Written in the Scars (25 page)

“These guys were starting trouble,” Becca says, looking at Pettis and Sharp over her shoulder. “And someone put them in their place.” Her gaze flutters to Cord and he gives her a small smile.

“Get out of here, Pettis,” Bob says. “I warned you the last time you were in here all hopped up on God knows what to stay out of my business.”

“This is a free country,” Pettis says, grabbing a napkin off the table and wiping his nose.

“And this is a private business,” Bob says. “Get out.”

Pettis shoots us a dirty look as he turns on his heel and heads for the door. Before he leaves he looks over his shoulder. “You’ve opened a can of worms, McCurry. Be ready.”

“Fuck him,” Cord says, falling back in his chair. He shakes his hand before inspecting it for damage.

Ty tries to take my hand, but I shake him off. Everyone but the two of us seems oblivious to Pettis’ statement.

“I kind of stole your glory,” Cord laughs, looking at my husband. “But I warned him once. I had to follow through.”

“A man of your word,” Ty laughs.

Becca rushes up with a towel full of ice. Bending down, she takes Cord’s hand from me and lays the bundle gently on top. I take a few steps away from Ty, my head reeling.

Redhead? In Rockville? Who was that?
I look at Ty and his face is pale.
Let this be one of Pettis’ games. Please.

“Does this hurt?” Becca asks Cord, her elbow accidentally brushing me in the thigh.

“Feels the best it’s felt in a long time,” Cord responds.

Becca blushes, her hand shaking just a bit. “I know you didn’t mean the date was for real, but thank you for intervening there.”

“What do you mean the date wasn’t for real?” Cord asks, smirking. “I was hoping you would do something with me tonight. Or tomorrow. Whatever you can swing.”

“Really? I’d like that.”

Ty takes my hand and starts to tug me to the door. Jerking my hand away, not ready to hear something that could ruin everything, I start around the chairs and to the pool table with Jiggs and Lindsay.

Lindsay giggles. “I knew there was chemistry there,” she says, nodding at Cord and Becca. “Or that there would be. I could feel it.”

“I hope so,” I say, watching Becca blush.

“Has your friend here told you what she wants to do?” Jiggs asks me.

Glancing at my brother, I can see the line of irritation just below the surface. It’s the same look I see in the mirror when I’m trying desperately to not lose my cool, when I’m playing something off.

“What’s that?” I ask, switching my gaze to Lindsay.

She fumbles with a straw from her glass of water. “You want to do this again, Jiggs?” she sighs.

“No, I don’t want to do anything. I’m pretty certain I made that clear.”

“What are you two talking about?” Ty asks, his hand finding my waist.

“Lindsay wants to move to Florida.”

My stomach flip-flops. “You’re still talking about this? You can’t be serious.”

“She’s serious,” Jiggs says, a little too loud so his voice overrides hers. “I had an email this morning from a realtor in Sarasota. Apparently my wife has asked them to find a house near her parents and they wanted to know if a pool was a definite no.”

“Lindsay!” My jaw hits the floor as Jiggs watches me. “You can’t leave. Your life is here.”

A heavy breath escapes her lips. It’s obvious she’s been through this conversation a few times before, and it’s not one she wants to revisit.

“What is there for us here? For any of us?” Lindsay asks. “We are having a baby. What can we offer it here?”

“A family,” I scoff. “You could offer it a family here.”

“And Jiggs’ family is here,” Ty says, squeezing my hips with his large hands. “You can’t just expect him to walk away from Elin. Me. Cord.”

She smiles, but it’s not real. It’s a stretching of her lips, a physical, put-on gesture that has no substance behind it. “We can all go. Let’s leave this place for something more . . . stable.”

Imploring her with every nonverbal cue I can manage, I ask her to stop being crazy. To not throw things in a tizzy right when they’re being worked out. But she doesn’t take them. I can see it on her face.

“I expect him to do what’s best for our child,” she says matter-of-factly. “You would do the same thing, Elin.”

“I . . .” There are so many ways to take her statement that I can’t land on one to respond to. I just stand there and stare at her, feeling the weight of Ty and Jiggs’ eyes on me.

“I’m ready to go,” she says, looking at my brother. “You ready?”

“Sure.”

Lindsay gives me a hug that lacks any warmth to it at all. “See you later.”

She sidesteps me and then her voice drifts my way as she says goodbye to Cord, leaving me looking at Jiggs.

“Ty, give me a minute with my brother,” I say. He kisses me on the cheek, but I pull away from it. Once he’s gone, I give Jiggs a half-hearted smile. “She’s just hormonal. She won’t go through with it.”

His shoulders sag and I can’t take it. Wrapping him in my arms, I squeeze him as tightly as I can.

“I love ya,” Jiggs whispers against my ear. “We’ll work it out.”

“I know,” I say, pulling back. “Keep your chin up.”

He tilts it in the air, taking my words at face value, and I laugh.

“Let me ask you something,” I say so only he can hear. “Do you think Ty would cheat on me? Even if he had drugs in his system? Even if he was mad?”

“Absolutely not.” There’s no hesitation in Jiggs’ reply. “You know I’d tell you the truth. And if I thought that was even true, I’d kill the motherfucker. But he’s not capable of that, Elin. He’s not built that way.”

He waits to see if I’m going to ask anything else and when it’s apparent I’m not, he clasps my shoulder and leaves.

“Let’s go,” Ty says, nodding towards the door.

My jaw clenches, steeling myself for the possibility of something I don’t want to hear, I nod.

He takes my hand so I can’t pull it away and laces our fingers together. “Mr. McCurry, we are out of here.”

“You just got here,” he objects.

“Well, you have a hot date to keep your eye on,” I point out. “You don’t need us.”

“I do, indeed,” Cord grins. “I’ll catch you tomorrow.”

“Come by in the afternoon. Bring Becca. I’ll make food.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Cord says.

Before I can respond, Ty’s dragging me out of the restaurant.

The door slams, vibrating Ty’s sunglasses off the dashboard. The key goes in the ignition just as forcefully before we speed out of the parking lot.

“Want to tell me Pettis is full of shit?” I ask, my arms folded over my chest. Leaning away from the middle console, as far out of arm’s reach as I can get, I look straight ahead.

He blows out a breath, worry lines creasing his forehead. “I didn’t see Pettis while I was gone.”

“Okay, well, that’s really good to know,” I bite out, “but that’s not the part I’m worried about.”

“He’s such a fucking asshole.”

“Right now, you’re looking like the asshole.”

Ty starts to glare at me out of the corner of his eye, but catches himself. “Elin, it’s not what you think.”

“Then fucking start talking, Tyler. Because you said you weren’t with someone else. Remember that? Remember me telling you that was the one thing I couldn’t handle?”

“I wasn’t with her!”

Flinching, my arms smack against my legs. “Her? So there
is
a her?”

“Not like that.”

“I don’t care what it was like. If she exists, this is over.”

“She’s the granddaughter of Kruger, all right? I can’t even figure out how Pettis saw us together,” he laments.

“Fuck you!” I gasp. “You fucking cheat!”

“I didn’t cheat on you!” He flips the radio off, even though it could barely be heard over the blood soaring through my veins. “I was with her a couple of times getting shit for the Kruger’s. I was never with her like that. Not like Pettis implied.”

There are no tears. Watching the passing landscape, I try to process this.

“Elin, I swear to you . . .”

“Don’t you see?” I say, whipping my head to his. “None of this would even be discussed had you not left.”

“What do you want me to do?” he booms. “I fucked up, Elin. All right, you got me. You win.”

“I win? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Is this what you want? You want to ruin everything we’ve started to figure out because Pettis is a dick? Because you let what he says fucking matter?”

“What he says doesn’t matter,” I seethe. “What matters is you being a liar.”

The chuckle rumbling through the cab of the truck is ominous. “You know what? You think what you want. If you really think I’d do that, then you don’t know me at all.” The truck takes the turn into our driveway at an acute angle, gravel flying every direction. The engine is cut and he looks at me, his eyes blazing. “This one is up to you. Believe me. If you don’t, you can be the one to run away from everything this time.”

ELIN

“Ty!” I shout, my steps pounding down the sidewalk after him. “Wait.”

He doesn’t, but he does leave the back door open. When I step inside, he’s leaning against the stove, waiting for me. His mouth is set in a firm line, not like a man hiding something. But like a man that’s been accused of something heinous.

“He’s not capable of that, Elin. He’s not built that way.”

“You swear you weren’t having an affair?” I gulp. My hands are twisting in front of me as I try to read even the most minute pieces of his body language.

“I swear.”

No effort is made to come towards me; the ball is left in my court. I’m not sure what to do with it.

“You promise?” I ask again.

He shoves off the appliance, his lips twitching. “You already asked me that.”

“So?”

“You want me to pinkie swear?” he teases. “Want to call Kruger and ask him if his granddaughter and I went into town for supplies a time or two? Maybe you’d like to call her, but I’d have to call Kruger first to get her number and being that Nila—that’s her name—is getting married in a couple of weeks, I’m going to guess he won’t be pleased.”

Biting my lip, I watch him take a step towards me. Then another. Before I know it, his lips are at my ear. “Why in the world would I ever want another woman when I have you?”

I melt into him, both from his words and the relief of knowing he’s telling me the truth. “Ty,” I breathe, walking until my back hits the cabinets. “I don’t want to tell you to stop . . .” Moaning as his kisses turn into soft bites against the skin at the base of my neck, my hands find his back and press him into me.

Grabbing the cabinet on either side of me, he touches his lips to mine. Working my lips over with his soft, smooth mouth, I nearly turn into a pile of mush on the floor.

My jaw slacks and he wastes no time taking full advantage. His tongue swipes the inside of my bottom lip before leisurely dragging over mine.

My hands thread together at the back of his neck. I press him towards me, wanting—needing—this connection.

He presses against me, and I feel his solidness against my belly. My core flames, an intense burst with no build-up, just a red-hot fire that flows into the apex of my thighs.

With no warning, he stills. His mouth pulls from mine, his body retracting.