“Who the hell are you, huh?” Dick’s voice gains more power. “Came here with no fucking name. This is my town, and you’ll soon learn that.”
I cringe, feeling secondhand embarrassment at such a bad movie line. I can’t believe I was ever into him.
“I see what’s happening here,” Jericho says. “You thought she’d be here when you were done dicking around, and now your plan is fucked.”
Dick is surprisingly quiet.
“I can promise you it’s fucked. Because she’ll never want you back. Ever.” Jericho’s voice is a quiet promise. He’s not yelling or growling. His tone is even. And that alone makes it even more promising.
But that makes Dick laugh. “She was mine first. And she’ll come back.”
The nerve of that man.
“She won’t.” Jericho gives him a shake, and my ex makes the first attempt to remove Jericho’s hands from his front. “I’ll make sure of that. Because once you’ve had a woman like Nora, nothing else ever comes close. And I’ve had Nora. And I’ll keep her mine.”
I suck in a breath. The words crash into me like warm waves on a sunny day.
I’ll keep her mine.
Dick mumbles something, but he’s backing away now. Jericho’s still and silent and terrifying in a way that doesn’t need yelling. His presence alone is enough to shrink the air around them.
“Don’t come back,” Jericho says, pushing Dick off the porch. “You show up here again, and you’ll have trouble looking at your phone.”
“My-my phone? Why would I need my phone?”
“To call the fuckin’ ambulance. Now get the fuck out.” This is the first time Jericho has raised his voice since he sprinted out of his house. His patience is gone, that’s for certain.
After a second-long hesitation, Dick retreats to his car and peels out like a coward. Hopefully he won’t kill anyone on the road judging by how intoxicated he is.
The street goes quiet.
Jericho stays where he is for a moment. Breathing hard. Fists clenched. Like he’s waiting to see if there’s more. While he’s going through that internal turmoil, I pull out my phone and shoot a message to Cheryl.
Dick just left my house. Drunk out of his mind. Maybe you should check the road and lock him up for eternity.
Three dots instantly appear on the screen, letting me know that my sister never sleeps.
Are you okay???
Yes. Jericho was here. I’ll explainlater.
K.
When he finally walks back and then inside his house, he doesn’t look at me right away. Even though I’m hot on his heels.
“Jericho?” I call gently.
He doesn’t speak, and I don’t push.
I take him in: heavy shoulders from the slow, deep breaths, guarded eyes, and unreadable expression. This version of him… I’ve never seen it before. And I don’t know what to do with it. Just when I’ve started thinking that I’ve cracked the shell of him, a new person emerges from the shadows. It’s still him but darker. Much darker.
He walks to the kitchen and grips the back of a stool. I follow him silently because I don’t want to leave him alone just yet, despite my desire to run and hide inside my room—from the whole world and from these new feelings.
“You okay?” he asks eventually, voice low.
I nod. “Yeah. And you?”
His chuckle is dark. “Yeah.”
