He’s a little thinner than I remember, his face drawn, eyes sunken in and hollow.
There’s a deep bruise along his jawline that hasn’t healed well, and the smell of stale cigarettes clings to him even from a few feet away.
Grant inhales sharply, disbelief turning quickly to anger. “Jesus Christ. You’ve got some nerve showing your face here.”
Jared’s lips twitch into a crooked smirk, though there’s no humor behind it.
“I could say the same thing to you,cowboy.” He looks past us into the shop, scanning the room like he’s taking inventory of what’s been fixed, what’s been rebuilt. “Looks good in here. Guess I should be flattered you’re fixing my handiwork.”
“Get the hell out of here, Jared,” I snap, taking a step forward.
“Relax. Nobody got hurt. She deserved it anyway.” He shrugs.
Grant’s hand twitches like he’s about to swing, but I step in front of him before he can. “I mean it. You need to leave. Right now.”
Jared chuckles. His gaze flicks between us, a sneer working its way onto his face. “You think Noelle’s gonna play house with the three of you forever?”
Grant’s eyes go dark. “Watch your mouth.”
“I’m just saying,” Jared continues, leaning one shoulder against the doorframe. “She’s good at pretending, isn’t she? All that innocence…until she gets bored, that is. I know how she is.”
Grant lunges before I can stop him, grabbing Jared by the collar and shoving him back.
He doesn’t let go, keeping a tight hold around the front of his shirt and using it to slam him against the brick wall outside.
“You don’t get to talk about her,” he snarls, his voice shaking with fury. “You don’t even get to say hername.Do you understand me?”
Jared laughs, though there’s a flicker of fear in his eyes now. “Touched a nerve, huh? Didn’t I warn you how much of a whore?—”
“Grant!” I bark, grabbing his arm when he raises his fist. “Don’t. Not here.”
His chest heaves, his knuckles trembling inches from Jared’s jaw.
For a heartbeat, I’m not sure if he hears me. His pupils are blown so wide that his eyes look black.
His face taut with fury, teeth gritting hard enough to make his jaw twitch.
Jared sneers right back at him, trying to recover the upper hand. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. Big man can’t finish what he started, huh.”
My first stupid move is dropping the hammer because I want a free hand.
My second is using that free hand to try to pry Grant away before he swings because as much as I want to see Jared eat pavement, we don’t need jail to ruin this for Noelle.
I yank at Grant’s arm, pull until he stumbles back, but Jared’s not done. He’s unhinged and fast like a cornered animal.
He lunges for the hammer and grabs it, bringing it up like a battering ram.
The swing is wild with no aim and all rage and it swings past Grant’s temple so close the force of it snaps his head.
Adrenaline kicks in so hard my legs feel like they’re on fire.
Grant shoves back from me, splitting us apart so we’re not targeted together.
Tires crunch nearby, squealing slightly as the driver jams on the brakes and throws the car into park right at the curb.
I’m too busy dodging another swing to look over and tell the person climbing out of the car to get back.
“Callum!” Grant shouts.
