Free Enjoying the Chase by Kirsty Moseley

She
headed into the lounge and plopped herself onto the two-seater sofa. I could
have sat on one of the chairs, but I decided just to go for it, so I sat on the
opposite end of the sofa to her, making her shift slightly and turn towards me a
little more, tucking her legs up under her body. “So, did you make it to work
on time the other day? You obviously got the train okay,” she asked, sipping
her coffee, watching me.
    “Yeah, but I had a pretty bad day that day
so I kind of wish I ’ d missed the
train,” I admitted.
    Her head cocked to the side curiously.
“Yeah? What happened?” 
    “I killed someone,” I answered, waiting for
her reaction.
    She gasped and set her mug down onto the
side unit, looking at me intently. “Really? How?”
    “It ’ s a long story that I don ’ t want to bore you with.” I shrugged.
    She shifted awkwardly in her seat. “Sorry,
you probably don ’ t want to talk
about it. I shouldn ’ t have asked;
you just looked a little stressed about it…” she trailed off, wincing
apologetically. I could see the worry on her face and it actually made her look
adorable. I ’ d never really had
anyone that wanted to listen to me talk about my day before. 
    “It ’ s not that I don ’ t want
to talk about it,” I assured her. “It ’ s just that I don ’ t
want you to think I ’ m a bad person
because of my job,” I explained, watching for her reaction.
    She frowned and shook her head. “ Nate, I won ’ t think you ’ re a bad person. Someone has to do that job,
and you just so happen to be the guy with the stomach, the guts, and the determination
to be able to see and do horrific things every day. I ’ d never look at that as a bad thing. People like you keep the
streets safer. How could anyone possibly think that a bad thing?” she asked,
her eyes not leaving mine.
    I smiled gratefully. This girl was
incredible, unlike any other girl I ’ d met before.
    “It ’ s not a bad thing, but sometimes it just feels like one.”
    “Because you had to kill someone?”
    “Yeah. I needed to do it otherwise he would
have killed one of my team, but that doesn ’ t stop me thinking about it after. It ’ s hard because the guy was a drug dealer and all round bad dude, but
I was the one to kill him, and part of me still feels bad about it. That ’ s the worst part of my job.” I frowned down at
my cup.
    Her hand moved across the sofa slowly and
took mine. My heart sped at the casual touch. This was actually the first time
she ’ d willingly touched me, and it
made me feel a little strange inside.
    “Nate, not everyone can do a job like
yours; most people just aren ’ t
strong enough. I don ’ t know what
to say to make you feel better about it, and maybe there ’ s nothing I can say, but you did the right thing. You might not like
that part of your job, and you wouldn ’ t be human if you didn ’ t
feel guilty, but don ’ t ever lose
sight of the fact that you ’ re one
of the good guys. You took a life, but you saved at least one life because of
it. Who knows how many other people that guy might have killed in his lifetime,
even just by accident because of the drugs he sold. Don ’ t ever forget that your job is important. It makes people like me
feel safer to know that there are people like you out there in the world,” she
said fiercely.
    My mood and guilt lifted instantly at her
words. That was the most perfect thing she could have said.
    “ Thanks, Rose. ”
    Her breath seemed to catch in her throat as
she looked at me, and I desperately wanted to lean in and kiss her , just to see what she ’ d
do. Would she push me off and scream at me to get out, or would she kiss me
back now that she ’ d started to get
to know me? She was just looking at me, as I was at her. Neither of us spoke, and I didn ’ t want to be the one to break the silence. I could almost feel the
little sparks of electricity in the air. The hair on the back of my neck was
standing up on end, and