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“About Casey? Yeah. That’s why she dumped me. Something’s going on with them.”
Dawn screws up her face. “Between Spencer and Casey? Not a chance.” She hiccups once hard before pounding her chest with her palm. “Ah, fuck. One too many.”
“It’d make sense. He’s more her age. Less complicated.”
She blinks at me. “What are you talking about? Spencer loathes Casey. What did she tell you?”
I drag my hand over my face, exhaustion weighing me down. This whole week has been a test of self-restraint. I can get over her, but I need more time. Maybe I’ll hide out in L.A. for another week. “She told me he’s stirring old feelings up and asked if we could go back to being…nothing. Boss and assistant.”
Dawn’s eyelids drop to half-mast. She smacks herself in the cheeks repeatedly.
“What’re you doing?”
“Trying to sober up enough to see if I still want to do this.” She teeters her head back and forth. “Yup. Too late. Nathan, Casey is stirring up feelings for Spencer because he’s a traumatic trigger for her.”
“No, she told me she slept with him consensually.”
“And then he asked her to take naked pictures of herself for him. He and his dumbass football friends spread them around the entire campus with the word ‘cow’ painted on all of them. Thousands of students saw her butt-naked and made fun of her. Then she’s the one who got scolded by school administration for inappropriately interacting with boys. If I were her mother, I would’ve taken those fuckers to court. But her mom couldn’teven swoop in to protect her little girl because that very next week?—”
“She died,” I finish, a sudden nausea making my stomach spin.
“Five years ago isn’tthatlong. She’s still stuck in the worst moment of her life. Public humiliation does something to a woman. It twists her heart. Makes it so hard to trust again.”
I feel my heartbeat in my ears. The room goes silent as I will myself not to move.Breathe through the anger, Nate.Just bottle it back up. I know I can’t fix this. But I’m rageful with a deep-seeded fury that heats my body from the core. Adrenaline courses through me, taking over my limbs, and pulling me from my body.
I’m out of my seat, Dawn’s empty glass in my hand.
Ignoring my better sense.
I’m across the room and my hand is around Casey’s neck, slamming him against the wall.
Everybody’s shouting at me, but I can’t hear the words. I don’t give a fuck. I’ve been so angry for so long. I want to choke the actual life out of him because whoever raised this piece of shit didn’t teach him there are consequences to his actions.
Now, I’m his consequence.
I smash the cup against the wall, an inch from his ear. He whimpers like a little bitch when he sees the blood run down my hand, not understanding that it’s mine.
“You’re fired,” I growl out, my face mere inches from his. “I don’t employ scum.”
I release his neck so he can breathe. “What’d she tell you?” he sputters out. “I didn’t do anything. My buddies took my phone. It was just a joke, man.”
“Even if I believed you, which I don’t, doing nothing is just as bad. Did you pound the shit out of your so-called buddies for violating a young woman that way? Did you help pull postersdown? Did you check on her? Did you fucking apologize? Did you do any goddamn thing the way a real man would?”
“Nathan, let him go,” Dad says sternly.
I side-eye my dad, keeping Casey body-checked in place. I can’t believe this punk ever played football for a Division 1 school. He looks pathetic and puny in my eyes. “Dad, stay out of it.”
“Nate,” Dad pleads. “We’re all having a nice night. Don’t do this.”
“Tell my dad what you did to Spencer. Tell the whole room if you’re so proud of it.”
Casey clamps his jaws shut, unwilling to say a word.
“You want me to tell them?” I threaten.
He pulls in his lips. “I’m sorry, man. I’ll tell her that I’m truly sorry.”
I tighten my fist, wanting him to hear the loud crack of my knuckles. “No, you’re going to stay the fuck away from her. Forever. Leave the city. Leave the state. I don’t care. If you ever speak to Spencer again, I will break you, Casey. Starting with your face, then your wallet, your credit, your reputation, and anything else you give a shit about. I will hurt you like you hurt her just to prove a point. Don’t drive me to extremes, because I love to keep my promises.”