Page 31
“Dude, I didn’t do anything,” JR yells, righting himself, and his eyes land on me. “That bitch threw a drink in my face.”
“Yeah, because you’re an asshole,” I shout at him as I feel my friends get close.
“Fuck you,” he yells back, then looks at Tucker. “Tell him that I didn’t do anything.” I swing my head to Tucker. I swear to god, if he takes up for JR, I’m going to get Tiffany’s drink and throw it at him. Then I’m going to go to the grocery store, find Whit, and tell her that she needs to run as far as she can from him.
Shocking me, though, Tucker looks at his friend, shakes his head, and crosses his arms over his chest in a silent protest.
Thank god he didn’t make me regret thinking he’s a good guy.
“Seriously, dude?” JR glares at his friend before looking around the room. I’m not sure he has the ability to get embarrassed, but when he sees everyone staring at him, he lifts his chin and straightens out the bottom of his sweater. “Fuck this shit.” He glares at everyone before turning and opening the door hard enough that it bangs against the wall. When the door closes behind him, I let out a long breath and turn to Tucker.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. He deserved that,” he tells me, dragging his hands through his hair.
“Genevieve.” Hearing my name in a clipped tone that no one in my life has ever used with me, my eyes fly over to the bar and land on Wyatt.
Oh shit—obviously I do not know him well, but it’s pretty apparent that he is pissed, and it’s also clear that his anger is directed at me. And since he is a sheriff’s deputy and I think I might have just broken the law, my stomach fills with anxiety, and I start to feel physically ill.
My mom has always told me that my temper would get me into trouble one day, but I never would have guessed that I would be in trouble with the guy I’ve got a weird crush on.
“Oh shit,” Anna says when Wyatt growls, “Time to go.”
I look over at my brothers, the two people besides my parents who have always protected me, but instead of looking like they might step in, they both just stand there, looking between Wyatt and me.
Unbelievable.
With no choice and wondering if I might puke, I put on my coat, then pick up my bag and slowly walk to where he is standing at the door, swearing I hear a funeral march playing over the speakers in the bar. Once I get to him, his gaze wanders over my face with his jaw tight before he turns and opens the door for me to exit ahead of him.
Biting my lip so hard that it hurts, I step out into the cold.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” he asks as the door swings closed behind us and I turn to face him.
“I wasn’t,” I admit, and his chin goes back. “I let my temper get the best of me and just reacted to him being a dick,” I say as he stares, almost seeming to be caught off guard. “But in my defense, he should know not to call women fat.”
“He called you fat?”
“No, but he called another woman fat and did it multiple times.” I wrap my arms around myself to ward off the cold, my light coat doing nothing for me now that it’s dark and the temps have dropped. “Are you going to arrest me?”
“What?” His chin jerks back again.
“For throwing a drink at him. Are you going to arrest me?”
“No.”
“Oh.” My body relaxes. “Really?”
“Christ.” He grabs the bridge of his nose. “Where is your car?”
“At my house. Tiffany came and picked me up.”
“All right, I’ll give you a ride home.”
“Oh, no, that’s okay. I can get a ride with—”
“I’m driving you, Genevieve.” I should tell him no and insist on getting a ride with someone else, but I don’t think it would be smart to push my luck by arguing with him right now.
“Okay, sure, thanks.” I follow his lead when he starts to walk down the sidewalk. After we pass an alley and cut across the street onto Main, I notice him looking at one of the stores, or more specifically at one of the signs in that store’s window.
