Page 68

She breathes in slowly, a soft quirk to her lips. “Don’t be long.” Her eyes drift to the upper lot. “If you see him, don’t… cause any problems.”
I nod. “I’ll behave.”
Would I though?
While Frankie takes her back to the house, I take my time at the field. Josh and I make small talk as we walk back to my truck. “Oh, fuck. I forgot my hat in the dugout,” Josh says, turning around. “I’ll catch up with ya.”
I keep walking up the hill to the parking lot and that’s when I notice Shane is still in the parking lot talking with a group of guys. His friends, I assume, though it’s hard to imagine he has any.
One would think he’d be gone by now given the game ended over an hour ago, but I also know why he’s still here.
Me.
After our interactions on the field, I expected this, but can’t believe he’s still waiting.
What he doesn’t realize is that I’ve had training he never has. I can, if I want, kill him with my bare hands. And believe me when I say it’s so fucking tempting after seeing what he did to Evie. So tempting.
He stands a little straighter when he spots me, his shirt beside him on the hood of his car, a beer in hand, cigarette dangling from his lips. I know guys like him. He thinks that shit, the cigarette and beer, and his custom car Daddy bought means he’s tough. He’s a fucking pussy if you ask me.
It’s an act. The son of a bitch beats up women. What real man lays a hand on a woman? One who can’t defend himself in a real fight.
Though I don’t want the reaction, my body tenses, anticipating a fight as I approach my truck. I don’t remember parkingit beside him, but as my luck would have, we’re right next to each other. I bet he moved his damn car.
I try, I really do, to walk by without going noticed. Of course, as soon as I walk past them, Shane starts in with his bantering.
There are ways of finding out information, classified or not. It’s all in who you know and if you dig deep enough, you can get that information. Such as, injuries, past ones, that let’s say, happened while deployed. You’d think that would be highly classified, right?
Nope. A simple records request done by the right personnel will give you anything you want to know.
“How’s that shoulder?” Shane asks, taking a slow drag from his cigarette. He waits for me to make eye contact with him before he blows the smoke in the air.
See what I mean? He dug deep enough to find what he could on me.
I toss my bag in the back of my truck, giving way to an amused laugh. He obviously knew which shoulder to hit, didn’t he?
Honestly, I don’t care that he knew. I don’t. Let him know just how fucked up I am. Let him see what that pain does to me now.
“It’s fine.” I wink at him, leaning into my truck with the same shoulder. Yeah, it hurts, but I’m not going to let on. “How’s your hip?”
It’s not like I give a shit, but I notice a bruise already forming on his hip. I also notice the darkness under his eye and the cracked lip. He’s gotten a taste of what I can do to him, but he has no idea what I’m capable of.
“Never better.” Shane shakes his head, his buddies watching me, and it takes everything in me not to kick his ass.
“Bullshit.” I know if I cause a scene with him, right now, I’d be going against what I promised Evie. That’s the last thing I want to do. I know I already pushed my luck with her today.
Just as I’m getting in my truck, Shane pops off with “Not much of a tough guy without—”
I don’t let him finish before I jump out of my truck, slam the door shut and face him. He slides off his car, inches from my face. “I will only tell you this one time, you stupid motherfucker,” I warn, stepping closer. “Stay. Away. From. Evie.”
His posture stiffens. “Why? You gonna stop me?”
“Yeah, I am going to stop you.” I make no attempt to back off. “I’m not warning you again.”
His expression remains blank, searching my eyes. Maybe he’s trying to see if I’m being serious, which only pisses me off more that he doubts my intentions. “I’m not going to regret anything,” he says, leaning casually against his car again, his cigarette brought to his lips. “But you do. You regret a lot of things. And she turned to me. Does it kill you to know that she was on my dick?”
I act like the twenty-one-year-old kid I am. “Nah.” I smile. “It don’t ’cause she was on mine first. And I know it kills you to know I had her first.”
By the collapsed brows and frown, I know I struck a nerve, but he recovers quickly, rearranging his facial expressions. “She won’t be for much longer, soldier boy.”