Re: O'Brien, Leah?, Open
"Glad you didn't follow her example." Being kissed was better than being groped, that was for sure. A black eye wouldn't be the only thing O'Brien would've been nursing that night, had he done that.
Leah snorted a laugh in spite of herself. The ease with which he could go from no-nonsense cop to acting like a big kid was impressive... and, okay, a little bit endearing. But just a little. "Guess that means you just enjoy giving kids nightmares. Tisk, tisk, Detective," she said, shaking her head as if truly ashamed of his actions. No doubt his stories probably gave some kids nightmares, but for others, if it got them laughing or sparked their imaginations? That was something.
"Bet the mafia's enjoying that fact. Easier to dispose of bodies. Someone pisses you off," she shrugged, "kill them and say the zombies got them." And that was the world they lived in now. And also the reason she chose to stay at one of the larger safehouses. The smaller ones held a much seedier population.
She made a face when he called her a piranha. "Yeah, I don't think I'll be taking that as a compliment any time soon." Easier said than done, ignoring the guy spouting off cocky remarks and bad jokes. Rodeo — the guy's name, she just recalled — was the type of person who knew how to get under someone's skin just from a few choice words. She hoped she never had to endure the pleasure of his company, such as it was.
Leah didn't know what to say to that. She was willing to accept that he hadn't planned on kissing her, willing even to accept that it was her own fault for standing right there. She'd had plenty of time to step away and prevent it from happening. But she hadn't. The why remained unanswered. "We've established that it was wrong," she said finally. "And I accept the apology. As far as I'm concerned, what happened didn't happen. But if I ever find out who hung that mistletoe there, count on seeing them sporting a black eye like yours."
Yeah. That's what she'd expected. Pretty and capable. Nothing else. Basically, she could take care of herself and she was fuckable. That was it. She wasn't an intellectual. She wasn't a strategist. She wasn't even nice. Obviously none of those things mattered. No wonder Brandon always got defensive of new guys she interacted with. Lifting her eyes to the ceiling, Leah inhaled a calming breath. "In the future, if you want to avoid another blow to the face or any other parts, you might want to try lying to me. As long as it doesn't get me killed, I don't care."
She shook her head. "Keeping my family alive is the only thing that matters. That's all this is," she indicated the celebration. "It isn't a Happy New Year. Just another year that some people lived to see."
"I don't know what I'm going to do. Sleeping isn't an option, not with all the noise going on." She looked at him. "I'm thinking the better question is, do you want me to stick around? More than likely we'll end up arguing about something."