I laugh at Shawn’s joke even though I didn’t find the comment funny. If anything, I’m just wanting to calm the room down a little bit.
But Austin doesn’t let it go like I hoped he would. He positions himself between Shawn and me. “You’ve been panting around Laney like a dog in heat. But she’s not interested so get the fuck out of my shop.” He walks behind the counter to where I’m standing and grabs Shawn’s keys off the wall and tosses them to him.
I stand beside him, aghast that Austin is acting this way. How can he be this mad over a stupid comment?
To my surprise, Shawn gets equally furious. His face turns an ugly red and he yells at Austin, “Laney feels so bad for your joke of a business that she’s putting her own money into the register.”
And then I’m pissed off. Shawn just ruined any shot he ever may have had with me with that statement, not that I ever thought I’d actually go out with him. But the dumbass doesn’t stop there. He looks at me and then back at Austin menacingly. “I already could have had Laney bent over the counter begging for it if I’d wanted her.”
Austin is quick. Shawn barely gets the insult out before Austin jumps over the counter. Shawn is backing up, his eyes widening, but it’s too late to be sorry. Austin punches Shawn so hard he pushes the door open, falling onto the cement sidewalk out front.
Shawn is ten different kinds of stupid because he yells, “Keep your slutty, fat whore away from me” while he’s trying to peel himself off of the sidewalk.
I run after Austin when he goes out the door. I arrive just in time to see Austin dragging Shawn up onto his feet. “You wanna say that again, asshole?” Austin roars.
“Nope, this is over,” I say, getting between the two of them.
“Aw shit, I’m sorry Laney—” Shawn starts.
Austin’s arm snakes around my stomach and picks me up, swinging me out of the way. He punches Shawn right in the mouth, which is still open. “You don’t ever fuckin’ talk to her again,” Austin rages.
How he did it I don’t know, but Austin still has one arm around me and with the other one, he knocks Shawn to the ground again. I’m struggling to get free to stop this craziness, but Austin’s grip just tightens around me. I lift my foot and hit Austin with the heel of my shoe between his legs to get him to stop.
“Get out of here, Shawn. This is over,” I say as Austin puts me down and bends forward to recover. I may have knocked the breath out of him.
“I’ll sue you for this,” he says as he wiggles a loose tooth.
“I wouldn’t do that, Shawn,” I say, not about to let Austin get in trouble for standing up for me even though I didn’t need him to. “The things you said just before and during this argument are sexually degrading and I might realize you’ve been harassing me if I were to be called into court as a witness.”
Shawn curses as he walks away, and Austin’s red angry face doesn’t scare me for a second when I turn to face him.
11
Austin
“You kicked me in the fuckin’ nuts? What the hell?” I ask her as she pulls me along behind her back into the shop.
“Rod, take over at the desk,” Laney yells out, her voice sounding as though she’s furious.
What does she have to be angry about? I’m the one who got kicked in the jewels while trying to protect her.
She opens my office and leads me over to one of the chairs in front of my desk. I fall into it, my testicles still not fully recovered from the blow. “You kicked me!” I remind her when she gives me one of her scolding, teacherly looks. I still can’t understand what she’s mad about. She leaves the office but returns with a first aid kit in her hand and slams it down on the desk.
Mike and Owen are conveniently filling their cups at the water cooler next to my office trying to get a look inside, so I kick the door shut and close the blinds.
“Sit down, you maniac, you’re hurt,” Laney says as she opens up the first aid kit on my desk.
“Yeah, I am hurt. That’s what happens when you kick a man in the balls, Laney! Why did you do that?”
She pushes me back into the seat and takes my hand in hers, inspecting my bleeding knuckles. “Why did I do that? Why did you launch yourself at Shawn? He said something stupid. You think I can’t handle someone saying something stupid?”
“He was calling you stupid, and no one ever gets to talk to you like that. No one!”