I must’ve hit my head harder than I thought because there was no way that my wall was breaking.
The wall was literally splitting from the board at the top with each pound from the other side of the wall.
The couple on the other side was literally fucking through the wall.
I made a vow right then that I was going to kick whoever’s ass it was. For real.
Standing up in determination, I marched out of the house, a very upset Peter following at my heels.
He still let out short barks every few seconds, and I wondered if I had something wrong with me. Or maybe I’d hurt him when I fell.
Who knew?
What I did know, though, was that if I didn’t stop whatever it was going on I would no longer have a wall.
Leaving my apartment door open, I stomped over to Downy’s apartment door and started pounding on it. Loud.
I started using my foot when I wasn’t getting the desired effect, and a deep rumbling voice from behind me had me shrieking and jumping away from the door.
“Can I do something for you, Memphis?” Downy’s deep voice asked in barely contained laughter.
I spun around and grabbed his hand, pulling him along with me through my still open door, down my hallway, and into my bedroom.
All the while, I tried to tell myself that I didn’t like the feeling of his large, warm hand in mine. Nor did I like the way he clutched at my hand, or the deep-throated chuckle that left his lips as he saw where I was taking him.
“You know, you didn’t have to come over in the middle of the night to bring me in here. All you had to do was ask, and I’d have come- oh, what the fuck?” Downy bellowed.
Then the wall came crashing down.
Downy dove, tackling me to the ground with such quickness that I never had any time to blink, let alone breathe in air to let out a scream.
We crashed down to the ground a few feet away from the falling wall, and I landed painfully on my right side.
“Oomph,” burst free from my mouth as we hit, bouncing twice as we skidded along the carpet.
In the movies, the man always rolls to fall first, but Downy sure didn’t. He just bowled me over, hitting me like a brick fucking wall.
Spots danced in my vision, or it might have been the plaster dust and tiny particles from the wall that was now resting on my bed. Fuck, I didn’t know. I was too busy trying not to cry at the unimaginable pain on my right side from where all of Downy’s weight smashed down on me as I was forcefully pushed into the carpet.
Downy’s weight stayed still, and it was only when the soft, “holy fucking shit” came from the other side of the room that he lifted his head and looked at me.
It was his eyes, and the way he was hunched over me protectively
“You’re the fucking one!” I exclaimed. “The one that covered me when the shooting started!”
My crow of surprise and happiness elicited a smile from him. A confused one, but a smile nonetheless.
“What?” He asked, levering off of me.
The only thing touching me now was his lower half against mine.
I stayed on the floor with him leaning into me, his arms fisted at my sides holding himself up and said, “You. The SWAT team. Y’all came into the lawyer’s office, Pierson, Tide, and Associates. You were the one who covered my body when the shooting started.”
Recognition flared in his eyes. “You’re shitting me.”
I shook my head. “No.”
I squirmed in excitement that I finally got to thank him.
It’d been weighing on my mind for weeks now.
After the surprise of the entire fiasco had worn off, I’d been left with a need to thank him, but I hadn’t been able to get into touch with him after several failed attempts.
My eyes narrowed. “You’ve been ignoring my calls.”
His eyes flared, knowing exactly what he’d been doing.
I’d called no less than twenty times, no joke.
The receptionist knew me by name, and had told me she would get the message to him. Well, he’d obviously gotten the messages. The receptionist had even started connecting me to the SWAT team leader, but he’d led me on a merry chase as well, going as far as to say that his ‘man’ didn’t want the recognition, and he’d tell him how thankful I was.
What a crock of shit.
My eyes narrowed at him, and just as I was about to blast him with the sharp side of my tongue, his eyes dilated.
I read the intentions before they actually became reality.
His mouth thinned and he started to rise, but my reflexes proved that they weren’t all fucked up, and I wrapped my legs around him and threw my arms around his neck.
His balance was put off kilter and he slammed down hard into me, catching himself with his elbows just as he would’ve landed completely on my chest.
The new position had our hips aligned perfectly, and my eyes flared as I felt the hardness of him…everywhere.
My arms around his neck, and my legs around his hips, tightened involuntarily at the feeling of his well-proportioned…body parts… but I didn’t forget I was still mad at him.
“You could’ve at least let me say thank you,” I snapped.
His eyes were leveled on my own. His mouth aligned with my lips.
Only a measly inch separated our mouths, and I would’ve breached it. He would’ve too.
Except a feminine peal of laughter broke apart our moment, and Downy’s eyes snapped around to the bed.
My eyes went that way, too.
They probably resembled saucers when I took in the state of my bed.
The frame that had been holding it up was now just a twisted piece of metal on the floor under my mattress. The mattresses were flat pancakes, and the wall, the entire stinkin thing, was laying over the mattress.
The only thing we could see was the top of the wall.
The bed had prevented it from hurting us: the box spring, mattress, and what was left of the frame.