Page 87 of The Nerd & the Ex-Con

“Not a chance in hell. But I made the choices I did. Now it’s time to fix it.”

I nodded and forced a smile. “There you go. I believe you can do this.”

He chuckled. “Looking back, did you ever think of us at this age? Making mature decisions and shit?”

“Not really, but I think we’re doing one heck of a job.”

“At least you are.”

“Jay—”

“Well, what do we have here?”

I jerked to a stop. David loomed in front of me with a stupid smirk on his face. After our confrontation the last time, I had nothing to say to him.

“What the fuck do you want?” Jay abandoned the cart and stepped in front of me.

I clutched his arm, a scene flashing through my head of the day Jay had punched him in the face. We’d been lucky David hadn’t pressed charges. Jay couldn’t go to prison for me. He was as hotheaded as his father.

“Let’s just go.” I pulled on his arm. “We have no reason to talk to him.”

“Don’t we, Scott?” David’s tone was full of challenge. “Because I think we have a lot of catching up to do.”

I moved Jay out of the way. “You and I have nothing to talk about. I made that clear when you threw me out of the house.”

“I didn’t mean for you to go,” he said. “You always came back. How was I supposed to know you would take me seriously that time?”

“You’re ridiculous.” I took Jay’s arm. “Let’s go.”

“I hate his stupid face,” Jay grumbled as he pushed the shopping cart.

Yeah, buddy, you and me both.

“You sure we can’t talk about the last time we met, Scott?” David asked.

My legs wobbled, but I managed to stay upright as I walked stiffly next to Jay.

“Really, Scott?” David cried loudly. “It’s such a shame we didn’t get to speak more when we ran into each other in the park.”

I stopped in my tracks, the threat behind his words clear. If he said the wrong thing in front of Jay, he would ruin everything.

“Why are we stopping?” Jay asked.

I inhaled deeply, then let out the shaky breath. I felt like my heart was lodged in my throat. “Let me talk to him for a few minutes.”

“Absolutely not. That fucker doesn’t deserve a second of your time.”

People were watching. I hated it. This public display made me feel like a bug under a microscope. Of all the places, why did I have to run into David here? I’d never run into him since we broke up. Now that I was with Griff, he was popping up all over the place. Was this karma for something I did years ago?

“I don’t want to make a scene, Jay,” I said. “Please don’t interfere. It’s just for a few minutes.”

He eyed David, his face full of disgust. “All right, but I won’t be far.”

He pushed the shopping cart away with more force than required. When he was far away enough, he stopped, facing us with his arms crossed like he was my bodyguard.

I love him so much for this.

Only he knew how badly David used to slap me around. Griff had an idea, but Jay had lived through it with me. He’d seen the black eye, the busted lip, and the bruises on my body.

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