For the A-to-Z April Blogging Challenge, I’m writing a story, aiming for 1000 words a day (every day except Sundays). Continuing today with part 11 of a story about the character Codie Snow.
If you’re new to this series of posts, you might want to start here:
As Codie started running toward the garage, trying to decide if she should enter there or through the front door, she heard Pete yell her name. She turned to the left to see him coming around the side of the garage. “What happened?” she asked as the sirens in the distance grew louder as they got closer.
As Pete stopped next to Codie, he placed his hand on her elbow, gently leading her away from the garage. “I could ask you the same thing.”
Codie realized he was talking about her dripping. “Oh, yeah. Some crazy woman ran out of the house and poured a pitcher of something on me, told the guy in the car she’d find him, and then ran down the road. Sorry I didn’t chase her.”
Pete shook his head. “No, don’t be. It’s a good thing you didn’t. She’ll show up.” Once they were on the far side of the cruiser so that it was between them and the house, he said, “I’d just walked in the house. They’re cooking meth in there, so I was gonna see who else in there I could arrest. But before I got to the kitchen, there was an explosion, so I jumped out the back door and made my way around here.” Codie nodded. “You weren’t worried about me, were you?”
God, the grin on his face was disarming. “What if I was?”
A cop car halted in front of the house, followed by firetruck that parked almost in the middle of the street. Pete cocked and eyebrow and said, “We probably need to clean that shit off you. Do you know what it is?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“One minute.” Pete strode over to the other cop car and chatted with the officer. In less than ten minutes, they had a team of specialists on site and the other cop took the guy named Brian to haul off to the detention facility. Then Pete told Codie to get into the car. “Any clue what she poured on you? Should I get you to the emergency room?”
“It doesn’t hurt or feel bad.” She turned her head and took a big whiff of her damp hair and shirt. “It smells like…like ginger ale or Sprite, maybe.”
“You sure that’s what it is?”
She touched her arm. Goosebumps stood out on the flesh, because it wasn’t yet the relentless heat of summer. Late spring meant there were still cool breezes and moderate temperatures, and being wet in the dead of night ensured Codie was cold. “Yeah. Pretty sure. It’s kind of sticky.”
“We need to get you cleaned up.”
Codie imagined there were showers and locker rooms at the police station, even though she’d never been given a thorough tour. She didn’t completely disagree that she needed it, but she was fairly certain he should be patrolling the streets instead of pampering his ride-along. It kind of defeated the purpose of him actually doing the job. “I’ll be okay.”
He grinned and winked. “Get in the car.”
Oh. That voice again.
She felt another involuntary shiver work its way through her spine and she flashed a smile—albeit a weak one—back at him. Tonight’s little life experiment had reminded her all too well how attracted she’d always been to Pete. He was masculine, self-assured, and even sweet, even though he didn’t show that side much, and now that she and her sometimes-boyfriend Slade were separated, she was seriously considering putting the moves on her cop friend.
But, um…not while doused in Sprite.
Soon enough, they were in the car and Pete was driving down the road. Codie felt like she should say something, but the words weren’t there. He didn’t say anything either, instead focused on the road. No, actually, he was doing more than that, and Codie had been watching him enough this evening to know that. Part of him was tuned in to the chatter that came through the radio off and on, but more than that, he was keeping his eye on his surroundings, looking for anything on his patrol that was out of the ordinary or suspicious.
In a few minutes, he was back in a residential section of town—his section of town and, shortly after that, he was pulling the patrol car into his driveway. Pete turned off the car and glanced over at Codie. “Time for my lunch break—if you’d call it that.” She felt a little confused but nodded and, when Pete got out of the driver’s side, she did the same on her side. “And you can shower while we’re here.”
She followed him up to the front door of his modest white-and-gray-brick ranch-style house. “But I don’t have any clothes to change into.”
Pete shrugged as if he didn’t care but as he pushed the front door open and waved Codie in first, he said, “I think I’ve got something that will fit you.”
She began laughing as he pushed the door closed and started to reply when he got close to her. His eyes had grown dark and felt like they could see through to her soul, but it wasn’t a bad thing. She could feel a deep vibration in her core as he got close enough that she thought she could feel his body heat. As her muscles felt like they were growing limp, she managed to swallow the saliva pooling in her mouth before saying, “I don’t think we’re the same size.”
“I’m pretty sure I have something.” His voice grew lower when he added, “I just don’t know that you can wear it.”
Oh. And so, when Pete’s face got near hers, she had no response other than to move her lips the rest of the way to join with his.
UP NEXT: M is for MAYBE
Yolanda Renee
1000 words a day is quite a challenge. Good luck. Love the excerpt. Gotta get those clothes off, uh, I mean that Sprite off. LOL
Thanks for the visit today!
Jade
Hahahaha! Thank YOU! I’ll check out your other sites too. That’s REALLY impressive!