Ch - XIX The Unimagined Truth

The burning was on the third person...

CHAPTER NINETEEN

 

Finn watched her in silence.

They sat in the parked car inside the garage passing a can of chicken soup back and forth, along with bottles of beer. It was the car seats or the concrete. Most of their clothes were scattered over a wire rack, drying.

She didn’t speak, so neither did he.

He watched her watching the door. She barely even blinked.

He could almost feel her hope disappearing. There was no point cracking bad jokes now to try and make her smile. He had done his fair share of delivering bad news. Between confirmed death and missing persons, missing person was the cruelest fact.

“Macy.” He nudged her elbow with the beer bottle and she startled. Enough to let him know her thoughts had been a million miles away from the present moment.

And a billion miles away from him.

“Thanks.” Macy accepted the bottle of beer from him and took a sip, wearing only the t-shirt.

There was a lot of skin on display next to him. Who would have known that beneath those jeans her legs were so long? She had the nicest curves. He tried not to enjoy them, given what she was going through, but it wasn’t easy to keep his mind off track. Those legs, and the way her knees kept rubbing together, came close to causing him pain, especially knowing she wore nothing underneath the shirt.

Not a damn thing. He knew it for a fact. Just like there had been nothing under her dirty jeans.

Her confidence in him keeping his back turned while she bathed was sweet but misplaced. Each movement of the shirt seemed to ramp up the heat in the airless garage a bit more, for him at least. She remained not aware of the pervy situation. It frustrated the s**t out of him but then, that was the situation, wasn’t it? S**t.

There was only one spare pair of boxer briefs in the bag and he wore them. Macy other assorted items of clothing had been washed and hung up to dry. Not that he hadn’t offered her the boxers. He was comfortable with nudity. Guess she wasn’t. Guess maybe it was insensitive on his part to let his thoughts dwell in that direction. Again.

He never had been good at going without sex.

“It’ll be dark soon,” she said. Her voice sounded smaller each time she spoke, making him wonder how long till it disappeared entirely.

“Yeah.” He replied.

“Adrams will find somewhere safe to hole up for the night.” She added to her words.

He didn’t answer. She would said it more for her benefit than his.

She passed back the bottle of beer and he drained it, put it aside and twisted the cap off.

The owners might have had doubting taste in vehicles, but he could only applaud their priorities in packing the brew. It had been a s**t of a day.

The edge of gold shine of sun around the door was fading, the shadows growing. He could do nothing for her but be there and wait this out. He couldn’t leave her alone. He would never leave her alone.

But the days of being able to fix something were gone. There wasn’t a chance he could salvage this.

At least she was alive, safe beside him. Protected.

Upstairs, the infected moaned, growing agitated as night set in.

Just more of the dragging footsteps from overhead and a “ker-thunk” as something hit the floor. It all blended for him. But Macy was up and running, the length of the t-shirt forgotten in her dash to get at the door.

“Adrams” she spoke…

“Macy, wait!” Finn said as he freed his gun and she did likewise the locks, throwing open the door to all comers. Adrenalin surged through him with fury hot behind it. She would get them killed for sure this time.

Macy launched and threw herself at the tall figure waiting on the other side.

Disappointment had a taste, and it sat on the back of his tongue, hot and sour as acid, making him sick. He truly f**king hated himself for feeling it. No one had cancelled Christmas. A man had survived. Macy’s heart remained unbroken.

This was a good thing. A good thing. Yeah.

He just needed a minute to catch his breath and find his happy face.

Ad appeared none the worse for wear. He shuffle-stepped her backward, sparing a hand to close and lock the door while she still clung to him.

With the shirt riding up he got a great view of Ad’s hands clapped over the curves of her bare a*s cheeks. The man murmured to her, soft and low, over and over, “I know. I know. I know …”

“You made it,” Finn said. Lame as it was, it was the best he could do without actually lying.

For some reason, he didn’t want to lie.

Ad nodded. Nothing needed to be said. And Finn didn’t need to see the understanding in the man’s face. Anger would have been easier to take.

Simpler.

He flicked the safety on his gun, pointed it elsewhere.

“Lose something, princess?” A piece of black fabric hung from one of Adrams’s fingers, dangling against the back of Macy’s thigh. Ad raised the black fabric high above her head, and she set her chin on his chest, peered skyward. “Finders keepers.” He said.

Finn had to squint and take a step closer to make them out in the fading light. But yes, they had a winner. Adrams had found Macy’s panties.

Finn’s sense of humor, however, had long gone. “You risked your life to hang underwear off the mailbox? This is what you couldn’t wait till I was awake to do? Fucksake, Macy.” Finn got upset.

“Actually, it was the shrub plant beside the mailbox, discreetly positioned unless you knew what you were after,” Adrams explained, dangling the panties higher when Macy took the bait and made a grab for them. “I knew what I was after.” She said.

“This was the agreed upon sign?” Finn asked in a brutally tight voice. No point hiding his pain now. These two were all loved up and he was on the outer part of that circle, the audience, not required. No one was interested in his mood or his issues.

“Not exactly, needing a sign hadn’t occurred to us. We weren’t planning on getting separated. I guess that was short-sighted.” Adrams planted a kiss on her forehead, ignoring her grasping arm. “Mmm, you smell of soap, all shiny and fresh. Me, on the other hand …” Ad said.

The big guy slowly took off his shirt up. “S**t. That hurts.” He said.

“There’s water for washing,” she said. “What’s wrong with you?” she further said.

“Bumped into something. Gonna have some beautiful bruises tomorrow.” Adrams replied.

“How bad, Ad?” Macy gave up on the attempt at grabbing and held out her hand with all due decorum. “My underwear, please. I’m done with flashing for the day.” She said,

“That’s a damn shame.” Adrams brushed his nose against hers, snuggled, and handed over the plain cotton panties. “Not too bad.

I’ll get cleaned up.” He said.

Macy was glowing with good feeling, panties in hand and fingers fidgeting. “Finn, thank you for putting up with me. For everything. Again.” She said.

She was so happy. Alight with love. And he wished, just for a second, that he was the one on the receiving end for that happiness. He gave himself a moment to wonder what it would be like to not sleep alone. Because if he had been just a couple of days earlier, then he could have been the one she threw herself at.

A few f**king hours earlier was all it would have taken and it would have been him. There it was. He was dismissed. Job done.

Time to take it on the cheek and roll with the punches. “We’re friends, Macy. It’s all good.” He replied.

 

To Be Continued in -  Chapter 20th