Sixty Seconds

Chapter Twenty Three

AN: (Was the last time I updated really July?) Okay, I'm not sure what to make of this chapter but I'm not sure what to make of the rest of the story either. I've gotten a few more ideas, so some earlier details might not quite add up but It's my first time ever getting this far in a story so I think I'm doing pretty well. Thanks for the reads, comments and votes. I really appreciate it. I'll try to update more often but I'm getting muddled in my own head. I need to write some sort of timeline to get it all sorted. Thanks for your support and patience. Oh Yes and new video in the side link! 

Emma =)

Jessica

“Well, Carter’s gonna be pissed off about this” Joshua said once Alex left. He joined me on the sofa, flopping down beside me while putting his feet on the coffee table.

“He’s always pissed” I replied, pushing his feet off the coffee table. He frowned before smiling and saying.

“Only when you’re about” He continued smiling and I raised an eyebrow.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, smiling despite trying to keep a straight face but Joshua’s light mood was contagious.

“It means, Jess, that you’re both complete and utter idiots.” He told me leaning back against the sofa.

“I don’t get it” I told Joshua, frowning at him.

“Exactly my point” He said, getting up and walking to the kitchen.

I followed him, picking up a half filled mug of cold coffee as I went.  “You know I’m going back right?” I asked Joshua as I emptied the coffee out and began washing the mug.

“Going back where?” He poured his coffee out into a clean mug.

“Don’t drink coffee at this time, you’ll be up all night” I told him, changing the topic and taking the coffee from him and pouring it down the sink.

“Hey!” He spluttered, reaching for the coffee again. I scooted round him and grabbed the pot-thing and poured it down the sink too. Watching smugly as the last drops vanished down the plug hole. He stared at me for a minute before lunging at me. He grabbed me and flung me over his shoulder.

“Joshua! Put me down!” I screeched, hitting his back as hard as I could.

“God, no wonder you need so much help, you hit like a girl” He told me.

“I am a girl!” I shouted.

“Right” He said, carrying me out of the kitchen and down the hall.  “You don’t way half as much as the other girls I’ve dated” He commented.

“So you lift them over your shoulder a lot then” I said, not quite shouting. I whacked his back again and was rewarded with a grunt.

He pushed open the door to the gym and set me down. “What the hell was that all about?” I demanded.

He brushed down his t-shirt. “You took my coffee, so I carried you.”

“What was the point in that exactly?”

“Not entirely sure”

I stared at him, unbelieving.

“You look adorable with your hair messed up like that” He told me.

“You’re a child.”

“I like to think of it as immaturity.” He grinned, and I folded my arms.  “Anyway, you need to learn how to defend yourself. Carter’s not superman, he can’t exactly save you all the time.”

“So you carried me into the gym, what happened to asking, or giving an order or something.”

“I wanted to see how hard you could hit, which isn’t that hard.” He walked in front of me. “Hit me”

I stared at him. “No”

He sighed. “You found it easy enough when I was carrying you.”

I glared at him. Curling my hand into a fist I hit him with all the strength I could muster. My fist hit raw muscle and I pulled it back in agony.

“I have a six pack, just as a warning.” He joked. I just glared at him. He took my fist into his hand and put my thumb out of the fist and placed it on top.

“That is how you don’t get a broken thumb” he informed me, motioning to my newly positioned fist.

“Great” I muttered sarcastically, yanking my hand out of his grasp. He grinned at me and motioned for me to try again. I complied and this time managed to hit a bit harder and get a pained grin.

“What if these evil bad guys have muscles like you and it hurts to hit?” I asked him, shaking out my sore wrist.

“Well, you have a foot and they most likely have balls. ” Joshua tilted his head slightly. “I think its easy to guess what to do”

“So I do this?” I began to kick but he caught my leg with his left hand and raised his pointer finger on his right hand.

“Save it for the bad guys”   he told me, setting my foot down. “Or Carter”

I grinned at him. “Carter wouldn’t flinch”

Joshua laughed. “Jess, he would go down like a sack of pained potatoes”

“Good point.” I took his distraction to my advantage and struck out. He jumped back and missed my blow. I attempted a back kick, using karate movies and an arabesque as guidelines. He looked surprised as I swung round but managed to catch my leg, unbalancing me. I lashed out with my other leg using his chest as a support and pushed myself out of his grip, he tripped over his feet and landed heavily on the ground, bringing me with him. I screeched as he rolled onto me.

“I win” He told me, tapping me on the nose.

I gave him the evil eyes. “Cheater”

“How did I cheat? It was a perfectly uncheatingful fight” He told me.

“Joshua?”

“Yeah” He replied staring down at me.

“You’re squashing my lungs” I informed him, trying to push him off.

“Sorry” He got up and brushed himself off. “I take it back, you don’t fight like a girl.”

I smiled at him.

“Earlier, you said something about going back. If you mean going back home, then I’ll miss you ”

Joshua told me, he looked awkward and I smiled softly at him. ”I don’t plan to go home, Carter is kinda-”

“Over protective? Yeah, I figured that much out. Losing you would kill him”

I stared at Joshua, and then lowered my eyes. “I’m not some fragile china doll”

“I know, but Carter doesn’t. Look how much trouble you’ve gotten yourself into, you’ve nearly died multiple times and nearly gotten him killed. The guy can only take so much.”

“I know” I sighed. “But I don’t want to live the rest of my life wondering what I could’ve done if I stayed here.”

“Maybe you won’t have to. You don’t want to leave, the boss has to decide whether or not to let you go, after all you don’t want to leave and Carter doesn’t have the authority to fire you”

“So I still have a chance?”

“Well, I’m hardly gonna let you leave without trying to save you from eternal regret” Joshua grinned at me. “I’m gonna go make some coffee“

“No you’re not” I told him. “It’s disgusting and it’s late!”

“Winner gets their way?” He suggested.

“Deal”

We played Rock, Paper, Scissors.

I won.