The Badass Protector

COLT

IRIS ARRIVED with her skinny jeans that fit her sexy long legs perfectly. My brother’s gray shirt layered over the top of dark blue long sleeves, and a scarf snaked around her neck. She was also wearing a remarkable smile on her radiant face.

I didn’t miss the curves she gained over a couple of weeks. She got her shape back.

Gael admitted he ordered everyone, and Iris talked to them like nothing happened. She was still pissed at me, and that was damn frustrating.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Are you sure, guys, you want me in?” she asked, ignoring my presence in the passenger seat.

“Get in,” I said since Frost and Lois didn’t bother to reply, or they were waiting for me to have a gut to answer.

“Ready?” Lois asked her. The two seemed back to normal.

“Yup. It’s been a while. I hope I don’t get too rusty.”

“Just stick with us, and you’ll be fine.” Frost looked at her and smiled over the rearview.

“Stay focused and alert. Take your mask with you in case we bump into infected.” I offered the extra respirator mask I had brought from my cabin. “Did you bring your gun?”

I felt relieved when Gael finally issued her one-I wanted her to learn how to protect herself even when we were not around to cover her ass.

“Yes, I had it with me,” she said, averting her gaze outside the window.

Two days ago, she had her shooting practice with Gael, and all I could do was watched her from a distance because she chose Gael to train her over me.

I couldn’t blame her, though-if I were in her position, I would do the same-not trusting someone like me again.

At first, it was a little bit rocky, but it wasn’t a surprise that she hit the bullseye on her second round, and with constant practice, she could be our second shooter if she stayed longer with us.

“That girl is a catch. Who’d have thought a tiny little twig is badass when it comes to handling guns?” Gael patted my back when Iris was out of sight after their shooting practice.

“I’ve no doubt on that matter.” I cocked a brow, and Gael found it amusing. “She snatched and pointed my gun at my groin, remember?”

“I told you she’s gonna be our asset.” He smiled proudly.

“How far are we going?” she asked.

“An hour trip or so if we could find a good amount of gasoline and some supply. If not, it will take us a little bit longer,” Frost said.

“Great.”

“I missed cheeseburgers and fries,” Lois blurted out.

“Damn, I missed Hawaiian pizza,” Frost seconded.

“No way! With pineapple chunks?” Iris grimaced. “Are you serious?”

“You didn’t like it?” I asked her.

“I might like it now.” She laughed. “I missed watching movies, though, chatting. God, I missed Twitter.”

“Netflix and Instagram,” Lois added.

“Of course, girls missed them,” Frost agreed.

“I know what app you missed the most, Templeton.”

I shifted on my seat to look at Iris. “What?”

“Tinder?” Her brow rose.

“That’s my girl!” They high-fived, and that made me want to punch Frost. “Don’t tell me you don’t have a Tinder account, Officer Snow.”

“Officer Snow?” she asked, seemingly surprised.

“You don’t know if he’s a police officer or Snow?” Lois inquired, amusement flashing in her brown eyes.

“The first one. Based on his expertise, I shouldn’t have doubted him in that line of work,” she said with a hint of sarcasm.

“Good judgment. He’s in LAPD.”

Iris whistled and nodded.

“You sound so surprised.”

She shrugged, meeting my gaze. “Well, not anymore, Officer. And I admired your way of interrogating a suspect.” The steel in her voice was enough to send me a message, and it hurt a lot.

“Not an officer anymore. I broke the law many times, and this is not LA. So this is out of my jurisdiction as an enforcer.”

“I wonder if our President is still alive, perhaps Sam Heughan.” Lois looked at Iris.

“Who’s Sam fucking Heughan?” asked Frost.

“I bet him for the next Bond. If you don’t know him, Frost, just shut up. It’s just, he’s hot, and oh, my God, his ass.” Lois giggled.

“His what?” I chorused with Iris, making us stare at each other.

“Wow! Power couple. I will ship you two. #TeamIrilt. That sounds terrible. Colir? Not so cool. #TeamColtis! Yay!” Lois laughed, then Frost joined her, fist-bumping one another.

I must say, I enjoyed being around them, and I couldn’t remember the last time I felt normal like this since my brother’s death.

“Just drive, dumbass,” I ordered.

“Lois, that’s probably his double,” Iris whispered.

“What are you two whispering about?”

“Because we are talking about Sam’s ass.” She widened her eyes, making me feel better when she started talking to me.

“Let’s not talk about his ass anymore, shall we?”

“Ugh, you’re a spoilsport.” Displeased about a hundred ways, she slid the window open and looked outside.

The heat rose off the asphalt in waves in the high noon weather. Rusting cars lessened down since there were no establishments ahead.

It would be almost silent if not for the humming sounds of our car engine and the rustling of the wind against the open windows.

Grass grew faster on the deserted road. It wasn’t like this before, and I wondered if we got the chance to get the life back we left.

“Chester. Two miles away,” Lois read.

“That’s where we’re heading,” I replied.

“Been there before?” Iris asked.

“Nope. Just in case we got into trouble. Don’t fight unless I say blue.”Okay, that’s not exactly what I have in mind.

“Why blue?” I liked how curious she was about everything. She reminded me of Colton when we were just kids.

“Just came out.” Perhaps, I thought of a certain blue-eyed every night? I shook the thought out of my head and focused back on the road.

“Take everything you can. Just be careful with the infected. If you ever get into direct contact, just tell me immediately, okay?”

“Sure.”

Our gazes collided-our connection spiked.

Despite my desire to ogle her, my searing gaze made her frown.

The fight, the desperation to talk to her to lessen her anger, and the world falling apart between us made me feel hopeless and weak.