Page 61 of Without You, Scotch and Sammy 2

The women whisper between themselves, and my brows furrow, then the one closest to the stroller breaks formation and moves forward slowly.

She’s small. She has long legs encased in jeans that fit like a second skin, and boots similar to mine that stretch to her knees. Her hair is long, jet black and straight as it hangs well past her elbows.

She stops about twenty feet away, then cups her hands around her mouth. “Yeah, you. What’s your name? You look familiar.”

A tall, blonde woman steps forward and grabs the brunette’s arm to pull her back, but the brunette shakes her head and takes a few steps forward. “Are you from around here?”

She steps forward an additional half a dozen steps until she’s close enough not to shout anymore, and I study her features. Big blue eyes, dramatic mascara, a nose ring that reminds me of Sam’s. She’s stunning, and it takes me another minute before I see it.

My eyes grow wide as butterflies swarm in my belly. She’s all grown up, and so beautiful. I smile and step forward. “Brittany?”

A large man steps up behind the group of women, then a second man, and in my distraction, I miss the moment Brittany’s face transforms from curious to angry. “Samantha Ricardo?” She steps forward again. “You’re Samantha Ricardo, right?”

I step back and tuck Lily’s stroller behind me safely. “Um--”

“Oh shit.” The first man jumps quickly, rushing forward and grabbing Brittany around the waist just as she steps toward me. He lifts her up and spins her around, and in the momentum, I literally feel the breeze from her kicking feet brush along my chin. “Get the fuck out of my town!” She’s like a wild dog frothing at the mouth. “Get out and don’t come back again.”

“Brittany, quit it.”

She fights her captor’s hold, and she kicks out and around him in an attempt to get to me. The women she was with all stand back and watch, and the second guy steps toward me slowly. I back away, because he’s big and he came from her side of the playing field, but then his icy blue eyes lock onto mine, and I find myself face to face with Alex Turner. Tears well in my eyes at the unexpected meeting. It’s like I’m seeing ghosts, and neither of them are happy to see me.

“Well, fuck.”

“Alex…”

“It’s been a long time, Sammy. I didn’t know you were in town.” He looks over my shoulder easily, then lifts his brow, “With a baby.”

“Get her away from here, X. He doesn’t need to see her, and he definitely doesn’t need to see that baby!”

“I’m sorry,” I choke past the lump in my throat. People all up and down the street step out of their warmed shops and offices to watch the commotion, and I take another step back, ensuring my hand stays firmly on the handle of Lily’s stroller and backing her away first.

Alex turns back to his still shouting sister. “Britt, shut the hell up before I have to arrest you!”

“Don’t you dare defend her, X! Kick her bitch ass out of this town before she sets him back. Suddenly I fucking love Nancy the whore.”

“Brittany!” His hand reaches out and grabs my wrist just half a second before I turn and make a run for it, though he turns around to face his sister. “You’re attacking someone who hasn’t touched you. I don’t wanna have to explain to mom why I had to arrest you, dumbass. Jack, get her out of here.”

The man holding Brittany turns and carries her away, even as she shouts and kicks out in my direction. The women split ranks and allow him to walk through, then they close around them and tuck the stroller in close.

“Wow.”

“Yeah,” Alex agrees, blocking my view of his little sister, but we both look again when she cries out as though she were gravely injured. My head snaps up in search of the threat, then I turn at the thundering footsteps as Sam sprints down the street toward our group.

I know it’s ridiculous of me to expect differently, and even more ridiculous to feel jealousy creep up through my belly and take root in my heart. But when Sam runs past me and into the group of women, taking his baby sister in his arms as she shouts at him to leave, my face burns red with humiliation. Ridiculous or not, a part of me hoped he’d hug me instead.

I step away in Alex’s distraction, but stop again when the stroller refuses to budge. I turn to find a teenaged boy with a basketball tucked under one arm and his head in the stroller while he makes kissy noises. I cry out in shock and his gaze snaps up curiously. He doesn’t remove his feet from the front wheels of my stroller, nor does he take his hand away as he rubs his thumb over the top of Lily’s hand, but he smiles charmingly. “Heya, ma’am.”

“Back it up, Mac.”

My neck aches as I turn to look at Alex, but he’s looking at the boy who looks like he might be fourteen or so, with cute dimples below his lips, and the strangest haircut I might have ever seen. “I’m just lookin’ at the cute doll baby.”

“You can’t touch someone’s baby without their permission. Step back. And get your dirty hands off her anyway. She’s tiny, and you’ve been screwing around at the courts with Scotch.”

“I wasn’t gonna steal her,” Mac pouts, but he pulls his hands back and steps away.

“You need to cool it,” Sam says to Britt as she struggles in his arms. “Just stop.”

“She needs to go! She’s a horrible person, and you don’t need to go back there.”

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