’ll hear. Maybe it was a drive by. Maybe it’s not Ethan and Tatum will walk through the door with him. Maybe …
“Call 911!” Tatum screams, and my legs give out from beneath me.
Tanner holds me up, I hear Jo make a pained sound as she dials 911.
“Let me go, Tanner, let me go.”
He lets me go, and I run as fast as my legs can carry me out the front door and over to where Tatum is on his knees, shirt off, pressing it against Ethan’s chest. I skid down on my knees, stumbling forward, my hands landing beside Ethan who isn’t awake. His face is pale. And there is so much blood.
Blood everywhere.
“Ethan,” I croak. “No. Ethan!”
“He’s losing a lot of blood. We need towels or he won’t make it until the paramedics arrive.”
I run, I push up to my feet and run inside the house, not noticing a damn person as I reach my linen cupboard and grab a handful of towels, rushing back out and handing them to Tatum. He places them over Ethan’s chest, and says to me, “Put pressure on this with me, as much as you can.”
I press my hands over as well, then lean down onto my forearms and put as much pressure on as I can, tears streaming down my face. Tanner is walking around the perimeter, Madeline hasn’t dared to come outside, scared, and Jo is on her knees the other side of us, tears rolling down her cheeks too.
