On The Run

Wet floor

Zoey's POV

Heart hammering in my chest I jumped up on my bed. The noise I heard was from coming from downstairs. It took me half a second before I remembered where I was. As I got out of bed, another noise came followed by a muffled voice. A chill went down my spine. I looked around for something to protect myself. If there was someone on this boat, then there is a very high probability of them being armed. I grabbed a golf club that was lying near the bed. I tiptoed out of the room and as quietly as possible and slowly went downstairs.

I could see something move in the spare room on the lower deck. The door was unlocked. This was where Leo was supposed to stay. I felt a trembling in my hands. What had they done to him? What if he was hurt or even worse - dead? I gripped my weapon tighter in my hand as I slowly pushed the door open and stepped in.

"What the..."

I swung my club blindly towards the voice. I didn't feel the club hit anything but in the next moment I heard a loud crash followed a low groan. I turned towards the crash. My eyes widened at the sight. Leo was sprawled on the floor half-naked. It was evident that he had taken a shower because the only thing that covered him was a white towel wrapped around his torso loosely. Another thing that I couldn't help but notice was that he was really well built. You couldn't see any of this muscle under his clothes. He also had tattoos on his left shoulder. I also noticed that he had several scars on his abdomen and chest.

"Shit! I'm so sorry."

I rushed forward to help him up.

"Don't! I've spilled s...."

Before he could finish, I felt my feet slip beneath my feet. I literally grasped thin air for support before I crashed into Leo. It actually hurt when I crashed into him. Even though it was probably the most embarrassing situation in my life, I was oddly aware of his body beneath mine. I heard him groan under me. He slowly grabbed my waist trying to shift my body. I felt my cheeks heat up as his hands slid across my waist.

"I'm so sorry!"

I tried to get off of him by rolling to the side. As soon as I rolled off him, I clutched the side of the wardrobe door to steady myself while I stood up. As I stood up, I noticed Leo was clutching the side of his abdomen with a grimace on his face.

"Ouch."

I couldn't think clearly.

"Did I hit you?"

He shook his head slightly.

He looked at me with a pained expression. I could tell from his look that he demanded an answer. I flinched as I understood the stupidity of my behavior. I looked around and saw a water bottle half-emptied on the floor and beside that a container of some kind was lying. I mentally slapped myself as I understood what had caused the noise.

"I thought there was someone on the boat. I heard a sound downstairs, I got scared so I came to see what it was."

By this time Leo had picked himself up and was sitting on the bed rubbing his abdomen. I strangely noticed that he had managed to hold on to the only clothing that he was wearing. Embarrassment hit me along with this thought. He looked at me in disbelief. I could feel my face heating up with embarrassment.

"You barged in here, swinging a golf club to obviously kill or permanently damage someone's brain just because you heard a noise?"

I saw the corners of his lips upturned as he slowly spoke the words. I could feel my ears getting hot as I stood there hoping to disappear. I fidgeted with my fingers.

"That's more or less correct."

I admitted. As I looked down at the partially wet floor, I suddenly jumped at Leo's reaction. He started laughing...loudly...very loudly. It was my turn to look at him in disbelief. I wasn't that unreasonable.

"It could've been someone else too. Better be safe than sorry, which in my case would be death."

I protested. He stopped laughing and looked at me suddenly serious. He walked across the room stood a little too close to me. He looked directly into my eyes. I never really noticed until how good he looked with his dark brown hair, deep black eyes and perfectly sculpted face. He gently held my shoulders.

"Trust me Zoey, I won't let anyone hurt you. They would have to go over my dead body to even lay a finger on you. I promise you this. I will keep you safe."

Although I knew that was exactly what he was here to do, but the way he said it made me suddenly feel a lot safer than I did two seconds ago. Something about his voice was so soothing that it made me relax automatically. Also, it made me feel special all of a sudden. I know it sounds silly and it probably is, but that's exactly how I felt standing in front of him, on that wet floor, at that moment.

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Leo's POV

Better be safe than sorry, which in my case would be death.

Death.

The word kept repeating in my head. They stung in the literal sense. A noise ignored would be equivalent to death in her case. Her words made me more determined in my resolve to keep her safe. I will keep her safe, no matter what.

These thoughts circled my mind as I grabbed some ice from the mini fridge on Zoey's insistence. It wasn't paining. I had experience with much more pain than this. This felt like nothing. I sat down with the ice clutched tight to my abdomen as Zoey moved around to clean up the spilled water. I protested a millionth before giving up my claim to help her.

I had seen her face closely when she fell on me. I hadn't noticed before but she had a scar on her left temple. It looked deep but old. I tried to spot it sitting on my bed.

"What?"

I snapped my eyes away as I realised I had been staring for a bit too long.

"Nothing."

She continued cleaning on.
I noticed that upon looking closely, apart from the dark circles under her eyes and tiredness, Zoey was actually beautiful. Her eyes were a strange bluish black shade I had never seen before. It went really well with her jet black hair.

Normally, I didn't have many female in my life. I guess my lifestyle didn't allow it. I only dealt with girls to get information about someone. The presence of those girls were limited to bars and clubs. Not someone you want to have a conversation with. That limited my mingling with the normal female population.
This factor made it even harder for me to communicate with her.
"I'm done."

She stood before me rubbing her wet hands on her sweatshirt. She looked like she wanted to say something but was hesitant.

"Say it Zoey. I'm not gonna hurt you."

I tried to speak as comfortingly as I could. I could tell by her behaviour that she had trust issues. Judging by her condition in her age, I think it's quite normal.

"Do you mind sleeping in the room next to mine?"

I shook my head stating it would be no problem but gave her an inquiring look, even though I could already guess her answer.

"I would feel....safer?"

She seemed hesitant trying to depend on me. She was self dependant for everything. I smiled at her words.

Safer.

I nodded at her saying she would be fine and safe. She gave a slight nod and started leaving the room. I called back at her.

"Hey.."

She looked at me.

"Do you mind if I call you Z too? It's shorter and more convinient."

I think I saw her face change a bit. The change wasn't a bad kind.

"Sure."

She started to leave.

"Oh...and Z?"

She stopped and turned around.

"Thanks for trusting me."

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