Pride, Mates, and Past Mistakes

Casey Climbs the Eiffel Boxer

*Sierra*

“I swear, this gun will take me out before anyone else,” Casey grumbled, grabbing at her waist. “This is so uncomfortable.”

I risked a glance around at the passengers on the bus quickly, wondering if anyone heard. “Shh,” I warned her, “We don’t want anyone to hear us. And about that,” I added with a smile, “It’ll grow on you. Eventually, you’ll feel so safe with the…” I lowered my voice. “the weapon that when you don’t have it with you at all times you’ll feel really uncomfortable, and vulnerable.”

Casey blinked at me. “And, um, how long did that take?”

I smiled, looking away. “A few months.”

“Lovely,” Casey sighed. “I guess until then I’ll just get used to having an effing bruise in my side, and getting stabbed whenever I sit down…”

I gave her a look. “Um, I don’t think you put it on right. You shouldn’t be able to feel the gun all that much. Didn’t Nolan show you how to wear the strap? I told him to tell you.”

“And I told him I didn’t want to hear his voice, and to get the hell away from me,” Casey finished firmly. “End of story.”

“Casey,” I groaned, rolling my eyes. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” she said defensively, turning her head away to look out the window. “And I don’t regret that decision, not one bit.”

I sighed, glancing at the screen at the front of the bus. “Our stop is next,” I said, sitting up. “get ready.”

The bus slowed down and Casey and I got off the bus. We stepped off into a busy sidewalk, filled with various people going about their business, who—thankfully—were not paying any attention to us.

“Come on,” I told her in a low voice. “Follow me, and make sure you stay close.”

Casey nodded once, and we set off through the crowd.

“So, where’s this store again?” Casey asked.

“It’s supposed to be between the hardware store and the grocery…here!” I said triumphantly, pointing to the flashy Martinez sign above the glass windows, which clearly exposed the interior of the store. Even during the day, the store was crowded—a sign of its popularity.

Thankfully, that would work just fine in our favor.

“So, captain,” Casey said, looking at me. “What’s our next line of action?”

I observed the people in the store. “Since the store is crowded, most of the employees will be working,” I said, watching a Martinez employee clad in black fix a phone stand. “But since it’s a Martinez store, there’ll probably be a lot of security and cameras up.”

Casey nodded. “Okay.”

I looked around, hoping to see a particular shop. This was New York, the famed city of the UWN. There had to be one of these around here…

“There!” I declared, pointing to the end of the street.

Casey looked at the place where I was pointing and glanced back at me, confused. “Right. And what am I supposed to be seeing?”

“Come on,” I said, grabbing her wrist and dragging her along as I made my way down the street.

“What the—Sierra, I—wait—where are we going?” she demanded, dodging people as I dragged her through crowds of people.

Finally, I came to a stop—in front of the little tourist shop at the end of the street.

Casey gave me an annoyed look. “Can you please tell me why the heck we’re standing here for?”