Page 52 of The Expiration Date

“He said that if I wasn’t good enough for him, what makes me think that I am good enough for you?” Now the tears come down in waves. I’m going to kill him. I swear he better not cross my path for the rest of the weekend. To make someone as sweet as Haley cry like this infuriates me. I can’t imagine how much she cried when he cheated on her and effectively ended their engagement. She continues through her tears, “And you know, he’s right. I am not go–”

I place a finger against her lips. “Don’t you dare say that you are not good enough for me. If anything, Hales, it’s the opposite.” I pull her into my chest again. “I promise you that everything will be okay. Robert knows nothing about our relationship. He has no right to say anything.”

Speak of the devil. Robert stumbles his way through the doors onto the deck. I have had my fair share of experience dealing with drunk, angry men in my lifetime, and I am already pissed that I have to deal with this again. It triggers my defenses right away.

Disoriented, Robert slurs, “There you are, Haley. Why the fuck did you leave me out there alone on the dance floor? Typical Haley, always running away from her fucking problems. You know you made me look like an asshole in front of all our friends, right?”

When he is inches away from grabbing Haley’s arm, I step in between them. He has no right to lay his skeezy hands on my girl. “I think you are doing that all by yourself, Robert. Good for you for realizing that you are a problem. Admission is alway the first step.” I have a solid three inches on him and I know I could lay him flat in two seconds if needed. It takes everything inside of me to not make that a reality. He is pushing it, though. He’s been on my shit list since before I even met him. “I think you need to head back to the reception, man.”

Robert starts to laugh and he stupidly advances on me. The asshole decides to shove me. Hales steps back, scared of what’s about to happen next. And I don’t blame her. “And what are you going to do if I don’t?”

“Trust me, man, you don’t want to know,” I say, rolling up my sleeves. “And it would be highly inappropriate, since we are at your best friend’s wedding. I wouldn’t want to embarrass you more than you are already embarrassing yourself right now.”

“Ha!” Robert lets out a taunting laugh. “You think that you’re better than me, you pretentious asshole? Just because you’re a famous movie star? What are you going to do to me, pretty boy?” He shoves me again.

“Don’t push me, Robert.” I instinctively guide Haley to go behind me. I want to shield her from this jackass in every way. If she had to deal with this version of Robert at any point in their relationship, I feel terrible for her. I wish I could magically erase those memories from her mind.

“Or what? We both know you’re just going to drop her, just like all your other little girlfriends in the past.”

This prick. I’m done being cordial.

“At least I didn’t cheat on her, you dick. At least I have some fucking dignity and realize that Hales is the best thing that could happen in anyone’s life. Don’t take it out on us that you fucked it all up.”

“Well if Haley would have put out once in a while, maybe I wouldn’t have…”

I swing as hard as I can and hit Robert square in the face. He falls to the floor. Yup, he is definitely going to have a busted lip. But I don’t fucking care. That bastard deserved it.

Jesus, I haven’t punched someone for real in a long time. The last person I punched was my dad, years ago, in defense of my mom. I always have a stunt double or I fake-punch my castmate. I shake my right hand, then flex my fingers out and curl them back in. Even though I haven’t done that in years, it felt good to release all my frustrations out on this asshole.

“Oh my god!” Haley rushes to my side, grabs my bicep, then my hand. “Are you okay? Did you hurt your hand? Is it broken?”

“If you properly know how to punch someone, you won’t break anything. Nah, it just hurts a little.” I nod down to Robert, who is attempting to stop the blood from making its way down his chin but to no avail–some drips onto his white collar. “I think he got the worse end of the deal.”

Haley places her hand on the side of my face and forces my gaze to leave Robert and arrive at her gorgeous brown eyes. “I don’t care about him. I care about you.”

I immediately want to swoop her back up into my arms, take her to our bedroom and show her how much I care for her.

Robert finally finds the strength to stand up. Wiping blood from his lip, he points to me and says, “What the fuck, man? This conversation doesn’t fucking concern you. You’re not even her real boyfriend. You don’t fucking love her.”

“And you did? Well you have a hell of a way of showing it to the people you love. And for the record, my love for Haley is none of your goddamn business. You come near her again, and I promise you, you won’t get up off the ground once I’m through with you.”

“Is that a fucking threat, pretty boy?”

“It’s a fucking guarantee. You’re lucky that all I did was bust your lip. That was a courtesy to the bride and your fiancée.” I step toward Robert until his forehead is almost touching my chin. He isn’t brave enough to hit me, I can see the cowardice in his eyes. He’s all talk. “Don’t come near my girl again,” I growl.

The only thing that breaks the tension is the clearing of a throat. “Um, they are ready for the Maid of Honor and Best Man to do their toasts now.” It is Haley’s mom. Shit. I hope she didn’t see me punch that son of a bitch. Or I hope that if she did see it, she knew I was defending her daughter. But I know better than anyone that often glimpses of other people’s lives isn’t the entire story.

Haley lets go of my arm and starts walking toward her mom. LeAnn gives Haley a small smile and as Robert passes, she hands him a napkin. “Maybe you should stop by the bathroom real quick to clean up before you stand in front of a crowd and talk about what it means to love someone.”

Damn. I may have beat him up physically, but LeAnn just clobbered him with her words. She glares Robert in the eyes before he walks away, hunched over in multilayered defeat.

Now it is my turn to face the possible wrath of LeAnn Swann. These Swann women have no idea how intimidating they are when they are standing stoically. They say a lot when they don’t say anything at all.

She breaks the silence first. “So…”

Geez, it feels like I am about to get scolded. I revert back to my seventeen-year-old self trying to explain to my mom that it wasn’t my fault that I was late for curfew. It was my buddy Lucas’ fault, his car broke down because he didn’t get gas. I rub the back of my neck as I hesitantly look her in the eyes. “So…look, I was just trying to…”

“You love my daughter.”

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