Page 56 of Fighting Jacob

The superiority in his tone pisses me off, but not enough to weaken my curiosity. "If that were true, you'd tell me now. You've never been good at keeping secrets."

“I can when it hurts people I care about.”

“Hurt who? Me or Jacob?”

I don’t give a shit about myself. I made my bed, and now I have to lie in it, but if this is in regards to the threat Curtis made against Jacob months ago, I want to know.

Worry brews in my gut when Callum breathes out, “Both.”

“Then just tell me now—”

“No, if you want to know, you have to meet with me.”

I fist my shirt, unsure what to do. I refuse to be in the same room with Callum, but I want to know what’s going on so I can warn Jacob.

“I’ll meet you somewhere public.”

Callum breathes harshly down the line. “I won’t hurt you again, Lola.”

“In public or not at all. Those are my terms.”

A sturdy length of silence stretches between us. It's as tension-filled as you'd expect.

“Okay,” he finally gives in. “I’ll text you a time and the place later today.”

With that, he hangs up...

When he texted an hour later requesting that I meet him at Mavericks, I initially refused. Mavs is Jacob’s home turf, so there’s no way I could do that to him. I was halfway through punching out a refusal when I recalled Emily saying Jacob was helping her move in today. With traffic extra hectic from everyone preparing to return to school, the drive from her university to Mavericks was a solid two hours.

With that in mind, I changed my text, agreeing to meet Callum here.

I’m snapped back to the present when Callum swoops down to plant a kiss on my cheek. “Thanks for agreeing to meet me.”

I'm about to tell him to keep his mitts to himself when a much more dangerous situation arises. Maggie is standing just behind Callum. Her eyes are slit, her fists balled.

“Get out of my bar!” She steps closer to Callum, locked and loaded on her target. “And if I ever see you here again, I won’t hesitate to bring out my bat...or my gun.”

Callum jackknifes back, seeming confused about why Maggie is so angry. His eyes dance between hers before he slants his head to me. Only now does it dawn on me that he was high when he attacked me.

“I’m sorry, we’ll leave now.”

I slip off my barstool and make a beeline for the door, only to have Maggie snatch my wrist. “You can stay.” Her squinted gaze strays back to Callum. “But he has five minutes to get the hell out of my bar!”

“What the fuck?”

With Callum’s anger growing, I have no choice but to get him out of here before he detonates. After giving Maggie a look, one that says I’ll always appreciate her help six months ago, I wiggle out of her hold before taking up my own on Callum’s wrist. “Let’s go. I’ll explain it to you on the way out.”

Just as we pace out the doors, Jacob’s car pulls into an empty spot at the front.

Oh shit.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Jacob

As my shoes click the worn floors of Mavericks, I take in the patrons filling the space on a lazy Sunday afternoon. There are more people than I expected when I decided to wash away my crappy week with a beer or three.

When I stop at the bar, Maggie’s eyes pop up from the sparkling counter she’s scrubbing with her beloved red dishcloth. With how hard she’s rubbing, I’m surprised she hasn’t scoured off the varnish.

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