The Wright Mistake(30)

At six o’clock, I pulled into the parking lot at the shooting range. Austin was already parked outside in his shiny red Alfa Romeo that stood out among the standard-issue Texas pickup trucks. He hopped out of the car when he saw me pull up. He was there, opening my car door and helping me out of my own damn car.

“Hey, Jules,” he said with a genuine smile.

Warmth shot through me at the smile on his face and the feel of his hand in mine and the way he regarded me with a mix of adoration and desire. This was the Austin Wright I had dated two years ago. The one who had intrigued me so entirely.

“Hey.”

I didn’t drop his hand, and he didn’t pull away. He just stared down at me, enraptured. Our bodies were nearly pressed together in the close space, and I even momentarily forgot about the Texas heat. I just wanted to be near him.

That was the hard part. We fought like cats and dogs. Yet…I missed him and what we had once had before he royally fucked up.

But I pulled back, let loose a pointed cough, and he got the message. He took a step back and dropped my hand.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked.

I laughed and reached into the backseat to pull out the carrying case for my Glock 43. “More than ready.”

“You came prepared.”

“I’m here two or three times a week. I’m always prepared.”

His eyebrows rose. “I didn’t know you came that often.”

“Well, when we were last together, I didn’t.”

“What made you change your mind?” he asked, holding the door open for me to enter the range.

I averted my gaze and shrugged. “Can never be too prepared.”

“Next, you’re going to tell me that you have a concealed carry permit.”

My matching grin said it all.

“Fuck,” he groaned.

The word heated me from the inside out, and I hastily entered the premises.

“Julia!” Tip said from behind the counter.

“Hey, Tip,” I said as Austin followed behind me.

“Perfect timing, as usual. I have you on six today.”

“I’ll need one nearby, too,” I said, nodding my head at Austin.

“No problem. I can put him in seven.”

Tip smiled warmly at us both as he got Austin a gun and both of us ammo as well as protective gear. I waved at Tip again as we left to grab our lanes.

“So, you are here a lot,” Austin confirmed.

“Pretty much.”

“That guy is so into you.”

I laughed. “He so is.”

Austin shot me a look I didn’t understand.

“What?”

“Most girls don’t notice.”

“Good thing I’m not a girl then. I’m a woman.”

Austin laughed softly. “That is a very good thing.”

As Austin fiddled with the gun and began to load the ammunition, I pulled out my baby and inspected it. This was my first real purchase in Lubbock, and I was proud of it.

I might not originally be from Texas, but I’d grown up around guns. I knew my way, forward and backward, around them. From a rifle to a handgun and back. I’d gone hunting with my dad as a kid, and the shady neighborhood I’d grown up in made it clear that a gun and the ability to know how to fire one were necessary.

When I’d first been looking for a place to rent, I’d looked at a house with a legit gun safe with eight different locks and a keypad. That was the moment I knew that I’d fit right in, in Lubbock.

“All right, show me what you’ve got, Wright,” I said, motioning for him to go first.

He shot me a cocky grin before pulling on the protective headphones and aiming at the target. He carefully and methodically unloaded into the target down the line. My heart rate picked up. Watching Austin shoot was magical. The intensity in his gaze, the perfect stance, the slight kickback. It was more of a turn-on than I had imagined. I squeezed my legs together as my lower half responded full force to him.

He laughed when he put the gun down and pulled his headgear off. “I forgot how much fun that is.”

“Adrenaline rush, right?” I asked.

His eyes traveled the length of my body, and then he nodded. “Your turn, Banner.”

I swallowed and slowly averted my gaze. The tension between us was thick, and I needed to concentrate. When I worked with my gun, I went completely in the zone. Nothing else existed around me in that moment. It was me and the gun and the target.

When I finished my magazine, Austin’s expression said everything I needed to know. He eyes were glazed, his lips parted, his body angled toward me. Watching me shoot had done the same thing that it had when I watched him. If we kept this up, we wouldn’t even make it to the second part of the date.

I cleared my throat. “So, uh, what did you think?”