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“They should’ve gotten their balls cut off,” I answered immediately.

When my girlfriend only sniffed and rolled her eyes, I said, “These motherfuckers put their hands on you. They tried to kiss you without your permission. They chased you, scared you, cornered you, and made you cry. They don’t deserve to live. ”

She blinked at me before saying, “I like this protective side of you. You’re really hot when you get pissed off on my behalf.”

And just like that, she turned me from fuming mad to going up into flames with need.

“Fuck, yeah, I am,” I murmured as I grasped her face and pulled her toward me. Swooping in, I met her in the middle over the center console, and our lips crashed together.

Waverly whimpered, and the hungry sound went straight to my cock as I plunged my tongue deeper and shifted in my seat to move closer?—

Just as an insistent tapping started behind me on my driver’s side window.

Yelping in surprise, Waverly lurched back, and I cursed, needing a moment to calm myself before I turned around to see a scowling Ms. Breeker glaring at me through the glass.

Grinding my teeth, I rolled the window down and bit out, “Yes?”

She tapped her watch. “It’s midnight.”

“Jesus Christ,” I growled, still hyped up from the emotions that had surged through me in the last five minutes. “She’s right fucking here. On the property . And we were just saying goodbye.”

Waverly’s mom sent me a bland stare. “Your volatile outburst is really convincing me, Mr. Dugger, that you’re what’s best for my daughter. Keep it up, and I’ll call the police on you for trespassing.”

“Mom,” Waverly said from behind me, her voice exasperated.

But it was that very voice that helped settle me.

Trying to keep in mind that her mom was this way because she was worried, I exhaled slowly, making myself visibly calmer.

Turning to Waverly, I murmured, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Taking her hand, I squeezed her fingers gently and added, “At school.”

She watched me for a moment as if worried, but then she nodded. “Okay.”

I smiled. “Bye. Sleep well, darlin’.”

“Bye.” Still acting leery, as if she expected me to do something drastic, she glanced from me to her mom, who I could still feel standing there at the open window of my Jeep. But Waverly didn’t say a word. Instead, she opened the passenger door and slid out.

I waved, she waved back, and then she shut the door.

Her mom waited until she was out of earshot and halfway back to the porch before snarling, “If you think you’re going to see my daughter again?—”

Without looking at her, I pushed the window button, rolling it back up and muffling whatever bullshit she was going to say next. And only once it was completely closed, did I turn to look at her, my glare scathing.

If I followed my girl’s advice and took a step back from this, I could understand why Ms. B was worried—I could even appreciate the fact that she cared about her daughter—but I still thought she was being a complete bitch and reacting in the worst way possible.

Scowling back, she flashed her teeth at me, then whirled and stalked off, following her daughter to the door. I waited in the Jeep, making sure both women made it inside safely before I put the engine into reverse and backed out of the driveway.

As soon as I was on the road, I fetched my phone and dialed a familiar number.

“What’s this?” Parker’s voice drawled curiously by way of greeting. “Is Duggie calling me ? I heard you weren’t going to approach me first. I had to be the one to start the truce between us.”

“Yeah, well…” I rolled my eyes. “What do you want me to say? You’ve got the bigger dick. Congratulations. Are you going to help me with a problem, or not?”

There was a pause, and I could feel Ohrley’s surprise leak through the phone. But he answered with, “Of course, little brother. Always. What do you need?”

“Vengeance,” I said. “A handful of fucking ballers harassed Waverly at the library tonight.”

“Harassed her how ?” Parker demanded, his voice going hard.

“How do you think ?” I snarled. “They saw me kissing her goodbye before I left for the evening and thought she was open season. One put his fucking hands on her, tried to kiss her, and then a whole slew of them chased her when she ran off; they cornered her in the?—”

“Their names?” Parker ground out.

“I don’t know their fucking names. She didn’t either. Just that they were on the team. But campus police took them down to the station so there’s probably a record of?—”

“That’s enough information for me,” Parker cut in. “I’ll take it from here. The fuckers will never play ball again, I promise you.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, I closed my eyes briefly as I paused at a red light. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Duggie. This one will be my pleasure.”

I nodded, grateful I had a rich prick for a friend who happily ruined the lives of anyone who fucked with one of his people.

After a moment of neither of us saying anything, he cleared his throat and mumbled, “So yeah, I’m sorry I refused to tell you about Waverly being your?—”

“It’s fine,” I broke in, probably more uncomfortable about hearing an apology from him than he was giving it. “All water under the bridge,” I added. “She told me why you did it.” Shuddering in sympathy over the whole suicide thing, I murmured, “She told me everything.”

Parker was quiet before surprise filtered through the line. “She…did?”

“Yeah, about her depression and suicide attempt. And, man, I don’t know how to thank you enough for saving her life when she overdosed. I just—yeah… Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that either,” he said before pausing for an extended moment and then clearing his throat. “So that’s all she told you about? The suicide attempt?”

I frowned. “Why? What else is there to know?”

“I—” I could hear him hissing his regret under his breath for revealing too much.

“Hey. I don’t like you knowing shit about her that I don’t,” I growled.

“I know,” he snapped back. “And I’d tell you.

I swear to God, Keene. I hate keeping shit from you.

But it’s not my place, and it’s not my story.

It’s hers. And she should be the one to tell it when she’s ready.

Trust me, you want her to be the one to tell it because when she does, you’ll know she can trust you with anything. ”

“Fuck,” I breathed, my throat dropping into my stomach as I reached home. “Is it that bad?”

“It ain’t good,” he answered gravely, and my mind started to spin with all kinds of dark horrors.

“You’re freaking me out,” I told him, hoping he’d give me at least a hint to ease my mind.

But all he said was, “Let’s just say that girl needs something good to happen in her life for a change. So you better treat her like a goddamn princess, you hear me.”

Pulling back in my seat, I parked my Jeep but left the engine running. “I hear you, man,” I said, my mind still spinning with the worst possibilities. “And I’m one step ahead of you. I’m going to be the best boyfriend she’s ever had.”

“Boyfriend?” His shock was palpable. “So you’ve gone from player to one-woman man just like that, huh?”

“Yep,” I said without an ounce of hesitation. “Just like that.”

“Yeah, well…” He chuckled. “We’ll see how that goes. I honestly hope y’all do make it. I like the idea of you two together.”

“In that case,” I snarked back. “Stop stealing all my good lines. I tried giving her the feather talk—you know, that one Matt gave us in the share circle years ago—only to learn you’d already done it, ya asshole.”

And she’d ended up tatting herself because of it too. That shit was going to stop now. Her next tattoo was going to feature me .

Parker belly laughed before taunting, “Jealous?”

“No,” I muttered, sniffing so he’d hopefully believe me.

He didn’t. “Right,” he drawled smugly. “Now, if there’s nothing else, I gotta go. My talking is stirring Hope awake, so I’m going to try to score another round with her while she’s all sleepy and soft and pliable.”

“Aww, sick, man.” I grimaced because out of all the women my best friends were dating, Hope felt the most sister-like to me. And picturing her getting it on with anyone, especially Ohrley, was just wrong. “TMI.”

He chuckled. “Later, kid. Take care.”

“Yeah. See ya.”

We hung up, and I set the phone in my lap, but I didn’t cut the engine of the Jeep yet. Staring sightlessly at Archer House, I swallowed hard, wondering what more there was to know about my own girlfriend. What other horrors had she survived?