by Shaye Marlow
I ducked to look beyond the deep furrow through the center of the ceiling. Thea was glittering with small chunks of glass, and looking a little stunned, but she was upright, breathing, her eyes open—and I didn’t see any blood. Thank god. “You okay?” I asked, putting a gentle hand on her arm.
She looked at the caved-in ceiling that’d just barely missed both of us. “I… think so.”
I gave her arm a little squeeze. Then, I glanced back at my brothers, and saw that they appeared unhurt as well. I yanked on the door handle, and pushed at my door. It opened with a squeal, and glass rained from my lap as I slid from the driver’s seat.
I looked out into the woods for a moment, thinking about what a pretty day it was, and how we’d almost died. In such a damn idiotic way.
Then I turned and helped Zack get his door open. “You okay?” I asked, steadying him as he stepped out.
“Yeah.”
“Good.” I punched him in the gut. Hard.
“Oof.” He clutched himself, his face turning a little red. “It’s okay,” he croaked when he regained the ability to speak. “I deserved that.”
So I punched him again.
He dropped to his knees with a huffed groan. “Jesus, J.D.”
I thought about kicking him, but Thea was present, so I restrained myself. Instead, I went around to Rory’s side and repeated the procedure.
Then, I got to Thea’s door. I forced it open, and held out my hand.
And… she was white.
I leaned in close, suddenly concerned I might’ve missed a wound.
She pressed herself away from me, shaking her head. “No,” she said. “No.” She raised her foot, looking like she might plant it on my chest to keep me back.
“Thea, are you all right?”
She was looking from my hovering hands, to Rory, who was sprawled on his ass, holding his jaw.
Oh. She thought… “I wouldn’t ever hurt you,” I said. “Even if you were to do something this stupid, which I doubt you would or could.”
Thea was shaking her head again, harder this time.
“They’re my brothers. Completely in a class of their own. Pain is the only thing that’ll get through to them—the only language they’ll understand—and is often the only answer where they’re concerned. Plus, they totally deserved that.” I wiggled my fingers. “C’mon.”
“No!” With that, she burst out of the Jeep, knocking me aside in her hurry to escape. Once she hit the ground, she didn’t stop, moving as if the devil himself was on her tail.
Rory and I looked at each other. He shrugged.
I hurried after her. “Thea, what—?”
“You can’t just—beat everybody up!” she said. Loudly.
“I didn’t. It was just my brothers.” I was confused.
“‘Just’ your brothers. Two of the most important people in your life, and it’s ‘just your brothers’,” she said, obviously very upset. “Violence is not the answer.”
“Thea… where is this coming from?” I asked, still chasing her. She was moving fast, following our previous tracks.
“I just… I hate violence. Hate it,” she said with vehemence.
“But you were just yelling obscenities and shooting at me less than half an hour ago,” I pointed out, feeling bewildered as I mentally reviewed her behavior during the video game.
“It’s not the same,” she said. She glanced over—the first time she’d looked at me since she’d gone crazy—and the expression on her face was one I’d never seen there before. Disappointment, yeah, but now it was mixed with even more unpleasant things. Accusation. Anger. It was an expression I didn’t like at all.
I was suddenly worried I’d lost her, and I didn’t even know what I’d done. Or—scratch that—I knew what I’d done, but didn’t know why she’d had such a reaction to it. We needed to talk. But I couldn’t do that very well, with her running away.
“Thea—” I started, reaching for her.
“No!” she said, jerking her arm away. “Don’t touch me.”
Ouch.
“I just want to get back to my cabin, and… I want some space.”
“Let me walk you home, at least.”
She didn’t answer, just strode purposefully ahead.
More confused than I’d ever been in my life, I followed at a distance, just to make sure she got there okay.
Chapter Nine
J.D.
“You need to go to her and apologize,” Zack said, for the fifth time. We were standing aside, watching as the bulldozer my brothers had hired started forward, the totaled Jeep wallowing along behind.
I didn’t have to be here, but I was going stir-crazy thinking about Thea. I wasn’t sure I had the courage to face her again, only to find out that we were done, before we’d ever really begun; that she didn’t want to see me, or touch me, anymore. She was the light in my summer, and… I felt helpless, not knowing how to fix this. Maybe it would be best to let her cool off.
“But I didn’t do anything,” I said, half to myself, frustrated beyond words. I’d given my brothers a few love taps, and she’d flipped her shit and stormed off.
“J.D., usually you’re pretty smart about this relationship crap. You have this eerie ability to tell what a woman is thinking. But right now, with Thea, you’re being an idiot.”
I gritted my teeth. That declaration smarted, coming from Zack. “I tried to ask her what—”
“Don’t ask. Just apologize.”
“But—”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“But it does.”
Zack sighed. “Maybe so. But what you should do, right now, is say you’re sorry. Swear you won’t do it again. And then, once you’re back in her good graces, figure out what the fuck it is that you won’t do again.”
“I think she had a problem with me hitting you,” I said.
Zack’s brows went up. “Does she know what you do for a living?”
“Yes,” I said, wincing a little.
Zack blew out a breath. “Well, then… I dunno, dude. If you and her haven’t happened yet, maybe you’re just barking up the wrong tree. She said her roommate’s easy—and if she was the one with Thea in the bar, she’s pretty hot, too. Even looks kinda similar, if that’s your type.”
“I don’t like her roommate,” I pointed out.
“Oh-ho! You don’t have to like them to take them to bed. Some of my most incredible experiences have been with women I hated. It makes for great chemistry, when you’re not quite sure if you want to make them scream in pleasure or pain…” He looked off into the distance, and I didn’t even want to imagine the reel that was running behind his eyes.
“Ooo-kay,” I said. And that, folks, is the last time I discuss my love life with my brother. His first bit of advice, though, had merit.
With a shrug, he strode away to help adjust the tow lines.
I felt like chasing after him, and administering a few more love taps. But, despite what Thea seemed to think, I did have some self-control. Violence wasn’t my first response to everything. It wasn’t. And violence did help solve things… sometimes.
Zack and I walked with the Jeep all the way back. As the bulldozer pulled alongside the shop, Rory stuck his head out of the cabin. “J.D., phone call,” he said.
I traded places with him, and picked up their land line. “Hello?”
“J.D.,” said a familiar voice.
The hair on the back of my neck prickled. “Jim.” He was my coach, had been for five years. Had been, right up until the ‘incident’.
“I heard you gave up your apartment,” he said.
“I did.” Yes, I’d bought a plane ticket back to a place where I no longer had an apartment. I still had friends, though, and those friends had couches.
There was a silence on the phone, and Jim sighed. “You know I didn’t mean for it to happen like it did,” he said. “You know I wouldn’t—”
“Just tell me why you’re calling,” I said, squeezing t
he bridge of my nose.
“Well, I didn’t know if you were coming back, and so I took on another fighter. Percy Allison. I know the name doesn’t sound like much, but the kid’s really something to see.”
“You’re dumping me?” I asked.
“Oh no, no. You can stay on with the gym. As soon as you recover, I’ll work with you again. I won’t be able to put as much time into your training as I did, but you know you’re always welcome.”
“You’re dumping me.”
Jim was silent.
‘Angry’ didn’t begin to describe how I was feeling. “You know… if and when I do come back to Phoenix, I won’t be coming back to you. I’m not even sure why you think I would, after what happened.”
“J.D., you know I was in trouble—”
“I was a champion. I had my whole career ahead of me, and now it’s fucked,” I said, kicking the trash can.
“I know. I’m sorry it happened. I left you flowers in the hospital—”
“Oh, flowers. Yeah, flowers make it all better.”
“They were going to kill me, J.D.,” Jim said. “You saved my life.”
“You ruined my career,” I returned. “And I’ll be finding a new coach.”
“I understand,” he managed to say before I hung up on him.
Slamming the phone into the receiver, I headed out to the shop, where Zack and Rory were pushing the Jeep in through the open garage door. I passed them, and went straight to the weight set.
I would get better. Despite what I’d said about Jim ruining my career, I didn’t intend for this to be the end. I’d been doing the stretches Thea recommended, I’d been working on my cardio, and I was going to start lifting again. I was going to get stronger, and I would fight again. And I’d win.
“We’re okay over here,” Rory called, his voice strained. “Don’t need any help or anything,” he puffed as I set up the bench press.
I grunted, thinking about the mess that was my life. Technically, I was homeless. I’d scared off the woman I most wanted to impress, and not even my shit heel of a coach would have me. I had no job, no car, no money for coffee, even. No wonder Thea didn’t want me.
Zack’s face appeared above mine as his fingers took up position on the bar, spotting me. “Are you moping?” he asked. “You look like you’re moping.”
I grunted again, concentrating on pumping iron. I’d had to rack up a ridiculously small amount, and I couldn’t seem to push it up all the way. My shoulder simply wouldn’t let me. And the fucker hurt… but I just gritted my teeth and powered through, refusing to meet my brother’s bright blue eyes.
“Is this about Thea?” he asked.
“My coach,” I said, “dumped me.”
Zack was silent for a couple reps. “Wow, you’re on a roll today, aren’t you?”
“Shut up.”
Zack grinned.
Music started to play, except it wasn’t Rory’s usual. This was 80s synthesizer blaring from the other side of the shop.
“Rory, what the hell,” I said, glancing over.
Rory had a phone in his hand, the back of it pointing steadily at me. “I’m taking video,” he said, waving his hand. “Keep going.”
I did another rep. “But what’s… with the music?”
“We’re making an 80s exercise montage,” Zack said.
“But…” My brothers routinely left me speechless, and this was one of those times. “You’re supposed to add the music later,” I finally said. “Not play it out loud.”
The song changed to the opening bars of the Safety Dance.
“We can play it loud if we want to,” Rory replied. “You can listen and unwind.”
“And if your friends don’t play it, and if they don’t play, then, they’re no friends of mine,” Zack said.
Rory snorted, then continued butchering the poor song with his spur-of-the moment ad-libs as he came in for a close-up of my sweaty face.
“You guys are idiots.”
“Give us Blue Steel,” Rory replied, pursing his lips.
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Somehow, my brothers had distracted me.
If I’d known I was gonna fuck it up so badly, I never would have gone over there.
What I did know was that I wanted to see Thea again, wanted to bask in the glow of her smile, make her laugh, maybe coax her into putting those amazing hands on me. I knew it was morning, and that on a normal day, I would have been over to see her by now. I knew I ached that I’d upset her.
I made it almost till noon before I caved. I was going over there, and I was going to apologize.
I went out, picked a handful of wildflowers, and walked through the woods, headed to the Hook Cup.
My heart was thumping hard. I was nervous. Way more nervous than the first time I’d visited this coffee shack. Now, I had too much to lose.
Taking a deep, bracing breath, holding the wildflowers up in front, I pushed open the door. I had to blink a few times before I understood what I was seeing.
Thea was there, inside, but not behind the counter. She had her back to me, and her hands on someone’s shoulders. She had her amazing hands on another man’s shoulders, and she was squeezing, and rubbing, her whole body swaying as she put her weight into it.
I stood there, frozen, as she turned a smile toward me. Stood there as she saw me, and her smile faded.
My fistful of flowers drooped.
And then, the man on the seat in front of her slid his hand up and over hers. “Has it been fifteen minutes already?” he asked.
He asked, in a distinctive French accent. I recognized those shoulders, that hair. Those huge fucking ears.
Thea had her hands on Wreck. Thea had been massaging Wreck. Wreck’s hand lay over Thea’s, and she hadn’t shaken him off.
I saw red. “What the hell?” I demanded, moving forward. I think I dropped the flowers. My hands were suddenly empty, curled around nothing but themselves, and all I saw was Wreck’s smug face. All I could think about was getting him away from Thea. And making him bleed. He’d wrecked my life, and now he was trying to steal my woman.
“J.D., it’s not—” Thea started.
“Thea was just giving me a massage,” Wreck said. He didn’t even bother to stand up, to face me.
I helped him with that, dragging him to his feet by the front of his shirt. His chair fell over. Thea made a startled sound as she stumbled back.
“You have some nerve,” I growled, feeling a vein in my forehead throb, courtesy of Wreck’s smug smile. He just stood there, arms at his sides, mild as milk and a million times more frustrating. I shook him.
“J.D.—” Thea’s hands were on my arm as she tried to get me to let the bastard go.
I kept my eyes on Wreck’s, one breath away from kicking his ass.
He must have known it. “Did you throw that fight?” he asked.
I couldn’t help myself. I wanted—needed—to wipe that smile off his face.
I punched him, right in the mouth. It was a good hit, fast and solid, without any kind of warning.
He staggered back a few steps, slipping my grip. But he was still smiling. Bleeding from the lip, and smiling.
I thought I’d been furious before. No. Now I was furious. I’d lost my chance with Thea, because I’d hit my brothers, because I’d hit Wreck. Because sometimes, I talked with my fists.
It was a language Wreck understood well. He gathered himself with a slow smile. This time, landing a punch wouldn’t be so easy. This time, he’d fight back.
Eagerly, I stepped forward.
“No!” Thea’s raised voice pierced my focus, probably was the only thing that could have. She moved between us, blocking my path. She pushed at my chest. “You two are not going to fight in here,” she said firmly.
I saw her face and hesitated, letting her nudge me back. It tore me up inside, that she was giving me that look. She was special, I ached for her, and she was looking at me with displeasure.
I’d blown it. Again.
Thea wasn’t moving from between us, and it didn’t look like she was going to. And as I’d said, I’d never hurt Thea. Never even risk hurting her.
I stepped toward the door. To my satisfaction, Wreck did the same.
“Or out there!” Thea said, grabbing my arm. “You two are not going to fight over me. Or settle whatever you’ve got going on between you. Not here, not now. And not out front! Not by fighting, damn you.”
I glared at Wreck over her head. I must’ve stepped forward, because suddenly Thea was pushing me back. “You will not fight in my coffee shop. J.D., get out!” she yelled.
I winced, looking fully at her. There were tears in her eyes.
She pushed me again, and I staggered back a step. “Go,” she growled.
I’d lost her. I’d never really had her, had barely even made it to first base, and I’d lost her.
Wreck had lost his smile, watching this drama play out between us.
Drama, ha. What drama?
I turned, and left. I closed the door, and left the flowers lying there on her floor. Right next to my heart.
Chapter Ten
J.D.
Ed walked in carrying a drink. It was something pink, in a clear plastic cup with one of those dome lids.
I was in the shop with my brothers, distracting myself the best way I knew how. Well, the best way was with video games, but since Zack’d shot the TV…
Ed walked to within ten feet of the Jeep. Then he stopped. Sucking on the straw, he contemplated what we’d done.
The rest of us stared at the pink drink. I was thinking my brothers were going to denounce his manhood for sure.
“What is that?” Zack asked.
“Strawberry milkshake,” Ed said. He adjusted his straw, and continued to suck.
“Where’d you get it?” Rory asked.
“Coffee shack next door. Dropped by on my way here. Thea hooked me up.”
I looked away, feeling a pang. Thea was right next door, still slinging coffee. Just going about her day, as though everything were fine.
