I looked down, my knuckles red from where I had punched the pads. Evan moved closer as he pulled the pads off.
“We’ll get you some gloves,” he said. “They’ll protect your knuckles.”
“Oh, I don’t need gloves.” I shook my head.
“Why?”
“Because I won’t be doing that again.”
“Kaylee,” he said on a breath. “You’ll be doing that regularly.” He walked away, not giving me a chance to correct him.
I didn’t want to learn how to throw a punch. But I couldn’t deny the way I felt when I did.
*~*~*
I got to the gates Thursday morning and clicked the button that Tyson had given me yesterday. I hadn’t wanted to have responsibility over the security of the compound but he had insisted.
“Just in case,” he had said. I didn’t know what he meant by ‘just in case’, but I took it anyway. It was a small fob that could be put on my keys. But I decided to hide it in the car instead. I couldn’t risk Max seeing it, I’d never be able to explain what it was.
Max had been a different person this last week. He hadn’t gone out for a drink after work every day, instead he came home and spent time with me and Eli. He may have just sat on the couch watching TV, but the fact that he was there and not out with his friends was a good thing.
I could feel things changing for the better. My job was going great and things at home were better than they had been in a long time. I was sure that if things carried on then I’d be able to tell Max about the job, and that he’d be okay with it. Maybe he would be proud that I was doing something with my extra time and appreciate the extra money.
I parked in my usual spot and walked to the metal door. I pulled on it but it wouldn’t budge. I knocked on it for several minutes but no one answered. Looking around, I couldn’t see anyone but all the cars were here so that meant that they had to be here somewhere.
Then I realized that they had all been on a surveillance mission. They probably didn’t come back until late.
I looked left, then right, trying to decide what to do. Tyson had given me the key fob to open the gates but nothing to open the warehouse door. I decided I’d head towards the other side of the compound where the houses were to see if I could find anyone.
I walked across the gravel, getting closer to the buildings that sat at the back of the compound. The first day I could only see two, but now that I ventured closer I saw more. Two more to be exact.
The first was a wooden cabin, next to it was an average sized house covered in blue gray siding. A little way back was a small cottage, flowers climbed up the outside with pots lining a small walkway up to the front door.
I swung my head at the sound of a door closing. The last house was the biggest, Tyson jogged down the steps and stopped when he saw me. I flicked my eyes to him then looked back at the house. A swing sat on the wrap around porch, the siding white with dark blue trim around the windows.
It was the kind of house that you only dreamed of, the kind that you wanted to make a home, bake cakes and sit on the porch to watch the sun go down or even the sunrise early in the morning with a cup of coffee and a pastry.
“There was no one in the warehouse,” I said when he approached me.
“Yeah, didn’t get back until four this morning.” He walked toward the warehouse.
“How did it go last night?” I had to jog to keep up with him.
“Good,” he said and unlocked the door.
I ducked under his arm and went straight to the kitchen to start the coffee machine. I heard his boots stop outside the kitchen briefly then carried on into the office.
I handed him a coffee when I walked into the office, he was on the couch so I made my way to the desk and switched the computer on.
“Come sit.” I looked at him, unsure. He patted the seat and nodded to it.
“Over there?”
“Yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m not gonna bite.”
I shuffled over to him and sat on the other side of the couch, a seat separated us but it was nowhere near enough space. Something about Tyson drew me to him. He exuded danger but at the same time screamed safe. He was a potent mix of both and it called to me in a way that I had never felt before.
“Let’s talk.”