SO COLD (18+) currently editing

Chapter 14

CHARACTER VIEWS DO NOT REPRESENT MY OWN. Please be civil in the comment section.

Irvin whirled around, surprise etched on his face which quickly turned sour and irritation followed his words. "You don't want to do that, Pete. Put the knife down and back the fuck off before you hurt yourself."

Pete smelt foul, a rancid smell emitted off of him as if he'd soiled his pants and dived head first into a pool of steaming piss. His mouth half ate the back of my head as he screamed. "She won't get hurt if you empty your pockets. I know you're hiding my dope!"

"You're a fucking idiot, Jesus," Irvin shook his head in disbelief, scornful of the man. "What are you going to do, dig yourself into more debt? You remember your kid who you only see on Saturdays? King will have the rest of your days. Do you want to go back to the farm?"

As they talked, I was still. His hold was clumsy and he was clearly drunk but the man was strong and I didn't know how fast his reflexes were. I didn't fancy getting my throat slit.

I had one hand holding onto his wrist and the other a ghost's touch away from his elbow. Seconds away from disarming him and potentially ending up in a pool of my own blood came the screeching blare of police sirens. The white, yellow and blue car with the flashing lights pulled up beside us. A Hispanic officer poked her head out, narrowing her gaze. "Is everything alright here?" I didn't blame her for being blind, our bodies were angled away and the streetlights provided little light against the dark winter sky. I twisted his wrist, yanking his elbow down as Pete's common sense came flying back to him and he spat, "Shit!" he was already pulling his arm down, tucking the kitchen knife into his pocket and running away.

I was shoved forward by him and Irvin caught me before I went diving face first into a pile of muddy slush. The officers started up their car, racing down the street after Pete. Irvin had a look of disbelief on his face, "What a dumb bastard. Why would you run and make them suspicious?"

I rubbed my sore neck. "Who the hell was he?"

Irvin pushed my hand away, inspecting my neck. "Drunk Pete. He's harmless most of the time. Too geeked out of his own mind to understand what he's doing. He didn't cut you, you'll be fine."

"For a harmless man he sure seemed intent on killing me. Trouble seems to follow you around, doesn't it, Irvin?"

"What can I say? I'm a magnet." Irvin looked troubled for a second, giving me a searching look. "Are you alright? I'm betting you regret hanging with me now."

"No," I shook my head, slipping my arm through his and leading us away from the commotion of Drunk Pete getting slammed against a wall. "I like you, a lot. I just need to know if I should carry a taser the next time I hang out with you."

Irvin snorted, "You looked calm. I didn't see you fainting. I'm sure if it happens again you can get yourself out."

"I was screaming inside."

"Yeah, I didn't know if it was Pete who pissed his pants or you," Irvin grinned wickedly at the outraged look I shot him. "I'm only kidding. Oh, and I should probably tell you; the dude who got shot at your college might've been because of me."

"What?" I paused in disbelief. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. Don't accuse me. Honestly, it wasn't even my fault. I was walking past and some shit in a red Mustang drove past, fired off shots, completely missed me and drove off like pussies when I fired back at them. I don't know who it was, they barely rolled down their windows and they were completely blacked out. I called the ambulance for the guy but ...you know, it was too late."