Hot & Sticky

“Open the register, honey,” the guy growls. “And I want every fucking cent or I’m gonna put a fucking hole in that pretty little—”

He grunts as something slams into him, tackling him right over the counter and slamming him into the ground outside. I gasp, and it takes me a second to realize it’s West, who’s just jumped through the freaking takeout window to tackle the guy.

West roars, kicking the guys gun away and straddling his chest. His fists rain down onto the would-be robber, bloodying his face as the guy groans in pain. West whips his head around, pausing as his eyes lock onto mine.

“Are you hurt?” He growls thickly.

I slowly shake my head. “No,” I whisper, my voice feeling like it’s coming through cotton.

Suddenly, tires squeal, and a big black van screeches to a stop about forty feet from the front of the shack. Four guys in black jump out, and my jaw drops when I realize they’re all holding machine guns.

“Down!”

West roars and hurdles through the takeout window. I scream as his huge arms bear hug me, and he tackles me to the ground as thunder suddenly erupts through the air. Glass explodes and shatters around us, and I can hear people screaming out on the pier.

But all I can do is breathe, like I’m forcing myself to do it. West has me pinned to the ground, covering and shielding me with his body as glass, wood, and frosting explodes around us. And all I can do is hold him tight, my eyes squeezed shut as I tell myself “breathe, breathe” over and over.

The shooting stops, and suddenly, West is yanking me up into his arms and crashing through the ruined, shot-up kitchen. He kicks open the back door, and snarls as he drops me, whirls, and crashes a fist into another man in black’s face. The guy grunts, and West yanks the gun out of his hand, aims it at the guy’s foot, and squeezes the trigger.

The man is still screaming when West grabs me again, gun in hand, and throws me over his shoulder. He runs like a beast across the pier towards a beat-up pickup truck. He yanks the driver’s side door open, tosses me in across the seat, and jumps in after me. The engine roars to life, bullets pepper the back of the truck, and this time, I start screaming as we roar off the pier onto the road in a cloud of dust.