Page 75 of Property of Player

ZAYDEN: I know the club headed out for your national meet, so you’re not around, but I wanted you to know your sister came in the shop and introduced me to “your girl, Taylor”. That was news to me. Congrats. Not the reason for the text, though. They wanted to know if I could cover a scar with a tattoo. If you can see the white bandage in the photo on Taylor’s arm, it hides a wicked burn. Cici said Taylor’s ex-boyfriend burned her with a curling iron. Didn’t get the full story on how that happened, but he sounds like a fucking dick who needs to be dealt with. The burn looked fresh, like maybe it happened after you left town. She said she’d been to the doctor. Told her once it heals completely, we could talk about covering it, if that’s what she wants. Just thought you’d want to know. Been wrestling with whether or not to get involved, but I know I’d want to know if that were my girl.

White hot fury surges through my body. I don’t know who the fuck this guy is, but he’s a dead man walking. No one touches Taylor and gets away with it, and no one fucking burns her and lives. I think about calling her right now and getting the story, but another thought hits me.

I’ve got her sister’s number, and she may give me more information than Taylor will.

I dial her number, disregarding that it’s 2:00 a.m.

It rings four times before it’s picked up. I can imagine her staring at the number and trying to decide whether to answer it.

“Hello?” her voice comes on the line, filled with hesitancy.

“It’s Player. What the hell happened to Taylor?”

“Um. What do you mean?”

“Don’t bullshit me, Kayla. I know all about the burn.” I tell her about Zayden’s text and the visit to the tattoo shop and the reason they gave him.

“She wants a tattoo?” Kayla snaps.

“Who the fuck burned her, Kayla?” I bark, disregarding her damn question.

“His name is Randall.”

“Who the fuck is Randall?” I growl.

“She was with him in Virginia. He’s an asshole, and she’s been trying to get away from him. She thought she’d be safe from him here because she’d never told him about her hometown, but somehow he found her. He showed up at my mom’s house while we were at the hospital. Taylor said he was waiting for her when she walked in the door after I dropped her off.”

“She’s with him now?” I roar, flinging my cigarette.

“No, he’s a long-haul trucker. She told me he left on a run to the West Coast. I’ve been hoping you’d return before he does.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you contact me?”

“I should have. When are you getting back?”

“We’re leaving first thing in the morning. Even if I haul ass, it’ll still take me at least two days to cross the country, and I’m not leaving her unprotected for days.”

“Well, I tried to get her to come to my house, but she refused.”

I rake a hand through my hair and pace. “Goddamn it, I should have left her at my place, but she said she needed to be with her mother.”

“Mom is at my house now, so I can take care of her. I’ll try again tomorrow to make Taylor come home with me.”

“Fuck that. I’ll handle it.”

“How?”

“Gonna have the prospects go get her and take her to the clubhouse. She’ll be safe there.”

“She won’t go.”

“They won’t give her a choice.”

“She can be stubborn.”

“She can try,” I snap. “Keep me posted if that asshole shows back up.”

“I will.”