"At least gonna let me finish pissing, dipshit?"
My voice came out steady, with just enough bite to test him. I let a small edge of humor sit under it, the kind that could either ease tension or make things worse. Out here, it usually did the latter.
"Turn around."
The voice behind me didn't shake. Young, but trying hard not to sound it. There was tension in it, though. Tight. Controlled. Like he was holding something back.
"Nice and slow," he added.
I glanced down once, more out of habit than anything, then closed my eyes for half a second. My tongue pressed into the inside of my cheek as I let out a quiet breath through my nose. I could feel the weight of the gun behind me without seeing it. The angle. The distance. Close enough that if he pulled the trigger, there wouldn't be time to do anything about it.
"Don't make me ask again."
The silence stretched. It pressed in from all sides. Even the river behind me felt quieter now, like it had stepped back to watch.
I turned.
