Page 38 of One Last Rainy Day
“The fuck?”
He shakes his head. “I’m not blind, man. Seems to meyou’re both fighting the inevitable.” He lifts a brow. “Want to talkthat out?”
“Sure, pencil that in for fucking never.”
This past week, Sean’s infatuation has led to more run-ins with Cecelia. A few days ago, she caught me in the midst of a deep session, pacing my room. Undeterred by my openly hostile reception, she offered me the bowl of ice cream in her hand.
One long look at her profile as she stepped into my room to leave it on my desk, silenced every bit of the roar inside my head and chest and had me losing focus. I thanked her by slamming the door in her face. Sean reads my lingering silence as an admission that sends his wheels turning in the wrong direction and jacking his jaws. “You in need of another field session to work some of that aggression out,Major Malfunction?”
“Cute. Will you be using all your girlfriend’s quips against me now thatyou’restrung out?”
“Yep, this is a case of full-onpenis envy,” he taunts.
“Sure it’s not you who’s envious?” I playfully slap his face. “Because I think we both know who she wasdreamingabout.”
With that, he pounces, managing to dodge my first light fist, landing his own sucker punch before racing into the hall. I lunge for him as he swings and narrowly misses me before leaping onto the stairs. When he’s halfway down, I tackle him at the landing, and we both slam into the drywall, hearing it crack.
“Get your fucking dick beaters off me,” Sean groans, gaining his bearings before throwing a blind fist behind him, catching me in the throat and momentarily stunning me. Myhoarse threat reaches him as he pushes off the wall giving chase. “You better run.”
Sean bursts out of the townhouse with me hot on his heels and comes to a dead stop a few feet out. He curses before glancing back over his shoulder at me when I see Tyler’s expression—and who he’s waiting with.
“It is lonely when you’re among people, too.”
—Le Petit Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Chapter Eighteen
GINGER SITS PASSENGERin Tyler’s truck where he stands next to his open door, holding an ice pack to her cheek, her lower lip caked with dried blood.
Fury clouds my vision as I stalk toward her and pinch her chin between my fingers, slowly turning her face to survey the damage.
“I’m sorry, Dom. I didn’t know where else to go. He’s on a rampage, and Toby—” a sob bursts from her as Sean speaks up from behind me.
“Dom, listen to me. You can’t go off. Now is not the time.”
He steps up next to me, his instructions for Ginger. “Ginger, I hate fucking saying this, but you’ll have to go the legal route.”
“Jeffrey’s cousin is a Triple Falls cop,” she discloses softly. “I’ve already tried.”
“Fuck,” Sean exhales, snapping his Zippo closed.
Tyler gently tucks her back inside his truck. “Give us a few minutes, sweetheart. Okay?”
Ginger’s eyes remain glued to mine through the glass after he shuts the door.
Tyler ushers me away from her as we huddle in the yard, my pulse thrumming in my ears.
Sean audibly exhales a plume of smoke. “Can’t we just wake up and eat our Wheaties like normal folk?”
“Not what we signed up for,” Tyler answers, eyes on me for a decision.
Sean waves him off, looking between us. “Yeah, yeah. What’s the plan?”
Tyler picks up where Sean left off, his words for me. “Dom, she’s going to have to go through legal channels to get him out. There’s no other way.”
“There’s a way,” I clip, pressing back against the rage threatening to overtake me as I sift through possibilities.
Dread covers both their expressions as Tyler presses me. “What are you thinking?”
