Jess
If there had been nervous tension between Thorn and I over the previous few days, it was nothing compared to how things felt after Emmanuel finally picked himself up off the floor and left, disgust and anger in his wake.
I turned towards Thorn, unable to meet his eyes. “Sorry about that,” I said quietly. “I mean, about Emmanuel showing up, and about the...” I couldn't bring myself to say the word 'kiss'. “But I did okay, right? You don't think he's going to go to the police or anything like that?”
“If he does, it'll be to get me brought up on assault charges,” Thorn said, sounding unconcerned. He was avoiding looking at me as well, I realized. I frowned, trying to figure out what he might be thinking. But I didn't really want to just ask outright about the kiss.
The thing was, that kiss had felt ... right, in some strange way. Nobody had ever kissed me like that before. Then again, I had never kissed anyone like that before either, so I supposed it was only fair. It felt like we connected, though.
But we were going to deliver the packages to Gabi later that evening, and then Thorn and I were going to go our separate ways. There was no way I could spend even another week with someone who was so unconcerned about human life and everything else that was the foundation of my moral code.
I frowned and walked back over the seat I'd been sitting in before Emmanuel had arrived, sitting gingerly on the edge of it. Thorn followed me back across the room and sat just as gingerly on the edge of the bed. “Jess—” he started.
I shook my head. “I don't want to talk about it,” I told him, before I even knew what exactly he was going to say.
“Okay,” he said, his voice impossibly gentle.
I looked up at him in surprise, finding something unreadable on his face. I shook my head again. “Look, let's just get this package delivered this evening and then you never have to see me again, all right?”
“Sure,” Thorn said, still staring.
We were silent for a long moment, and then suddenly there was another knock on the door. Thorn sighed and stood up, seeming resigned to the fact that Emmanuel had returned — maybe with police reinforcements, given the forceful nature of the knock.
I swallowed hard and stood up as well, ready to intervene if it was Emmanuel back again.
Instead, Emmanuel was nowhere to be seen, but there was a police officer standing there at the door. My heart instantly started racing. Thorn was sure that they'd be there to press assault charges against him, but were they going to search the room as well? My eyes slipped over to the three packages which were stacked on the table in the corner. It wouldn't take much for them to find the gun pieces, and I wasn't sure what would happen then. Plus, somewhere was that letter that Thorn had threatened me with, the one that claimed my involvement in this whole scheme. They were sure to find that as well…
“Officer, what can I do for you?” Thorn asked, as though he hadn't just punched Emmanuel out in the hallway. He seemed ready to go along without a fight, though.
The officer stared at him for a moment, hands on her hips. “Thorn Riley?” she asked. Her eyes slid past Thorn, coming to rest on me. “And…?”
“Jessica Harper,” I said, mouth gone dry with nervousness.
“Jessica Harper,” the officer responded. “And just what are you doing here, Jessica Harper?” Her eyes moved back and forth between Thorn and I, and I wondered what Emmanuel had told her.
“I'm sleeping with him,” I blurted out bluntly, pointing to Thorn. I blushed. “I mean, I'm not a prostitute or anything. He's a good guy. He doesn't, like, beat me or whatever else Emmanuel may have told you.”
The officer looked more confused. “Who is Emmanuel?” she asked Thorn.
We all sort of started at one another for a moment before Thorn cocked his head to the side, catching sight of the officer's name badge. “Gabi Gonzalez?” he asked.
Gabi raised an eyebrow at him. “Of course,” she said. “Who else did you think it might have been?”
Thorn exhaled noisily and pulled her into the room, shutting the door behind her.