“I’m sure none of you are surprised,” I say, finding my voice again, “but I’m ready to go home.”
Tanner raises an eyebrow at me. “Already?”
“Told you,Tan. She’s a loser.” Austin chuckles.
“Sorry,” I mutter before turning around and pushing open the grimy door. I head toward his bike without another word. We wind back to Jack’s in silence.
As Tanner drops me off, he has the nerve to say, “Can we do this again? Maybe come back to my place to watch a movie or something?”
God, I’m such an idiot. How did I miss what an asshat this guy is? “I’m busy for the next few weeks. I’ll text you, okay?”
I never thought I’d be happy to run into Austin, David, and Rachel, but I am. They helped me see firsthand what a scumbag Tanner is. I thought Jack was being overprotective, but he was trying to look out for me. Again. I guess I owe him an apology.
CHAPTER 30
JACK
When Tanner and Jessi pull into the drive, I’m shocked. Barely an hour has passed. I thought they would be out past midnight, knowing Tanner. I act distracted by working on my bike, but I keep my ears pricked for any snippets of conversation I can get. Every so often my eyes flick in their direction, watching and hoping they end their night soon.
They exchange a few words and Jessi hops off.
I swear to God, he better not kiss her.
After about two minutes of losing my mind, I’ve had enough. I don’t care if I come off as a protective dad. This nonsense needs to stop. I stand, making it evident that I’m watching that little shit.He waves as though he’s a well-behaved boy before revving the engine and disappearing down the driveway.
Jessi hands me my helmet. “Thank you,” she says, her smile not meeting her eyes.
“Jessi, what’s wrong?”
Her shoulders sag.“I don’t want to talk about it.”
My head splits thinking of what the fuck her words mean. Did Tanner put a hand on her? Make her do something she didn’t want to?
I follow her to the door, scanning her for signs of distress. “How about a deal?”
She folds her arms over her chest and eyes me. “What kind of a deal now?”
I wipe my hands on my pants as I close the distance between us, my mind formulating a plan. “If you promise not to hang out with Tanner anymore, I’ll stop hounding you about it.”
“What?” she screeches, really annoyed now. “Fine. If you no longer hang around with Medusa.”
“Done.”
“What do you mean, done?” she asks, her mouth making an annoyingly perfect “o” that I really want to kiss.
“I won’t hang around Natasha anymore.” I cross my arms over my chest to match her standoff.
“I don’t get it,” she says. “Why would you agree to that?”
“Because you clearly don’t like it, and because you asked me not to.”
She stares at me. Her eyes dart around the garage. She must be running through all the ways this could be a trick.
“Fine. I agree. I won’t see Tanner again.” She flips her hair over her shoulder and steps inside, wearing an expression that says she just won a game that I wasn’t aware we were playing.
I yell after her, “Let me clean up, then we can head to the store. Figure out what you want to watch tonight.”
I don’t care what game we’re playing as long as it keeps her off Tanner’s bike.
