Jamie
W
hen Ellie and I walk outside, the chill of the night air hits my face, my lip stinging from the punch I took. Well deserved, I guess. I bet he’s been wanting to do that for a long time. I could have hit him back. I could’ve kicked his ass. However, I knew it wouldn’t get me anywhere. Ellie would have been pissed, and it would have caused a much bigger scene than it already was. So I clenched my fists and held back, for Ellie’s sake.
Ellie stops walking, feeling her pockets and huffing a frustrated sigh.
“Shit, I forgot my keys. You can head home, I’ll meet you there,” she tells me, letting go of hand, her hair flying in every direction from the wind.
Furrowing my brow, I say, “Are you sure? I can come with you.”
She shakes her head. “Yeah, I’ll just be a minute. We drove separately anyway.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll see you at home,” I tell her, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. She smiles, then turns and heads back to the building.
I make my way toward my car, unlocking it and tossing my shit into the back.
“Patterson.” Fuck, not again.
Turning around slowly, I’m faced with Holland Monroe. This time, the girls aren’t here to put a stop to whatever stupid as fuck thing he’s about to do. If I have to, I’ll lay him out. Ellie can be mad all she wants, but I won’t let the guy beat the shit out of me.
“What do you want, Monroe?”
He huffs out a sarcastic laugh. “I want to kick your ass for what you did to my sister.”
I nod, pursing my lips. “Yeah, I wanna kick my ass for that too,” I say honestly. “Although, you seem to have forgotten the last time you and I saw each other.”
He blanches. Oh, good. He hasn’t forgotten.
“See, the way I remember it is that I tried to come back. Once I got picked up by the Storm, I came back. Do you remember that?” I ask, knowing by the look on his face that he does. “I showed up to your house, ready to apologize to Ellie, hoping she could somehow forgive me. But you answered the door instead.”
I take a menacing step toward him, and he doesn’t move an inch. He’s seething, his nostrils flaring.
“By the way your sister explains the situation, she doesn’t seem to know the truth. And that truth is that you threatened me to stay away. You told me you’d ruin my career if I came near Ellie again. Knowing your family, you probably would have.”
Holland’s fists clench into fists at his sides. I watch his chest rise and fall as his breathing picks up.
“Why haven’t you told her?” he asks.
I shrug. “There’s no point. It wouldn’t change anything now, and I didn’t want her to hate her twin. We’re in a good place now,” I explain truthfully. Taking another step until we’re inches away from each other, my expression turning threatening. “If you ever try to get in our way again, if you ever hit me again, she’ll know everything.”
His throat bobs as he swallows. He nods, backing away, exhaling hard.
“I still don’t like you, and I sure as fuck don’t want you with my sister,” he spits.
I chuckle. “Would be weird if you did,” I say before getting into my car and pealing out of the parking lot, leaving Holland standing there alone.
Wasn’t the way I thought my night would end up, but there’s still time to turn it around, and I know just the way to do it.
When I get home, I run upstairs and wash my face. Some dried blood sticks to my lip, but I don’t think it’ll bruise. I make my bed, and make sure the room is clean.
When I’m done, I run downstairs and pour two glasses of wine. We’re celebrating tonight, and I intend to make Ellie feel amazing.
I won’t tell her about the parking lot with Holland. There’s no reason to. If Holland backs off, she won’t ever have to know.
I wanted to tell her about Holland’s threats for months, hell, years even after I left, but I knew it wouldn’t change anything. I still left her. I still fucked up. So, I’ve kept that secret and will continue to do so. She’ll be okay living in the dark about that one.
We just pulled off the impossible. The fundraiser was fucking awesome and the school made a shit ton of money. All thanks to Ellie. She also agreed to come with me back to New York. To live with me. There will be times where she’ll have to sleep alone while I’m at away games, but I think she’ll be okay.
