Free Taming Johnny by Kaylie Newell

in his forearms moving as he gripped the steering wheel. “You know, Beaumont, if you keep up this ‘living on the edge’ thing, we’ll have to get you your own vest. Can’t take you into these neighborhoods without one.”
    “Why do I need a vest?” she said. “I have you.”
    “You have me, huh?”
    “Well, I did the other night.”
    He turned, the look on his face mildly surprised. She smiled back, liking the way it felt to play with him. “It’s green,” she said, pointing to the traffic light.
    They drove in silence for a while, the nice, manicured houses of the north side giving way to dilapidated rentals and weed infested apartment buildings the farther they got to the edge of town. Johnny’s solid presence a few inches away made Emma feel secure. Brave, in more ways than one.
    “I’m curious about your time in the Army,” she said. “When did you enlist?” She’d always wanted to know his story, but had never dared a personal question until now. Despite their joking a few minutes ago, she knew she was risking a typical Lieutenant Street answer.
    He looked over, guarded. “And you want to know because...”
    “No reason. Just asking.”
    “After high school.”
    She plowed on. “After high school…and?”
    “ And what?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe open up a little? Try having a normal conversation like a regular person.”
    “I’m not a regular person.” He kept his eyes on the road. “And I’m not that interesting.”
    That’s where you’re wrong, Lieutenant. The scar at the corner of his eye wasn’t visible in the diminishing light of the evening, but she knew it was there. She wondered about it, wondered about him, and suddenly she was desperate for more.
    “I think you’re very interesting.”
    “Why?”
    “Why not? You never talk about yourself. No one knows anything about you, even though you’ve been at the PD for several years. I know enough about cops now to recognize you’re a really good one. But no one knows how you got that way.” She shrugged. “You’re an interesting study, Lieutenant Street.”
    “I don’t talk about myself because no one gives a shit,” he said, scowling. “And I’m curious why you suddenly would.”
    “Suddenly?” He really had no idea how deeply she was drawn to him. No idea whatsoever.
    “Yeah. Suddenly.”
    Emma leaned her head against the rest and looked at the city lights in the distance. They were beautiful, winking like stars from their skyscraper windows.
    After a minute, he spoke again, startling her from her thoughts. “I enlisted when I was eighteen.”
    Looking over, she saw that his jaw was set, his eyes fixed on the road. “I was planning on being career Army. But I was ready to be done with it after a few tours in Iraq.”
    She felt her mouth go slack. A few tours? “How many tours, exactly?”
    “Three.”
    It was the stuff Time Magazine articles were made of. He was a hero, someone who should have been thanked on a daily basis. And yet, he hadn’t said a single word until just now.
    “That’s…amazing, Lieutenant.”
    “Nothing amazing about it.” His tone was clipped, his expression hard.
    The radio on the dash crackled. “Four Baker Eight?”
    Johnny keyed the mic on his shoulder. “Four Baker Eight, go ahead.”
    “Robbery in progress, three sixty-two South East River Front Avenue, Quick Stop Market. Suspect displaying a gun, caller is hiding in the bathroom. Three other units en route.”
    “Copy that. En route, code three.”
    “Copy.”
    Johnny reached down and flipped on the lights and siren. Traffic immediately pulled over to let them pass as the car roared to life, eating up the pavement like a starved animal. Emma clutched the sides of her seat and gaped at the speedometer. Sixty-five, seventy, seventy-five. She must have looked a little sick, because Johnny glanced over and smiled.
    “Still up to this, Beaumont?”
    She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
    “Good.”
    Three or four