Five of Hearts

Chapter 28

"Care to explain why you were acting like that in there?" Atticus asked as we sped toward the house. I still had my arms crossed and a pout sat on my lips. My knees also rubbed slightly against each other; still fighting through the aftermath of pleasure and confusion.

"I don't know," I answered, annoyed. I absolutely would not admit it was because I tried to make him jealous. "But it worked. He played like shit. You're welcome."

Atticus gave a soft, humorless laugh. "Incredible. How are you so absurdly reckless, Hats?"

"I'm not reckless, I knew what I was doing," I grumbled.

"Okay, Hats," Atticus responded, a laugh sitting in the roughness of his voice. "Whatever you say."

"How well do you know her?" I asked suddenly and hated myself.

"What?"

"Sabrina. You two seemed to know each other really well," I said a little less forcefully.

"I met her about four months ago. Why?"

"I don't know. I've just never seen you that friendly with anyone else before." I couldn't look at him; not even out of the corner of my eye. I should have never said anything. "It was weird."

"Hmm," was all he said in response. Neither of us talked the rest of the way home. When we pulled into the garage and Atticus opened my door for me, he looked down, his face hard again as I slid out of the car.

"I don't want to see you flirting like that with someone else again. It made me angry. You can distract without being all over them," Atticus clenched his jaw as he spoke. "You deserve better than some dick named Jackson, anyway."

"Oh yeah?" I mused. "Someone like you?"

My face flushed red as he smirked down at me. Suddenly his hand reached up and tucked some of my brown hair behind my ear gently. "Like I said, Hats. You couldn't handle me."

Atticus quit smirking and let his hand fall, all serious again. "Be ready at eight tomorrow morning. You're training with Cash and then we have some errands to run."

"All of us?"

"No. Just me and you. See you tomorrow."

And with that, Atticus strolled into the house and left me alone to wander back upstairs; trying impossibly to calm down the entire way there. I guess I am getting a day with Atticus.

I don't know how I did it, but I woke up on time the next day. The dress and shoes and everything else had been tossed all over the floor the night before. All except my gun, which I had placed carefully on my dresser after taking the magazine out. Crazy how much my priorities had changed.

I stepped into the bathroom and pulled my hair up into a ponytail before taking my medicine. I had quit wearing a bandage on the arm the day before; the healing was just about done anyway and it wasn't bothering me anymore. I was going to have a gnarly scar though. I pulled up my long t-shirt and inspected the stab on my leg. The stitches were already kind of loose, with it being an amateur job. Atticus said I'd probably have to pull them out after about a week. Which I wasn't looking forward to, but oh well. At least it didn't hurt any more.

After throwing on some workout clothes, I jogged downstairs and met Cash in the backyard. We spent about half an hour just working out and building up my muscles before Cash began to show me some new moves and perfect a few older ones. When Cash checked his watch around 11, he told me he had to go and take care of a few hedge fund schemes he was pulling downtown. He then informed me that Atticus instructed me to work out on my own for another half an hour, go shower, eat, and then meet him downstairs when I was ready.