Jay picks at the label on the beer bottle in front of him. “My day has been shitty enough. I don’t need you to make it worse.”
There has never been any love lost between Jay and me. We became rivals the second we met. He was always a pompous,possessive jackass. He thought I was an entitled, rich prick. Things only got worse when he noticed my interest in Elizabeth.
Tapping two fingers to the bar top, I study his profile. Time has not been kind. He looks like a man beaten down by life. Gaunt build, shaggy hair, sunken cheeks. He’s a shell of the person I remember from high school and college.
“Why are you here?” I ask.
“I live here, asshole.”
Not in Highland, but I let that semantic go.
“Funny how no one knows you’re back. Jules doesn’t. Elizabeth doesn’t.”
His head snaps my way, his gray eyes threatening. “And how would you know?”
“Please, fucker,” I reply with a hefty dose of sarcasm. He knows better than anyone who I am and the reach I have. I can find out every detail of a person’s life with just a phone call—and ruin it just as quickly. “She doesn’t need you traipsing back into town and messing with her head.”
Abruptly standing, he tosses a twenty-dollar bill on the bar. “Liz is none of your goddamn business.”
“Yeah, she is.” He’s the man who shattered her heart, and I’m the guy who’s trying to put it back together.
His hands curl into fists at his sides. He wants to get physical, I’m all for it. It’s been a long time coming. I would love nothing more than to lay him flat on his ass.
“Stay away from her. You’ve hurt her enough.”
Is he serious? “So have you.”
Grief takes over the rage, and he drags a tired hand through his hair. “What do you want, Fallon? You obviously tracked me down for a reason.”
“I want to know why you’re back.”
“Why are you?”
We both know the answer because it’s the same one.Her.
“Does she know?” he says.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
He doesn’t retreat this time but takes an ominous step forward. “You knowexactlywhat the fuck I’m talking about.”
Something ugly slithers its way up my spine at his vague recrimination. I carry a lot of demons when it comes to Elizabeth, but I have a feeling he’s insinuating about one in particular.
Jay ends our standoff by walking away.
“Jay.” He doesn’t stop, leaving me no other choice but to go after him, something I absolutely despise doing. I catch him as soon as I step outside of O’Reilly’s. “Jay.”
“For fuck’s sake,” he mumbles, then faces off with me. “What?”
“If she finds out you’re in town and didn’t try to reach out, it’s going to break her heart. And I think we both can agree that her heart has been broken enough.”
I can’t believe the words that come out of my mouth. I should be threatening him to stay away from her. Jay has the power to destroy everything. If anyone still has a hold over her, it’s him.
The door to the bar opens when a couple comes out, spilling noise into the night. I step out of the way to let them pass.
“I saw him today. Ry.”
He was at the house? When?
