One glance at the clock has Krista in a panic that she’ll be late to her shift. She kisses me on the cheek, then runs down to her apartment to get her scrubs on, and heads to work.

I’m a little miffed she was snooping around my medicine cabinet on date fucking number two? And then had the nerve to come at me all hard like that?

And then come on me all hard like that.

The memory of the sound of Krista’s moans reverberates in my mind as I partition the chili into day-portions for work. Yeah, what can I say, the girl has a hold on me.

Just like she held onto my head with her legs as she came.

I whistle a little, and bob my shoulders to the beat of the song playing on my stereo: “Work from Home.” My soul hasn’t felt this light in ages. I wonder if it’s a coincidence that this was also the first time I’d talked about my sister in ages. It’s tough to talk about her, but it feels good when I do.

At least that’s what my last therapist said before I stopped going.

I’m still on a high. Remebering her face as she walked in on me with a rock hard erection, thinking about her. The sound of unintelligible words she shouted when she moaned as I brought her to the brink of orgasm. The “O” shape of her mouth when I looked up and stole a glance at her sweaty, ruddy red face as she went over the edge.

I fire up my phone and send a text to Krista.

Damien: Fuck that was hot

Krista: I wouldn’t know. I had to leave before the chili was cooked. Remember?

Damien: LOL very funny. I’m not talking about the food...although I did enjoy my meal

Krista: OMG you are dirty

Damien: So? So are you

Krista: And starving. My tummy is rumbling. I need chili!

Damien: Are you at work yet?

Krista: I got here an hour ago

Damien: I’ll be by with some chili

I see the three dots, but she doesn’t immediately write back.

Damien: Sweetheart, I’ll see you in about thirty minutes. That okay?

The three dots are still there. But no answer.

I assume she got paged, which is common for nurses I’m sure.

But for some reason, her no reply doesn’t sit well with me. I’m not insecure. Neither is she. We’re not some couple playing ‘who is going to text me first’ chicken.

I throw on a shirt, leather jacket and boots, and grab the tupperware single portion of chili. I hesitate before I leave, then look for a plastic spoon. I don’t find one, so I throw a metal one into a paper bag with the chili container.

I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror on the way out, and I can’t help but chuckle. Day-old beard, tattoos sticking out of the hem at my neck and coming out of my sleeves at my forearms. With a damn paper bag lunch for my girlfriend.

Shit.

A ball of anxiety lurches through me.

Did I just say ‘girlfriend?’

I mean, did I just think ‘girlfriend.’ I didn’t say anything out loud. But I definitely thought it. I rub my forehead, hesitating before I head out the door. We’ve been moving so fast. Too fast? In the past, I’d never even *think* about calling a girl my girlfriend until we’d been seeing each other for months. This whole “Ten Date” thing is making me want her more, not less.

Not like we’ve exactly been abiding by the rules. Just today, we rounded second base and headed straight for third.

And I want more. I want it all.

I head back into my room, go into my closet, and pull out a small box, just a little bigger than a box you’d put a ring in. I glance inside at the contents, and grin. It’s been so long since I’ve used this. There was a time when i thought I might never take this out again. Never show this side of myself to someone. But Krista needs to know. And damn, I want her to know.

This could backfire horribly. But if it it doesn’t, it’s going to open up a whole new world for us both. I grin at the possibilities.

A slight drizzle starts as I make make my way through the Chicago city streets. The rain is oddly soothing.

My phone buzzes in the cradle between the seats, and I’m relieved that she finally texted me back. But when I glance at the name, it’s Axel, not Krista.

The ball of anxiety returns, and actually jumps higher up in my throat. I don’t read Axel’s text, but it doesn’t sit right with me that Krista hasn’t texted me back still.

When I pull into the hospital parking lot, I check Axel’s text. He’s trying to get me to go to Midnight Ride again tonight. I text him back that yeah I’ll go, maybe if hell freezes over between now and then.

The only way I’m going to back to that place again is with my girl. Heh. I smile to myself. Maybe we’ll put on a show for everyone.

I grab the sack lunch and the small box, and head into the Cardiac - Post Open Hearts wing of the hospital.

In the main lobby, plenty of people are mulling around waiting, some looking more worried than others.

I walk up to the front desk with a giant smile on my face, noting the nameplate.

“Hi there, Brenda,” I sing.

“Hi Sir. How can I help you?”

“Would you please tell me where I can find Krista Pennington? She forgot something at home.”

“Of course, Sir. She’s normally right over there, at the nursing station.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What do you mean, normally?”

“Well, her boyfriend came in and needed to talk to her just now.”

My muscles tighten, and adrenaline surges through me. “How long ago was her boyfriend here?”

“Oh, about thirty minutes ago.”

Right when she stopped texting me. “Where is she now?”

“I’m not sure—she said she was taking a quick break and headed into the parking lot for a moment.” She hesitates, reading the situation. “Who are you, by the way?”

“I’m her other boyfriend,” I growl.

“Uh...other boyfriend?” she asks, positively confused.

“That’s right. Thanks for your help, Brenda,” I say with a polite nod.

I turn and head out the door, my blood pumping. Clenching one fist, I feel my military training kick in. The smell of rain is overwhelming, but I swear I can sense something else, too.

It’s her.

Krista’s here. I know it. She’s close. I walk back to my truck and put the chili and the box inside it, then shut the door carefully. Glancing at my glove compartment, I take note of my weapon inside. For a brief moment, I consider bringing it out.

No. We’re at a hospital. This is Krista’s work. Things could get messy.

I spin around, doing a three-hundred-sixty degree scan of the parking lot as I do.

Come out, come out, you son of a bitch.

I knew this Nick guy was nutty the first time I saw him.

What I don’t understand is why Krista kowtows to his every word and action. She’s so strong and stubborn in all other aspects of life. Why does she have such a soft spot for him?

Hell, I have friends who I’d get my ass kicked for. I can respect loyalty. But there’s a point at which loyalty becomes letting people leech off of you.

The parking lot is about half full. Lots of middle-class cars, Dodges and Subarus and Fords. Nothing too fancy. Nothing too run down. As I scan the cars, I notice that on an old Cadillac is parked about fifty feet away, a small object on top of it.

It’s something I can varely make out, but it’s all I’ve got, so I proceed with caution. First, I maneuver laterally so I can come at it from an angle of cars. I need the cover.

Maybe I’m being overly paranoid. But that feeling in my stomach right now won’t let me be anything but uber careful.

Crouching down, I approach the white Cadillac as fast as possible, then pop my head up again for another look, glancing through the windows of a van that gives me cover.

Huh. It’s a pen.

Who leaves a pen on the hood of a car?

I approach quietly, until finally I reach the Caddy. There’s no one in it. I spin around, the rain spitting on me.

No one in sight.

I look one more time through the tinted windows of the car, and that’s when I feel a blow against my head. I grunt in pain, and turn, catching a glimpse of Nick out of the corner of my eye as I fall to the ground.

“Fuck are you doing here?” he bellows.

“Where’s Krista?” I grunt, my head throbbing with pain.

He’s got a bat in his hand, holding it close to me.

“Don’t fucking worry about it,” he screeches back.

I spin around around, my back to the car. Woozy, I try to stand, but my head pulsing with pain, I hit the concrete and sit on my ass.

Nick laughs maniacally, straddling me with the bat still in his hand.

“I knew you’d be a huge pussy,” he says in that same crazy voice.

“Where is she?” I growl again, putting my hand over my head.

I check and my hypothesis is correct: he drew blood.

“Don’t fucking worry about it. She’s in my world now.” He laughs again, the high-pitched, disgusting vibrations of his voice rolling through me. “Fuck you, you piece of shit,” he adds, and then spits on me.

Glancing up at him, I have a flashback to my time overseas:

The face of pure evil.

The face of a man over the edge, who doesn’t adhere to the same code as the rest of the world. The type of evil that you don’t run into often, but when you do, you must vanquish it.

Adrenaline rushes into my veins. I’m dizzy but I call on the gods to give me strength just once more.

Nick raises the bat over his head to strike, and comes down on me as hard as he can.

I let out a primal yell as I jump to my feet, and I don’t just catch the bat, I attack the thing. Using my momentum and the element of surprise, I push him back several steps until I slam him into a van, denting the side of it.

“Where. Is she?” I scream into his face, holding the bat over his head.

“Fuck you!” Nick yells again.

I knee him in the ribs and he hunches over. I knee him again and his grip on the bat loosens, so I kick him in the face and he lets go, falling away from me. An elbow to the stomach and he falls to the ground.

I pounce on him, and straddle his chest, pushing the barrel of the bat to his neck as I breath hard.

“Tell me or I’ll fucking kill you,” I mutter, pressing the cold steel into his windpipe.

“I’ll never…” he trails off, his voice weakening as he tries to grab me with his arms.

I toss the bat aside and he takes a deep breath right as my fist connects with his face. The cartilage of his nose feels damn good against my hand.

“Tell me,” I order.

“Car,” he finally utters, raising his hand weakly in the direction of the same van I knocked him into.

“This car?” I punch him again, harder this time.

He doesn’t say much.

I stumble to my feet, then glance inside the van. Holy shit.

Krista’s face is pressed against the tinted van window. Her mouth is covered with tape, her hands look to be tied behind her, and her feet are bound in some way as she kneels on the back seat. I try to open the door, but it’s locked.

Nick’s still groaning on the ground, and I jump back on top of him, shaking his shoulders.

“Where’s fucking key to the van? Where is it?”

He’s silent.

I sink my hand onto his windpipe and squeeze.

“Goddamn it!” I pat down his pants pocket, until I find it in his front jacket pocket. I pull it out and frantically try all of the keys until I slide the van door open.

I rip the tape off her mouth and and she takes a deep inhale. Just the sound of her breath is like music to my ears.

“Baby,” I grunt, hugging her hard. I frantically unbind her hands.

Relief oozes through me. “I’m okay,” she says, but the red marks on her face tell me otherwise.

“He do this to you?” Rage pours through me.

Nick rolls on the ground, still groaning in agony.

I step out of the van and I take it all out on Nick. The beast has been unleashed. The last thing I remember before she pulls me off him how bloodied my hands are.

And Krista yelling something like ‘you’re going to kill him.’