Page 110 of My Favorite Hero

“So, you do have a dress,” a snide voice spoke.

I rolled my eyes, turning to find Chris standing behind me.

“Go away, Chris. I have nothing to say to you.”

“So I’m not good enough to get dressed up for, but you fix yourself up to come here. Hoping to land a firefighter? Someone worthy of your efforts?”

I had no desire to listen to him. I turned to leave, but he made the mistake of grabbing my upper arm, stopping me. “You reject me, then you send some ape after me?”

What was he talking about?

“Let me go.”

Chris narrowed his eyes, opening his mouth, but another voice spoke first.

“You heard the lady. Let her go or I will remove your hand, and I can’t guarantee it’ll remain attached to your body when I do.”

Jesse’s tone was furious. Barely restrained violence dripped from his words. Chris looked over his shoulder and froze. “Shit.”

Jesse strode toward us, his fists clenched, his shoulders back, ready for a fight. His shirt clung to his arms, his face set in anger. Fury rolled off him.

Chris let me go, stepping away quickly. Jesse kept coming, and Chris pressed himself to the wall, almost sniveling. Jesse stopped inches from him. “What did I tell you?”

“To, ah, stay away from her.”

“Do you not understand English?”

“Y-yes. We were just talking.” His gaze flew to mine, pleading.

I crossed my arms, the red imprint of his hand showing.

“It looked like you were hurting her. Threatening her. That makes me very unhappy,” Jesse said. “Very unhappy.”

“Oh dear,” I muttered. “When he’s unhappy, it’s sort of like the Hulk. Look out.”

“I’ll leave,” Chris whined. “I’ll go, and you’ll never see me again.”

“You’ll leave, all right. How, I’ve yet to determine.”

“Honey,” I cooed. “Remember what the therapist said. Breaking people’s bones comes second. Use your words.”

Jesse turned his head, his lips twitching. “I’m trying to use my words. I think I need to go to the second option. I can break his hands really fast. We’ll be gone when he comes to.”

“No,” Chris insisted. “I heard you. I was being a prick. I’m sorry, Casey.” He looked at Jesse. “I need my hands to do my job.”

“Thorne,” I said. “Let him go. After the last, ah, incident, I’m not sure you can stop. And it would be so messy.”

Chris whimpered, shutting his eyes. I had to turn away, trying not to laugh. Jesse leaned on the wall and whispered something to Chris, who nodded really fast. “I won’t. I promise. You’ll never see me again, and if you do, I’ll turn and leave.”

Jesse stood back. “You have to the count of ten to disappear from my sight.”

Chris was gone in five, almost tripping to get away.

Jesse turned to me. “Are you hurt?”

“No. He showed up a couple minutes before you did.”

He rolled his neck, loosening his shoulders. “I wanted to beat the shit out of him.” He paused. “I still do.”