Read Online Addicted (Outlaws Book 2) by Elle Kennedy - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Elle Kennedy
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admitted, albeit grudgingly.
“And when we got to ten shots, Dumb-ass over here tried to fight a tree.”
Beckett and Travis howled with laughter.
Lennox pinched her shoulder, then gave it a little smack. “There was a goddamn animal in that tree. I told you, I
saw
it.”
“Oh, sweetie,” was all Jamie said. Then she rolled her eyes and addressed the other men. “After that, I kept count whenever he drank, and it was the same every time – ten drinks and Len does something crazy.”
Beckett’s demeanor sobered as he looked from her to Lennox. “Must be nice.”
She wrinkled her brow. “What’s nice?”
“Having history with someone.” There was a profoundly sad chord in his tone. “My folks died when I was eight. I was alone in the colony after that.”
Jamie hadn’t known, and her heart squeezed at the pain she saw in Beckett’s eyes. “I’m sorry, babe.”
“It’s all good. I survived.” He shrugged.
“Our parents died too,” Lennox said gruffly, his silvery gaze finding Jamie’s.
“How?” Beckett asked.
She swallowed as the memories surfaced. “Both our moms died of pneumonia. Lennox’s dad too. It wiped out most of our camp, actually. Started off as a cold, eventually turned into chest infections, then pneumonia. We had no meds, no antibiotics, and no way of getting our hands on them. All the Enforcer storage stations in the area had been looted clean.”
Lennox’s warm hand squeezed her shoulder. “Jamie’s dad survived. So did a few others, but about a year after that, we were ambushed by bandits.”
“They shot my father,” she said flatly.
A pall fell over the booth, and not even the arrival of their lunch could ease the tightness in Jamie’s chest. She missed her parents. She knew Lennox missed his too.
God, why was this world so fucked up?
She felt Lennox soften beside her. Then he brushed a reassuring kiss on her cheek, and with that one moment of tender contact, the tension that had plagued them before faded away like a wisp of smoke. They were good again. She still wasn’t sure why they’d ever been
bad
, but she wasn’t about to question the abrupt shift. She just leaned in closer and borrowed strength from the strongest man she’d ever known.
The first day of training wrapped up at sundown. Might be too soon to tell, but Rylan had noted some real progress among the trainees, especially the teenagers. They’d been eager to learn and, oddly enough, treated their weapons with far more respect than many of the older folks.
The kids handled the guns with a level of seriousness that Rylan appreciated, as if they had true awareness for the power they held in their hands and the gravity of that responsibility.
The adults had taken that responsibility for granted, wasting ammunition even when it was clear they weren’t prepared to hit the target.
Rylan found the discrepancy between the age groups pretty fucking interesting.
“You got this?” he asked Pike, who was in the process of closing up the gun crate.
Pike nodded in response.
“Thanks, brother. See you in the morning.”
He left Pike in the dark lot and headed for the sidewalk. Large stone planters lined the cobblestones, and while they might have been overflowing with flowers at one point in time, the planters now served as cisterns to collect rainwater. Rylan paused in front of one and dipped his hands in the cool water.
He splashed his face, then brought his cupped hands to his bare chest and let the water pour over his sweaty flesh. It had been a long day. His ears were still ringing from the continuous bursts of gunfire, and calluses had formed on his fingers from holding a gun for so long.
“Well?”
He turned at the sound of Reese’s voice. She approached him in lazy strides, but that laziness was belied by the sharp gleam in her brown eyes.
“Well what?” he asked easily.
“Think any of my people have potential?”
“Everyone has potential when it comes to guns.” He rolled
“And when we got to ten shots, Dumb-ass over here tried to fight a tree.”
Beckett and Travis howled with laughter.
Lennox pinched her shoulder, then gave it a little smack. “There was a goddamn animal in that tree. I told you, I
saw
it.”
“Oh, sweetie,” was all Jamie said. Then she rolled her eyes and addressed the other men. “After that, I kept count whenever he drank, and it was the same every time – ten drinks and Len does something crazy.”
Beckett’s demeanor sobered as he looked from her to Lennox. “Must be nice.”
She wrinkled her brow. “What’s nice?”
“Having history with someone.” There was a profoundly sad chord in his tone. “My folks died when I was eight. I was alone in the colony after that.”
Jamie hadn’t known, and her heart squeezed at the pain she saw in Beckett’s eyes. “I’m sorry, babe.”
“It’s all good. I survived.” He shrugged.
“Our parents died too,” Lennox said gruffly, his silvery gaze finding Jamie’s.
“How?” Beckett asked.
She swallowed as the memories surfaced. “Both our moms died of pneumonia. Lennox’s dad too. It wiped out most of our camp, actually. Started off as a cold, eventually turned into chest infections, then pneumonia. We had no meds, no antibiotics, and no way of getting our hands on them. All the Enforcer storage stations in the area had been looted clean.”
Lennox’s warm hand squeezed her shoulder. “Jamie’s dad survived. So did a few others, but about a year after that, we were ambushed by bandits.”
“They shot my father,” she said flatly.
A pall fell over the booth, and not even the arrival of their lunch could ease the tightness in Jamie’s chest. She missed her parents. She knew Lennox missed his too.
God, why was this world so fucked up?
She felt Lennox soften beside her. Then he brushed a reassuring kiss on her cheek, and with that one moment of tender contact, the tension that had plagued them before faded away like a wisp of smoke. They were good again. She still wasn’t sure why they’d ever been
bad
, but she wasn’t about to question the abrupt shift. She just leaned in closer and borrowed strength from the strongest man she’d ever known.
The first day of training wrapped up at sundown. Might be too soon to tell, but Rylan had noted some real progress among the trainees, especially the teenagers. They’d been eager to learn and, oddly enough, treated their weapons with far more respect than many of the older folks.
The kids handled the guns with a level of seriousness that Rylan appreciated, as if they had true awareness for the power they held in their hands and the gravity of that responsibility.
The adults had taken that responsibility for granted, wasting ammunition even when it was clear they weren’t prepared to hit the target.
Rylan found the discrepancy between the age groups pretty fucking interesting.
“You got this?” he asked Pike, who was in the process of closing up the gun crate.
Pike nodded in response.
“Thanks, brother. See you in the morning.”
He left Pike in the dark lot and headed for the sidewalk. Large stone planters lined the cobblestones, and while they might have been overflowing with flowers at one point in time, the planters now served as cisterns to collect rainwater. Rylan paused in front of one and dipped his hands in the cool water.
He splashed his face, then brought his cupped hands to his bare chest and let the water pour over his sweaty flesh. It had been a long day. His ears were still ringing from the continuous bursts of gunfire, and calluses had formed on his fingers from holding a gun for so long.
“Well?”
He turned at the sound of Reese’s voice. She approached him in lazy strides, but that laziness was belied by the sharp gleam in her brown eyes.
“Well what?” he asked easily.
“Think any of my people have potential?”
“Everyone has potential when it comes to guns.” He rolled
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