The Running Series Complete Collection: 3-Book Set plus Bonus Novella (73 page)

“What is it that you want me to do, Jette?” he asks.

“Talk to him, man-to-man.  Explain to him that getting help isn’t a sign of weakness.  He’ll believe it if he hears it from you,” I tell him.

“Why do you say that?” Ryker asks.

Still sitting in my chair, I lean over and look him directly in the eyes.  “He respects your service.  Not just yours, but all military servicemen and women.  I’ve heard him discussing it with Marcus.  Evan has a great deal of respect for him, and I’m certain he feels the same way about you and your service to our country.”

Ryker slides to the edge of the couch, leaning over towards me, and takes my hands into his.  “Okay.  I’ll talk to him.  But you have to listen to me, Jette.  The first time you see him begin to get violent towards you or anyone, you have to swear to me you’ll leave.  Stay with a friend, get your own place, do something to protect yourself.  I won’t watch it happen all over again.  You have to promise me.”

“Ryker, there’s no need.  I know Evan.  He’s got a temper, but he would never hurt anyone out of anger or frustration.” Of this I am certain.

He squeezes my hand and remains resolute.  “I’ve seen it before, Jette.  It gets worse and worse until you can’t keep it bottled up inside anymore.  The wrong look, the wrong word, a forgotten promise, can all trigger an extreme reaction.”

“But Evan would never...”

“Yes, he would.  Maybe not intentionally, but if he’s got PTSD, he’s operating from instinct and self-preservation.”  Ryker looks at me and repeats his warning, “Just promise me you’ll leave.  I’m serious, Jette.  You have to say it or I won’t be able to...”

Ryker stops in the middle of his sentence and stares, mouth agape, at the door.  Evan is standing there, looking at Ryker with a hatred I’ve never seen before.

“What the fuck, Juliette?  At least give me the decency to move out before you move onto the next asshole that comes along.”  He walks over to me and looks right through me, “So how long have you been fucking this prick?”

Ryker stands up and tries to intervene, but Evan turns and shoves him back down onto the couch, hard.  I hear a loud
thwack
as Ryker’s head bounces off the wall.

“Holy shit, Evan.”  I rush passed him to see if Ryker’s okay. 

Evan grabs me by the wrist to stop me.  “Oh, no, not so fast, honey.  Lover boy will be just fine.  So does your boyfriend know he’s not your only boy toy?  Does he know that you’re fucking Derek, too?”  I can’t speak.  The words won’t come.  “Do you take turns with them, Juliette, or do you take them both at the same time?”

And with that, Ryker gets up and punches Evan square in the jaw, knocking him back a few steps. 

“Jette, get out of here.  Now!” Ryker demands.

I race through the kitchen trying to find Marcus.  “Marcus!” I shout.  He comes tearing into the kitchen, followed behind by Reese, Derek, Emmy, and Adam.  “Adam, thank God you’re here, you have to help.”

“Jette, calm down.  Where’s Evan?  What happened?” Adam asks.

“He’s in my office,” I shout quickly, pointing towards the back of the kitchen.  As soon as the words leave my mouth, I hear glass shattering and voices booming.  Adam and Marcus waste no time and rush into my office.  Emmy and I stand at the door, watching in horror as Ryker and Evan continue to beat the shit out of each other.

Ryker’s nose is bleeding and Evan’s lip is, too.  Both men have blood all over their shirts, but they’re not slowing down.  Adam gets a hold of Evan while Marcus tries to hold Ryker back.  Fists are flying furiously and I’m afraid that someone is going to get seriously hurt.

“Evan, please stop!” I shout.  Just as I’m about to burst into the room, I feel a pair of arms wrap around my waist, lift me off my feet, and carry me away.  I kick fight back furiously, but it’s no use.  I hear the reassuring voice of Derek as he brings me to the back of the restaurant and places me on my feet.  “Jette, calm down.  If you try to get in the middle of that, you’re going to get hurt.”  Emmy and Reese are with me and Derek is standing tall as my guardian. 

“What the hell happened?”  Reese asks.  “I was gone less than five minutes.”

I close my eyes, trying to shut out the shouting I can clearly hear coming from what’s left of my office.  “It’s over,” I confess.

“What’s over?  Jette, look at me,” Emmy demands.  “What’s over?”

“Evan, me, all of it.  It’s done.”

“Did he hurt you?  Did he touch you, Jette?  Please tell me he didn’t, because if he did, I don’t think I could . . .”  I can hear the concern in Derek’s voice.  If he knew what Evan said, I can’t imagine what he would do.

“No.  He didn’t.  He grabbed me, but that’s it.  It’s what he said.”  I plop myself into a chair and hold my face in my hands.  This can’t really be happening.

Emmy pulls my hands away and asks me gently, “Jette, honey, tell us.  What did he say?”

Before I can answer, I hear the back door open and slam shut, followed by the roar of a motorcycle engine.  Ryker left.  If Marcus let him leave, he must not be hurt too badly.

“He called me a whore, Emmy.”  As soon as the words leave my mouth, I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes.  I’m keeping it together for now, but only barely.

“What?!” Derek shouts.  “He called
you
a
what
?”

“He didn’t use the word, Derek, but that’s what he was thinking.  He asked me if I was fucking you and Ryker one at a time or if I took you both on together.”  Everyone just stares at me. 

“Jette, that’s not possible.  Evan would never.  What would make him say something like that?” Reese asks.

I explain to them how Evan walked in just as Ryker was warning me.  “He said that if Evan starts to become violent, I would need to protect myself.  He made me promise I would leave.” 

“If that’s all Evan heard, then he must think you were making plans to leave him for Ryker,” Reese speculates.  How could he think that?

Derek turns to walk away, towards the kitchen where my office is, but the three of us grab him and stop him.  “Derek, don’t go back there.  It’s not worth it,” Emmy warns him.

“You’ll only make it worse,” I beg.  “Please don’t go back there, Derek.”

“Fine, but I definitely need a drink.  Anyone else?”  We all agree and Derek pours all four of us a shot of tequila.  Just as we all toss it back, Evan comes barreling through the restaurant, heading straight for the front door.  He doesn’t slow down.  He doesn’t look back.  Evan grabs the door, swings it open, smashes it into the wall, and leaves.  Adam scurries behind him and just like that, they’re gone.

I can’t control the waves of tears that come bursting through the floodgates.  Emmy hurries behind the bar to get me a box of tissues.  This time, no one tries to stop me from crying.  No one tries to tell me it will be okay.  They’re silent.  They know.  There’s no coming back from this.  Evan’s crossed a line, and I can’t imagine anything that could ever be said or done that would make up for his behavior.  I love him, but I will not be a punching bag for him or anyone.

The reality of my new situation hits me hard and I’m wracked with deep sobs and cries of anguish.  I still can’t believe he’s gone.  He just walked out without looking back.  How could it be so easy for him to turn away from me like that?  Tears of grief, heartache, and rage continue to build to a crescendo, making my body shake with broken sobs.  Despite their best efforts, I find no comfort from my friends. 

Emmy stays with me while Marcus and Derek do what they can to clean up the mess in my office.  Apparently, the shattering glass I heard was Evan throwing the picture of us that I had on my desk across the room, causing it to shatter into a million tiny little pieces.  Marcus brings me my laptop, which now has a cracked screen.  He thinks it also got thrown across the room because he found it behind the couch.

Once I’ve cried all the tears I have to give, Derek comes over to try to talk to me.  “You can’t go home tonight, Jette.  It’s not safe for you.”

While I seriously doubt Evan would ever do anything to hurt me, I have no intention of going home to him tonight.  “I know.  I’m going to the hospital to spend some time with Auggie.  I’ll stay in my old room at Auggie’s for now.”

“Good.”  Derek walks away, leaving Emmy and me alone again.

“You’re going to find out sooner or later, so I may as well tell you now,” Emmy begins.  “Adam and I were with Evan for most of last night.  He was in pretty bad shape.  He knew he overreacted.”

“What do you mean he was in bad shape?” I ask.

“He was home alone getting shit-face drunk.  He knows he’s not acting rationally, but he says he can’t help it.  We had to take his keys away from him.  He was going to drive back to the hospital last night to apologize.  We put him in our car and told him we would take him to see you.  We took him to Adam’s house instead.  He passed out on the couch.”

Well, that explains why the car was in the garage but Evan was nowhere to be seen.

Emmy continues, “I called Adam when you got here, Jette.  I thought he could bring Evan here to apologize now that he sobered up.”  She takes a deep breath, and then admits, “I never should have called him.  It’s all my fault.  Do you hate me?”

I wrap my arms around her and try to put her fears to rest.  “Emmy, it’s not your fault.  Evan walked in at the worst possible moment and jumped to all the wrong conclusions, like he always does.  If it wasn’t Ryker, it would be Derek.  Or, God forbid, a poor, unsuspecting customer.”

Reese walks over to check on me.  “So, Jette, I guess we can cross off our plan to get Ryker to help Evan.  That ship’s pretty much sailed.”

“No shit,” I agree, shaking my head.  “Do you think either one of them will ever set foot in this place again?” I ask.

“Yeah, I think so.  Ryker is used to combat, so for him, this is probably no big deal,” Reese predicts.

“And Evan?”

“I think it’s time for you to play your Trump card,” Reese tells me.

“My what?”

“Your Trump card.  When it comes to men, every woman has a secret weapon,” she explains.

“And what, exactly, is my secret weapon?” I ask.

“Easy – it’s time to call his mother.”

I
decide to wait twenty-four hours before calling Jill.  I’m in no condition to make that call right now.  What I need to do is return to the hospital to relieve the Deegans from their shift.  They need to go home, eat, and get some rest.  I cry in my car the entire way there.  I don’t even know how I made it to the hospital safely.  I hope there weren’t any red lights, because I don’t remember stopping at any.

With Auggie’s overnight bag in hand, I make my way back up to the I.C.U.  Auggie’s parents are seated on a pair of matching chairs, and Auggie’s lying in bed, eyes wide open.  He takes one look at me, and tells me in the strongest voice he can muster, “What happened to you?  You look like shit.”

I laugh so hard, it hurts.  The nurse actually comes over and ask me to keep it down.  Once I finally gather my wits, I tell him, “It’s a long story.  We have plenty of time.  I’ll tell you all about it later.”  I kiss him on the forehead and set about unpacking his belongings.

After a quick update from the Deegans, they leave for the night.  Auggie nods in and out of consciousness every few minutes, but wakes when my phone goes off.  I take one look at the caller I.D. and for the first time in hours, I smile.  “Hello?  Yes, he is.”  I look over at Auggie who’s now wide-awake and curious.  “Would you like to talk to him?”

I hand the phone to Auggie who looks at me confused.  “Who is it?”

“Just take the call, Auggie,” I tell him.

He holds the phone up to hear ear.  “Hello?”  A great big grin spreads across Auggie’s face.  “Lucas?  Is it really you?”  I sit back down and eavesdrop on Auggie’s conversation with his boyfriend.  Once again, the tears come, but this time, it’s just a few.  I’ve shed enough tears for Evan.  These are tears of happiness.  Auggie’s going to be okay and he has someone who cares for him.  I know all too well how special that is.

Fish or Cut Bait

O
ver the next few hours, I tell Auggie all the heart-breaking details I can.  He, too, feels that Evan is suffering from some sort of an anxiety disorder, but he doesn’t feel it should be used as an excuse for his horrid behavior.  He doesn’t give me a choice in the matter, and insists I stay at his house for as long as I need to.  All the furniture is still in my old room, and he’s thrilled with the idea of having Maddy and me as roommates again.  “The house was empty without you, Jepetto.  It will be nice to have you home with me again.”