30

I woke up the next morning feeling great. No dreams of pain. It was so refreshing after all the nights of that horrible dream. I believe I had Christian to thank for that. He was in rare form last night and he truly eased my mind. I snuggled into my blanket, smiling to myself. Last night was very nice. I didn't think he had it in him. I was wrong. I looked to my left to see Christian sitting on my floor playing the game. He was focused as always, but he didn't jump when I lightly ran a finger down his neck.

Immediately, the game was paused, and he turned to me, reaching. He pulled me and the blanket I was wrapped up in from the bed. I landed in his lap, my arms going around his neck. He buried his head into my neck. Then he kissed me. I felt it in my soul, like every other kiss we had shared. This one felt more natural though as if he wasn't hiding this intense part of himself anymore. I liked it. Like every other time, when I touched him, my heart swelled. I would never get enough of this man.

"I'm glad you're up," he said. "I been waiting for hellas."

"And why is that?" I asked, stretching and loving the peacefulness I felt.

"We got shit to do today," he answered.

I was still lost. The only plan we had revolved around Todo. What was I doing today again? I had a serious sex brain going on. I briefly wondered if sex made people dumb. The way he was looking at me was condescending as if I should know something. After a few moments of waiting, I realized he wasn't just going to tell me.

"Like...?" I asked, waiting for him to elaborate.

Christian let out a breath as If I was the annoying one. "Me, You, Montel, and Joey. We have a date."

I jumped up from his lap and almost tripped on my blankets. I was excited about the word date. We were going to do something other than being gangsters. "Where are we going?"

Christian stood and came closer to me. Towering over me in the way that only he could. He placed his hands on my waist and kissed my forehead. "We are going to the gun range," he said.

"I know how to shoot," I said, stepping back so I could think. Clearly, it was a problem for me when he was that close. Or when he touched me. Or when he talked. I was a goner. But a goner who knew how to shoot a gun. It wasn't something new to me therefore it was not exciting.

"No offense, baby." He said, sitting on my bed. "I know you have shot guns with your uncles. I been hunting with your uncles and fishing. Not that I ever will again. Those niggas are crazy as fuck. I need you to be able to point and shoot with no hesitation. I need to know. I need to know you can hold your own in a gunfight." He looked at me then. His eyes pleading. "It's the only way I can let this continue to go on. Having you involved, I mean."

I knew then that it didn't matter what I knew I could do. Christian needed reassurance. He needed to know what I was capable of. When we had gone hunting with my uncle, I had used a bow and arrow, while they had rifles. I had been shooting since I was twelve. The bow, though, was always a clean kill. Rifles always got messy. I had no problem showing him.

"Okay," I said calmly.

It was an hour trip. When we arrived, the guys took the guns from the trunk. They were still in the duffle bag, minus the drugs which Todo had with him at the moment. He was going to be making the deal in about an hour. Even after he assured me he trusted the buyer, I had sent Reese and Little to follow him in a different car. Dale was looking for Hawthorne. I had been adamant earlier that we needed to find him today. I was tired of waiting and the dreams I had were making me anxious.

We walked into the indoor shooting range, and the guy behind the counter immediately looked on high alert. I knew how we looked. A bunch of black teenagers walking into a gun store. It was like a punch line to a not so funny joke. Montel was twenty-one, so he walked up to the counter to get two lanes. Montel talked properly and made jokes with the guy while we looked around the store. There were guns and knives everywhere. Targets, ear protection, and shades. Lots of camo gear and holsters.

I could like this place if I didn't feel so out of place. Whenever I had fired a gun, I had been outdoors. Mostly in the woods somewhere. My first targets had been cans and jugs of water. I wasn't a shoot-at-a-target person. None of us were, but this needed to be done.

Montel leads us to a couple of open stalls at the very end of the range. The guy at the counter eyed us the entire way. The first thing I noticed was that if we needed to get out quickly, we would be out of luck. We were surrounded by concrete and bulletproof glass. Joey took the guns out one by one and Montel placed a box of ammo near each gun.

"Pick your poison," Christian said, motioning to the guns.

I eyed the Glock nineteen and quickly reached for it. I hated revolvers. Rifles and shotguns just weren't everyday guns. The Glock was easy to conceal and carry. I easily loaded the clip with fifteen bullets and looked at the guys. "Ready," I said, smirking as they all looked confused. I guess they were surprised I didn't need help.

Montel chuckled and pointed down one lane. "Your target will come from there. Aim for the red circle on the target. You get 100 points for the red."

"Like a game?" I asked, smiling, letting my competitive side out to play.

"Yeah," Christian said, eyes squinted. His competitive side was showing as well. Game on.

Five hundred bullets later, Joey was in the lead with ten thousand points, Christian was second with eight thousand points, and I had third with five thousand. It was fun. Plus, it was a great way to let off steam. We were wrapping up and getting ready to go get food when we got the call.

It was from Reese. What he told us froze me to the core as panic set in.