“Did you know you’re fucking the town dirt!?”
My jaw dropped as a can of beer came flying at us. I yelped and ducked, then a warm body threw itself over mine. Beer sprayed everywhere as the can hit the rental car, and I felt Gray’s arms tighten around me. He picked me up and placed me into the passenger seat of the car, then quickly put up the top to protect us from any other attacks.
But their words sped through my mind at lightning speed.
Gray dipped into the car next to me and slammed the door. I heard him audibly trying to settle his breathing. I slowly panned my gaze over to him as the truck full of assholes raced off into the distance, shouting things like ‘asshole’ and ‘trailer
trash.’
We sat there quietly as the truck fell into the background before I finally found my voice.
“What the hell was that about?” I asked.
Chapter 15
Grayson
I had no idea how the hell to answer her question. How the fuck did I explain to Michelle that I used to be a grade-A asshole in high school? That I terrorized the people of this town with her ex-boyfriend because of my own anger as a child? How did I tell her I used to start fires underneath the football bleachers and how Andy and I would hide out in bushes around the school and shoot kids with fucking paintballs?
As I sat there in my rental car and stared out the windshield, memories assaulted me. The football game I intentionally threw for revenge against the defensive players on my team who had beat on me after a prank gone wrong. I’d lit up a stink bomb and thrown it into the locker room while they were changing. They beat my ass for it, so I threw our championship game just to get back at them. I almost wasn’t recruited because of that damn game. And the coach was ready to throw me off the team for good after that damn stunt.
How did I tell Michelle any of that?
“People here aren’t my biggest fans,” I said.
“That’s pretty obvious. But why?” she asked.
“A friend of mine and I were pranksters in high school. Not everyone enjoyed our surprises.”
“What did you guys do?”
“Just—stupid stuff,” I said with a sigh. “I was an angry kid, and I threw that anger into unproductive things. We made a few enemies back then, and people around here don’t forget much.”
“I mean, are we talking saran wrap over a toilet seat? Or shooting fireworks into someone’s bedroom?”
We were talking much, much worse. But how the hell was I supposed to admit that?
“I wasn’t the nicest person back then, Michelle. But I’ve come a long way. I’m not the guy I was when I was sixteen,” I said.
“None of us are,” she said. “And it’s usually a good thing. But some of the things they were saying—?”
“Like I said, people around here don’t forget much.”
Not wanting to talk about it any longer, I started up the car and pulled out of the parking space. My rental had a dent in it from where the beer can had hit, but that was better than the intended trajectory. I wasn’t about to tell Michelle that asshole had been chucking a full beer can at her. Because if he would have hit her, that would’ve been the end of that man’s ability to smell, among other things.
I headed back to Cecily’s place as my body filled with tension again. The idea of dropping her off right on Andy’s damn porch step made my anger bubble again. I parked the car but kept the engine going and turned to face Michelle. She looked at me with those bright eyes and those plump lips, and before I knew it I was leaning in to kiss her.
But instead, she moved to kiss my cheek.
“Thank you for your help today. I really appreciate it.”
“Anytime,” I said, as I pulled away from her lips. “It’s not a problem.”
She pushed out of my car and was gone into Cecily’s within seconds. I sat there for a little while, watching to see if Andy would make any sort of a move. I pulled out of the driveway and parked on the other side of the curb, watching and waiting. Making sure Michelle was safe from him for now. More and more, I believed her story. I believed her when she told me nothing had happened between her and Andy. But my terrible experiences with women kept throwing up accusations in my mind.
Accusations I wanted to lay to rest.
When I was finally satisfied that Andy wasn’t going to be making a move, I pulled away and headed back to Anton’s. I felt more rooted after claiming Michelle the way I had. It meant she would fall asleep to the memory of my body against hers instead of Andy’s. You know, if something had happened between them. But my head was still spinning and my heart still felt adrift.