“Travis,” Pacey whispers as I pass her. “It wasn’t her fault. He was saying nasty stuff to her. She was flustered and couldn’t concentrate.”
My nostrils flare as I climb into my car. The guys follow, hopping in after me. I peel out, smoke billowing behind me as I leave.
If he’s not dead yet, I’m going to kill him.
“There.” Liam points to the small crowd forming at the end of the lot. Great. Witnesses.
I don’t see any cops yet, but it won’t be long. I whip into a spot and jump out, striding toward him. He’s lying on the concrete with a few older women gathered around him.
“Hey, buddy.” He looks up, his face falling when he sees us. I glance at the ladies, giving them my best smile. “We’ll take it from here.”
They nod, assuming we’re his friends, and go.
“The cops are already on their way,” he states.
Of course. Narc.
“That’s ok.” I crouch down, inspecting his leg. It looks fine, though his foot is twisted in a way that doesn’t seem natural. “Here’s what you’re going to say when they get here. You’re going to tell themIran you over by accident and you’re not pressing charges because we’re pals.”
He scoffs. “Someone already called in a hit and run.”
I grit my teeth, fingers twitching to wring his goddamn neck. “I don’t give a fuck. You’re gonna give them the real story. No charges, and you’ll pay your own hospital bill.”
He laughs. “Why the hell would I do that? Your crazy girlfriend mowed me down! She tried to kill me. I’m turning her ass in.”
My hand tightens around his bad ankle, and he hisses. “Do that and I’ll make sure you never work in the music industry again. Never work anywhere again. Everyone will know you’re a drug-pushing pedophile.”
“What the hell? I’m not?—”
I squeeze harder. “Who do you think they’ll believe? You or the band that fired you in the middle of their first tour?” Sirens blare behind me, and I move to what appears to be his normal foot, twisting it, too. “Mention Ellie’s name ever again, and I will break both your fucking legs. You’re lucky I’m letting you hobble out of here alive after the shit you pulled.” I don’t need to know what he said. He has no reason to ever utter a single damn word to her ever again.
His eyes water. It looks as if he’s about to cry. He’s in so much pain, it makes me grin. I let go and stand up. His eyes flash to the guys standing behind me, ready to toss him in my trunk and drive him to a field if I wanted.
“Fine,” he grits.
The cops pull up and waste an hour of my time, asking questions and staring us down as if they knew we were lying,but they didn’t seem to care either way. Calvin didn’t press charges, and when the ambulance carted him away, we left.
The girls are huddled up on the couch when we make it back to my house. Ellie jumps up and rushes to me as soon as I come through the door.
“What happened?”
“Everything’s fine, May. I took care of it.”
“But—”
I shake my head, silencing her with a kiss. “It’s ok.”
She stares at me and sighs, her body melting into mine in relief.
After the excitement, everyone leaves. I was trying to hide it because Ellie had been looking forward to this get-together for weeks. She’s been missing her best friend a lot. Liv’s been busy with her store—it’s opening soon. But my mood was ruined after the situation with Calvin. Not because Ellie hit him, fuck, I wish she had taken out both legs, but because whatever he said dulled her spark tonight. She tried to pretend it hadn’t, but I know.
She’s lying across my couch, Cinnamon on her stomach, as she watches one of her love shows. I lean over the back of the couch and grab the cat, dropping her on the floor and shooing her away. She’s here more than she’s not—the cat and Ellie—and I like it. I thought it might be a lot, having her in my space all the time, especially when we’ve just dipped our toes in the relationship pool, but it’s not.
I’m fucking killing the boyfriend gig. Seriously, I’m damn proud of myself. She makes it easy, she makes mewantto be better. At everything.
“Let’s go to bed.” I walk around, scoop her into my arms, and carry her into the bedroom. I kick the door closed so Cinnamon doesn’t try to sneak in, then place her gently on the bed. We’ve been fucking nonstop since we got home, but it’s never enough to curb my appetite for her.
Tonight, I want to do something a little different. Ellielikes to pamper me. It’s in her nature to take control in the bedroom, but she gives it up to me easily. We take turns, and I love that, but tonight is going to be all about her. I want to make her come over and over until she can’t think straight. Can’t think about the events of the day, and what that fuckwad said. I want her to be so blissed out in pleasure that she’s floating in the damn clouds until she passes out into a peaceful sleep.
