Page 16 of Love Shots

He patiently waited while Summer shifted uncomfortably on her butt. She was purposely avoiding his gaze, choosing to focus instead on picking at the material on the end of her sleeve. She was quiet so long, he was worried he needed to prompt her again, until she whispered a name.

“Ben.” Teddy already hated him. “We worked together. At first I thought he was a nice guy. I mean, he worked for an aid agency for God’s sake. You’d think that in itself would weed out the assholes.”

“But he wasn’t,” Teddy unnecessarily added, already knowing the answer.

“No. He wasn’t. And by the time I realized how not nice of a guy he was, we were already dating. Had been for a while.”

Swallowing down his anger, Teddy reached out and curled his hands around hers, which were now trembling.

“One night ... we’d just gotten back to our room after a really long day, and he was mad. Really mad. I’d never seen him like that before. He started accusing me of flirting with one of the other workers, saying I’d embarrassed him. I didn’t know what on earth he was talking about ... and you know me ... never one to shy away from a fight. Well ... I never used to be.”

Now her whole body was shaking, and he couldn’t take it. He hurled her into him again, this time, positioning her onto his lap. The need to hold her was undoubtedly stronger for him than it was for her, but he didn’t care. He knew what was coming, and he needed to be holding her when he heard it.

Once she’d snuggled her head into his shoulders, she carried on. “I called him a jealous asshole, among other things. Let’s just say he didn’t take it well. He pulled me by the hair and slammed me against the wall. Then slammed me again. Over and over. I was so shocked. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I can’t even remember saying that much after that ... other than telling him that he was hurting me.”

Bile rose up from Teddy’s stomach. She’d been in a relationship with this man. She’d given him her trust and he’d abused it. The son of a bitch had laid his hands on her. While she’d been alone, in the middle of nowhere. Goddamnit. How long had she been stranded with this abusive asshole?

The other night at Mickey’s made sense now. That motherfucker had scarred her. Messed with her head and made her feel less than. Teddy wanted nothing more than to hunt him down and give him a taste of his own medicine. But before he did that, he needed to hear the rest.

“What else? What happened after that, doll?”

He hadn’t felt or heard her cry, but the tears seeping into his shirt alerted him to the fact she was. “I-I ... I was an idiot. Once he’d calmed down, I tried to leave, but he ... he begged me to stay. Literally, on his knees, begging. At one point he started crying, saying all the right things, like how he didn’t mean to hurt me, he’d never do it again, begging me to give him another chance. All that crap.”

“So you stayed.” It wasn’t a question, but she answered it anyway.

“Yeah. I stayed. And he did it again. And again. The fourth time, I left. Managed to transfer out. I was fine for a while, but then ... he found me. Followed me to my next assignment. And the assignment after that.” Teddy’s grip on her tightened. “He’d send me messages too, crazy messages. Threats, insults, pleas to take him back. You name it, he said it. You have no idea how many times I’ve had to change my fricking phone number.” He heard her voice crack. “When he managed to get another few bruises in, I decided enough was enough and I quit the agency altogether. Came back here.”

“You quit because of that asshole?” Teddy’s blood was boiling.

“No. Well, yes and no. I was ready to leave; I guess he was just the last straw. The kick I needed to get out. No pun intended.” She managed to force out a short laugh, but there was nothing funny about the situation.

“His last name?”

“Huh?”

“His last name, dollface, what is it?”

Drawing back, her hazel eyes flashed in defiance. “Oh no. Don’t you dare, Teddy McCallen. I did not tell you all that so you could go all Rambo on me. The last thing I need is you getting locked up because of that asshole.”

Holding up his hands defensively, he couldn’t help but smile at the light that had returned to her eyes. “Rambo is not my style, doll, and I promise you that I’m not about to get myself locked up. I just want to know his name, that’s all.”

A cute little snort escaped as she shook her head at him. “That’s all, my ass. No frigging way.”

Looks like he wouldn’t be getting any more information from Summer. Oh well. No matter. It wouldn’t stop him from finding the bastard.

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