Play The Part (Player Next Door Book 3)

79 | Animal Masks

Chapter 79: Animal Masks

The relief that flooded through me the second I saw him, like a wave of pure ocean water.

It had been bleak before he came.

It felt like a surge of water rising within me, lifting me. Giving me hope.

It sounds crazy, but that's exactly what it was. And that's my five seconds of panicked poetry.

Luke's body appeared in front of me, immediately shielding me and taking the ambush head on.

In life, we all have our strengths. Some of us were made to be hunters, others strategists, some gatherers, others keep night watch.

They say that's why we're either morning people or night people. Because we're conditioned by the roles our ancestors had to play. I wonder if that's true. Maybe I'll wonder that another time...

I dodged a flying arm.

No matter how much I ever train in my lifetime, I will never be built for hand-to-hand combat like this.

Tap me out and trade him in any day.

Because Luke Dawson was.

And that's facts, physics, biology of my body constitution. No amount of motivational speeches or positive thinking was going to change that. 

It's one of the many things I admired about him. His instinct to sense danger and then to dive into that danger to save people. His ability to chase without getting tired, his razor-sharp reflexes, hand-eye coordination and the strength in his body, the full force of which only comes out when he wants it to.

If I ever hear someone call him the jock and me the brains, let this moment be a reminder.

He knew something would happen today.

With Luke's back to me, I could only see their expressions. And even then, it was hard with their face masks covering almost everything but their evil eyes.

Cheetah face mask, zombie face mask, it was like watching a circus movie gone wrong. Who are they? Give me a clue, any clue. 

They came at him like rabid dogs.

Two or three jumping him and one he would kick away while he punched the second one hard, only to now be facing the return from the first one he kicked.

I realized what he was doing. He manoeuvred strategically so he wouldn't have to take them all on at the same time.

I grabbed a book from the coffee table next to me and flung it at them. I grabbed another. 

"Get back," he yelled at me, as he grabbed one of the intruders and held him in a chokehold, exposing me to the other two.

Luke hurled the man he was choking against the wall. He crashed into the fireplace, clutching at the mantlepiece for balance and sending the vases lined up there shattering to the floor.

Mrs Dawson is not going to be happy about that.

Suddenly, Luke's arm wrapped around me and pulled me away just as one of them came swinging, hitting Luke instead.

I saw Luke grimace in the 0.2 seconds that I was close to his body, shielded by his arms, safe while his back took on the impact of the assault.

This close to him, I saw the lines on his face and the determination in his steely blue eyes. Then he pushed me back and turned to face the second intruder.

Backup.

I needed to help Luke.

I wasn't prepared. I don't have my gadgets.