Page 74 of The Night Shift

Holly: Message me again and I’ll cut off your dick.

I’m quite unclear as to why she didn’t do this in the first place.

She goes on squirming, frustration bleeding into her voice and I tighten my arm around her waist, holding her close. My grip is firm, but not harsh. I just need her to listen. I need her to understand the severity of this situation. I hit “send” and immediately pride swells in my chest. I did it. I protected my girl. A smug grin stretches across my face as I look down atHolly, expecting a grateful smile. Maybe even a kiss to express her gratitude. Right?

Wrong. Her foot connects with my shin, sending a sharp, searing pain up my leg that makes me double over. She elbows my stomach, missing my stab wound by an inch, which is then followed by a sharp kick to my balls. The pain is sharp, instant and intense.

Holly’s phone clatters to the floor and she snatches it up, eyes blazing. “What thehelldid you do!”

I'm still doubled over, clutching my groin and gasping for air.

“You asshole!” she spits. “Youfuckingasshole! You weren’t supposed to respond to the message!”

I groan, pushing back my hair and the movement sends a lacerating pain flaring up my abdomen. “Christ…Hollister…someone really needs to teach you how to say thank you.”

“Thankyou?” She throws the shovel at her feet. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? You just made things ten times worse!”

I frown.Worse? I take support from a nearby tree and manage to stand up straight. What could be worse than a stranger breaking into your home and laying out knives on your bed?

“You replying is only going to encourage this asshole!” She glances at her phone screen then back at me. “What thefuck, Theo?”

Silence stretches.

Tension crackles.

Holly goes on staring at me like she’s trying to make my brain explode. A few more seconds pass. She walks away and screams with her fists clenched by her side.

Well, I suppose that’s better than her stabbing me again.

She picks up the shovel and walks back towards me. Her stance is wobbly, fuelled more by adrenaline than technique, but the fury in her eyes is hard to deny. “Drive me home,” she orders.

“Excuse me?”

Holly’s glare turns icy. “Drive. Me. Home.”

I laugh, subtly gripping my stitched-up wound to lessen the pain.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were cracking a joke to lighten up the mood.”

“How about I crack your neck instead to lightenmymood?” she snarls, taking a threatening step forward.

There’s not a single bone in my body that doubts that she’s fully capable of delivering on the threat. Of course, there isn’t. It’s one of the things I love most about her. Her cold-blooded ruthlessness. Must be why I don’t have the heart to tell her that if she smacks me with that shovel then she’s going to have no one to “drive her home.” The absurdity of the thought makes my lips twitch. Hitting me won’t get Holly home. In fact, it would leave her stranded and even more lost than before. Sheneedsme! She. Needs.Me.

“No,” I say, my voice firm.

Holly’s eyebrows shoot up in disbelief as if she can’t comprehend the reality of me denying her anything. “No?”

“You heard me.” I meet her gaze head-on. This isn’t about my pride. It’s about keeping her safe.

Holly just stares at me. I can practically see the gears turning in her head, weighing her options, calculating her next move and I think it’s adorable that the same woman who can kill me is completely incapable of driving herself home.

She throws the shovel at my feet, the metal spade clattering against the ground. “For the sake of my sanity and your well-being, I'm going to pretend that you said yes and wait for you in the car. Don't take too long.”

Under normal circumstances, I’d do anything Holly asked of me without a single thought. She says, I do. It’s what comes naturally to me. She has this gravitational pull around her, an unwavering aura that draws me in. An authority that demands to be obeyed without question. But not tonight. I’m not backing down. Not on this.

She turns to leave. I grab her hand and pull her back, spinning her around so that her chest is pressed flush against mine.