He didn’t say anything for a second, just stared at Thomas, deciding he wanted to drag the moment out. “I hate to break it to you, but your little plan failed. Maddie is no longer my physical therapist; my care was transferred when the coach put me on the injured reserve,” he said, slowly and loudly so he was sureThomas could hear clearly over the noise around them. “It must be such a disappointment to have every evil plan you come up with backfire on you. I don’t know, maybe you should rethink this being a bad guy thing, you’re not really very good at it.”
Next to him, Maddie burst into laughter, then quickly covered her mouth when Thomas gave her a dirty look. “You haven’t won yet, Price. I’m far from done fighting,” he growled at them. “I was trying to play nice before, but not anymore. You’d better watch your back, you’re never going to know when or where I’ll strike, and this time it’s going to be for keeps.”
“For keeps? What are we, ten years old?” Walker asked, shaking his head. “Just give it up, Thomas, go back to your…family and tell them to leave us alone, or this isn’t going to end well.”
“Don’t threaten me,” Thomas said, bending down and getting in Walker’s face. “I can take you, Price, any time you want, anywhere you want.”
“This is getting more and more juvenile by the second,” Walker said. “I’m not going to fight you in the parking lot, Thomas,we’re too old for that, but you’d better get out of my face and fast.”
“Is there a problem over here?” a manager asked, stepping between them. “Some of the guests have been complaining.”
“There’s no problem,” Thomas said, backing away. “Just a friendly discussion that got a little loud. I’ll be on my way now, Walker. Don’t forget what I said, I’m coming for you.”
The three of them watched in silence as Thomas pushed his way through the crowded room to the front door. “I’m sorry about that,” the manager said. “I should have kicked him out a long time ago. He’s been causing trouble since he came in.”
“It’s not your fault,” Walker said, shaking his head. “But thank you for stepping in. I was beginning to lose my patience.”
“Your dinner is on me tonight,” the manager said. “I hope you’ll come back.”
***Maddie***
The mood spoiled, they gathered up their things and headed for the door. “I’m sorry about that, Thomas just doesn’t know when to quit,” Walker said when they got outside. “I hope he didn’t completely ruin the night. We were having a good time until he showed up.”
“It’s okay, Walker, it wasn’t your fault, he was behaving like a child,” she said, then looked over at him. “This feud thing between your families must be really serious. I mean, other than that, you haven’t done anything to him, have you?”
“I know it must seem a little…I don’t know…over the top to you, but it’s been going on for a long time,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Personally, I’d love to see it stop. All this fighting doesn’t help anyone, but no one is going to be the first one to back down. It doesn’t help that Thomas’s family doesn’t exactly play by the rules, which forces us to do the same.”
She thought about that as they crossed the parking lot to Walker’s car. “How come I never heard about this before?” she finally asked, trying to sort it all out in her mind. “I don’t remember you fighting with the Sigmas back when we were freshmen.”
“It hadn’t really started yet, back then I guess we were all just getting settled,” Walker said. “They didn’t really start messing with us until this year. I guess getting their gambling and prostitution businesses shut down left them with some time on their hands.”
“I’m sorry, what?” she asked, stopping in front of his car. “Did you just say what I think you said?”
Walker nodded, “Didn’t you hear about it?” he asked. “It was a huge scandal. The dean of the college was in on it, but everything fell apart last spring, and the cops shut it all down. I don’t know how the Sigmas avoided getting in trouble, but they walked away, and they’ve been after us ever since then.”
“Wow, that’s crazy, I had no idea,” she said, shaking her head. “After freshman year, I switched to online classes. I hadn’t been on campus until this fall, and I noticed something felt different, but…”
“The Sigmas have been responsible for all the problems on campus this fall, the vandalism, the bombing of the stadium, it was all them,” he said. “No one has been able to prove a thing though, so you can see why I don’t have much patience for Thomas and his tricks.”
She was silent as he helped her into the car, then went around to get in himself. “It is complicated, you weren’t wrong about that,” she finally said, looking over at him. “But in the end, what you’re talking about is a battle between good and evil.”
He smiled at her, relief in his eyes. “That’s a good way to put it,” he said, then reached over and took her hand. “But I don’t want you worrying about all this. I’ll protect you from Thomas and the rest of his clan…I mean family.”
She studied him for a second, then felt the warmth of the connection between them, and felt the truth in Walker’s words. “I believe you,” she finally said. “I’m not sure I completely understand, but I believe you.”
He pulled her into his arms. “That’s all I ask,” he said, then lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her until all of it faded from her mind.
Mrs. Mathews was waiting up for her when she got home, and she instantly felt guilty. “I’m sorry it’s so late, you didn’t have to stay up and wait for me,” she said, shedding her coat and boots at the door. “Is Justin okay?”
“Oh, he’s fine, sound asleep like a little lamb,” Mrs. Mathews said, patting the couch next to her. “Come tell me about your dinner. Did you tell him?”
“Not yet, I’m still not ready,” she said, sitting down next to the woman who had become her best friend. “But I’m getting there. I do think he’s changed, grown up, it’s just a big step and I need to make completely sure it’s the right thing to do.”
“You’ll know when the time is right,” Mrs. Mathews said, patting her arm. “Just remember the longer you wait, the harder it’s going to get.”
“Soon, I promise,” she said, getting to her feet again. “It’s been a long day, we should both go to bed.”
“I’ll be along in a minute. I started watching this movie and I want to see how it ends,” Mrs. Mathews said. “Oh, I almost forgot, there’s a letter on the kitchen table for you. It came by special delivery, and I had to sign for it.”
