Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
“Here you go.” She straightened, pulling me out of my fantasy.
Her shirt stopped clinging to her breasts, and her skirt fell down to her knees again, but the image remained in my mind. I gulped, willing my cock to stay put. The last thing I needed was to come off like some horny fourteen-year-old. She handed me a clipboard and a pen before going back to her desk.
I watched her out of the corner of my eye as I filled in my name, address, and phone number. Did she really have no idea I was fantasizing about her? Of course, she didn’t. She was a good girl who had lived in Singer’s Ridge all her life. She didn’t know anything about the larger world and the predators in it. It would be best to keep it that way, to forget about her and let her live her life without the trauma that I brought with me. I focused on my task and completed the paperwork with time to spare.
When I was done, I approached the desk, laying the clipboard down. She picked it up and paged through, making sure I had signed everywhere I was supposed to. “I need two forms of ID,” she said.
I pulled out my wallet and handed over my license and social security card. She took them to a small copier in the back of the room and made copies before handing them back to me. I was ready to go home and even Allison’s allure couldn’t convince me to stay any longer. There was one thing left to do and that was check in with Porter. Even though I had never held a civilian job, I knew that he would expect me to debrief.
I stared at the steps, contemplating the journey to the top. My leg felt as if it had been put through the wringer, like the bullet holes were about to spill blood again. I wasn’t sure if I could make it up and down, but I wouldn’t give up.
I caught Aly looking at me and I tried a brave smile.
“Have a seat,” she said, understanding. “I’ll ask Porter to come down.”
I sat gratefully. “I didn’t think it would be this bad,” I lied. I had known it would be bad; I just thought I would be able to deal with it. I hadn’t counted on the exhaustion in addition to the pain.
“Did they tell you that you wouldn’t normally walk again?” she asked.
“Uh, no.” I waited for the feeling of discomfort at the mention of my injury, but it didn’t come. For some reason when Allison asked, it didn’t seem intrusive. “They said it would be a long recovery, though.”
“What happened?” Her eyes were wide, not so much curious as concerned.
“I was shot,” I said simply. I didn’t have the language to describe the situation, that afternoon in the stone house with the sun shining. There just weren’t words that could convey the entire story, so I let it go with a simple truth.
Porter walked in just then, relieving us of our privacy. “So, how was the first day?”
“Fine.” I stood up.
“You don’t have to—” he started.
“I’m fine,” I said, shutting down his compassion.
He shrugged. “Okay. So tomorrow you can clock in and go straight to the barn.”
“Got it,” I said.
Porter clapped me on the back and left me there in the reception area alone with Aly. I would need to keep it together long enough to call for a ride back home, but I didn’t want her to know how difficult that was going to be. Conserving my energy for the next half hour, I nodded goodbye and stepped out the door. Ordering the ride on my way, I crossed the lot back to the barn and sat down in the break room to wait.
Danny was there, as it seemed like he always was. “Ten minutes till the end of the shift.”
I nodded.
“Where’s your car?” he asked.
“I don’t have a car,” I told him.
“How are you getting home?”
“I called a rideshare,” I answered.
“Screw that,” he said, sounding offended. “Where do you live?”
“Just off Main Street,” I said.
“I’ll give you a ride,” he offered.
“It’s too late to cancel.” I looked down at my phone. The app said the driver was ten minutes away.
“You need a ride tomorrow?” Danny asked.
I held my breath for a moment. I didn’t want to ask for help but taking a rideshare to work every day was going to get expensive. Danny wasn’t a stellar employee, but he seemed like a good guy. I supposed part of re-entry into society was letting people help you every now and then. I released the breath I was holding and nodded.
Danny recognized my reluctance and smiled. “Text me your address.”
My ride arrived and I folded myself into the backseat with a grateful sigh. I didn’t have any energy left to talk to the driver and we rode in silence back to Mrs. Washington’s place. I opened the basement door and tumbled onto the couch. I didn’t move for the rest of the night, except grab a protein bar.