Page 110 of Catch and Release

“Let’s talk in private, babe,” Leo responded curtly.

As if his word was final.

As if he had the right to call her babe.

As if he had the right to speak to her at all.

God, Shawn hated him.

“Babe?” Willa all but shrieked. “Don’t fucking call me babe.”

“Calm down, ba—Willa,” Leo said. “I just want to talk. In private.”

“Whatever you need to say to me, you can say in front of him,” Willa said, crossing her arms as if taking a battle stance.

God, he was proud of her—for sticking up for herself, for being brave, for not putting up with this fucker’s bullshit.

“I’m not leaving until I can talk to you alone, Willa,” Leo’s menacing voice came out like a man who was used to getting what he wanted. “I can play this game all night.”

He looked at her meaningfully, and Shawn felt Willa deflate.

“Shawn,” she said, turning around to face him. “I need you to go.”

Fuck. “Willa?—”

She shook her head. “Please, Shawn. I don’t… I can’t deal with all of this. I’ll call you later. Promise.”

Deal with all of this?

Deal with what?

Shawn?

Or Leo?

Shawn took a deep breath, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead.

“Call me later,” he reiterated, and she nodded.

It was the hardest thing he ever did—turning around, getting into his truck, and driving away.

Willa’s eyes misted as she watched Shawn drive back to his place, just a few houses down. She heard him put his car in park and shut the door with so much force she figured people a few miles away could hear it.

When he looked at her before he left, she tried to communicate with him silently: If you punch him, he’ll take you to court for all you’re worth. Don’t do it. Not for me.

Shawn was angry and he had the right to be.

But she needed to get rid of Leo, and that’d be easier to do if she wasn’t worried Shawn was two steps away from giving him a black eye.

“You moved on quick,” Leo’s voice pierced through the darkness.

“Fuck you,” she said, crossing her arms. “What do you want, Leo?”

“So hostile,” he said with a smirk. “Aren’t you going to invite me inside?”

God, what had she ever seen in him? Had he always been this calculating?

The audacity.

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