Page 83 of Better Hide

I think back. I remember that day. We went to a summer party together. That black eye wasn’t from the fight, though. I shake my head. “Nah, that girl couldn’t land a punch even if she tried.”

The car gets silent.

“She didn’t give that to you?”

I laugh. “No, that was my dad.”

Heavy silence.

Immediately, I freeze. The energy in the car shifts.

Oh shit, I shouldn’t have said that.

38

JAYDEN

“Your dad, huh?”Cole’s voice is tight.

I woke up in time to hear Jo say her dad gave her a black eye. Instantly, I’m on alert.

“It’s not like that,” Jo rushes to say. “It was my fault. I picked fights with him on purpose.”

Cole is silent. The rage that’s bubbling in my chest is unreal.

No one gets to hurt my girl. No one but me.

My words come out low, “I’ll kill him.”

Jo jumps and looks at me. “No! You can’t kill my dad.”

Yes I can.

“Why didn’t you say something before?” I can hear Cole trying to keep it together.

“Because it doesn’t mean anything? I wanted to fight him. Please, it’s not that big of a deal,” Jo pleads.

Cole scoffs as if he doesn’t believe her. “You were fucking twelve.”

“So?”

Twelve. She was a damn kid.

I clench my jaw and force my gaze away from her. The shadows on her face make it look like she has a black eye now,and I can just picture it when she was a kid. If I look at her any longer, I’ll get Cole to make a stop at her parents’ house.

It would be a long detour. Maybe we’ll have time…

Jo continues to plead with Cole. She’s defensive, and that makes me angrier. Her piece of shit dad doesn’t deserve that kind of defense. I’m jealous of any energy she’s giving to anyone else. She’s mine. Ours.

She doesn’t get to defend anyone else.

I try, but I can’t keep my eyes off her. Jo has stopped arguing, and now she has her arms crossed. She looks so small and helpless.

I know a lot of things about Jo, but I didn’t know she fought her dad. But I can see it. Not sure why I didn’t guess this about her earlier.

Jo sees me watching her and rolls her eyes. It’s brief, but it makes all the blood go straight to my dick.

I snatch her up, and before she can put up too much of a fight, I lay her over my lap. “Still have a spanking you owe me.”

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