It's Complicated: A Zombie Romance Novel

Bloody Noses

The fist came out of nowhere. One minute Michael'd been getting payment, the next I was looking down at his prone body. The force of the blow had knocked him off the bench.

"What the?" Michael said, wiping blood from his nose.

"Don't you ever touch her again." Gideon said. Rage radiating off of him in waves.

"What, where?" I asked, stunned as well. What was Gideon even doing here? Shouldn't he be on the bus headed home right now?

"I came running when I saw him touching you like that."

"What are you trying to be? My knight in shining armor?" I looked from him to Michael. Gideon had positioned himself between Michael and me. He was being all protective. In other circumstances it would be cute, if not endearing. But not now. I was in the middle of a deal and Gideon had broken it.

Gideon ran his hand through his hair. "Something like that."

"Well, I don't need one," I said, stepping around him to help Michael up. Michael shook off my hand. Great, Gideon had hurt him and his manhood. I was in for it now.

"We were in the middle of something," Michael said at Gideon. His hand was holding his nose to try and stop the bleeding.

"We had a deal," Michael complained to me.

"I know. Rain check?" I asked. I knew the answer was going to cost me, but I didn't think Gideon would leave us alone long enough to complete the transaction. Not that I really wanted him to.

"What deal?" Gideon asked.

"It's nothing, man," Michael said through a pinched nose. "She needed my help. I was just receiving payment for services rendered." Michael made a sneezing motion with his fingers. I could feel the blush on my cheeks deepening.

"That's no way to treat a lady!" Gideon yelled, throwing another punch at Michael. I held his arm back, stopping it from connecting with Michael's face. I about swooned in the process. Gideon was calling me a lady? How romantic! Only, it wasn't helping my cause.

"Add it to my bill?" I pleaded.

"You will do nothing of the kind." Gideon crossed his arms over his chest, trapping my hands.

"We'll even up later, toots," Michael said.

"You're still in, right?" I didn't want to give anything away in front of Gideon. He'd caused enough trouble already.

"Yeah, yeah. See you later, Maeve." He called back to Gideon as he walked away, "and I hope never to meet you again, dude."

"The feeling is mutual," stated Gideon. With Michael out of the picture, Gideon's full attention was on me.

"I thought you told me you weren't that kind of girl."

I bit my lip. "I'm not," I said.

"So what was that all about?" he asked. I didn't know how to respond. What did you say to a guy that had rescued you and yet ruined something important in the process? Nothing. So I switched topics on him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. He ran his fingers through his hair.

"I noticed right away that you weren't behind me and pulled the stop cord. The bus was already moving by then. I had to wait for the next stop before I could get off and come back."

"You came back for me?" I was in awe. His hand was stuck in his hair, pulling on it at an odd angle.

"Of course." He paused like he was going to say one thing and thought better of it. "I needed to make sure you were all right." I nodded.

A new bus pulled up to the stop and opened its doors for us.

"After you, my lady," he gestured towards the open door. I stepped up into the carriage, Gideon following quickly behind.

Then it hit me. The guy that had helped me out in the house last Saturday had gestured in that exact manner. It was not a common move among people our age.

Gideon must have been the guy that got me out of the house. I shook off the thought. It didn't matter. I didn't need a man to take care of me. I did need Michael's help though. Good thing Michael was still on board or I would be running after him in this moment instead of taking a seat next to Gideon.