Just Kidding (SWAT Generation 2.0 #1)(64)

She blinked.

“It said ‘I hope you die’ or something to that effect,” she said. “Why, what did you put on it?”

I shook my head. “You’ll just have to wait until you can read it again.”

She scrunched up her nose in annoyance.

“Whatever,” she muttered. “That’s crap.”

I snorted and ran my finger lightly down her nose.

“Would you like to tell me what happened from the beginning?” I asked. “I’ve pieced bits of it together, but I still don’t know exactly what happened. Hell, I had no idea Shondra was involved until you woke up.”

She went through exactly what happened, starting with hearing the bang and ending with Shondra hitting her with the hammer.

“She looked behind me,” she continued. “I thought she saw something outside. But when I turned around and looked, everything went black.”

“Where were you standing when this happened?” I wondered.

“In between the kitchen and the living room,” she answered. “My back was to the wall next to your entryway table.”

Right next to the doorway that led into the front bedroom.

A thud-thud had us both turning to look at the entryway to Rowen’s room.

A woman appeared that had me grinning wide.

“This isn’t going to be awkward or anything, is it?” Pru asked.

I snorted. “No. Not unless you make it awkward.”

Pru was the daughter of one of my dad’s best friends, and we’d all grown up together. She was a year or so older than me and liked to make sure I never forgot it.

“I’d never make anything awkward.” She snickered as she made her way up to Rowen’s bedside. “Rowen, how are you?”

After Rowen and Pru exchanged pleasantries, Pru got her ready for an ultrasound. An ultrasound that had a rather large wand covered in a condom going up my girl’s vagina.

“Is there another way we could do this?” I asked, feeling uncomfortable for Rowen, as well as myself.

“Not this early, no.” Pru apologized as she started to press things on the computer in front of her.

It was about a minute and a half later that she was pointing at some blackish gray blob on the screen saying, “There it is!”

‘It’ being a circle with a bunch of gray around it.

“That’s… it?” I asked.

“That’s it.” Pru nodded. “Cool, huh?”

I leaned down so that my face was close to Rowen’s ear and said, “I don’t see shit.”

She turned her face into mine and started laughing.

That laughing immediately turned to a groan.

“Sorry, sorry,” I apologized, pressing both of my palms to either side of her face. “No laughing.”

She smiled, despite the pain.

“I don’t know shit about kids.”

“That’s cool,” I said softly. “We can fuck them up together, because I don’t either.”





Chapter 19


Goest & Fuck Thyself.

-Text from Dax to Harleigh

Dax

“You got her?” I asked carefully.

Reese looked at me.

Really looked at me.

And narrowed her eyes.

She planted her hands on her hips and turned to face me fully.

“Dax Tremaine,” she said softly, her voice barely a whisper. “I know it’s hard to believe, but that girl’s been my heart before you were even a glimmer in her eye.”

My lips twitched for the first time since Rowen had been hurt. I’d left her lying in my bed earlier that morning.

She’d rolled over after I’d made love to her and gone back to sleep as if the orgasm had drained every ounce of energy right out of her.

I’d grinned, smiling wide, and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck.

“I know, ma’am,” I said. “But…”

“But she means a lot to you,” Reese finished. “Do you know what it feels like? To get a call about someone you love? A voice that says that someone tried to kill that person that you love?”

I’d gotten a few calls on a buddy or two throughout the years, but I’d never had that kind of call.

But the shit that had gone through me today at seeing Rowen hurt and lying on the floor nonresponsive? That had been the single most scary thing that had ever happened to me in my life.

“Go, Dax,” came Rowen’s sleepy reply. “You’re on the SWAT team. It’s not like you can choose when the emergencies are. I’m okay. The b-baby is okay. My mom is here, and she won’t let anything happen to me.”

Derek slapped his hand down hard onto my shoulder, jolting me forward.

“Let’s go,” he ordered. “I really don’t want to be reamed out. And my mom has it covered.”

“I’ll be here.”

I looked at my dad who was also in the room.

My mother had gone home to watch my sister’s baby for the night, even though my sister had intended to cancel her date night. Rowen sent her home, though, unwilling for anybody to be giving her any special treatment.

“Dad’ll be back as soon as he grabs food for us, too,” Rowen muttered. “And I’m fine. They said that the swelling was minimal at best. Nothing is going to happen. I promise.”