Page 10 of Fated Shot

“Will you stop? We’re not having this conversation… I can’t believe… good night,” is all I manage from the reply. Impossible to miss the growing frustration in the woman’s voice.

“Come on, baby, don’t fight this, let’s go inside. We can talk about this or even…nottalk. I’vereallymissed you,” he says in a way that makes my skin crawl. His voice is calling out so much louder than hers, carrying all the way to the waterfront. I try to make sense of what I’m hearing. A difficult task considering I’m only getting about fifty percent of the conversation.

The “no,” though, is impossible to miss. “I don’t want you to come in,” reaches me clearly as well. The woman’s voice tries to be firm, but this time, there’s a shakiness behind the words.

That’s all it takes for me to get involved. Standing up, I march off the dock to the scene in front of me. I’m a peacekeeper at heart, but I’ll do what I have to when I need to. My body tenses as I round the corner and see Mia standing rigidly in front of the door to the building and Slimy McGee reaching behind her, one of his hands on the doorknob.

I don’t know where the fuck the peacekeeper in me went. Instead, my body readies for a fight. “Is there a problem?” I say gruffly, making my voice sound more booming than usual.

This causes him to jump a little,loser.

“Oh hey man, Brody, right?” he says as he releases his grip from the doorknob. “Sebastian Brown, big fan,” reaching out to me with his watch-adorned hand.

“Jack,” I reply, staring him down, making no attempt at a shake.

He drops his hand, clearly taking the hint.

“Sorry for disturbing you. We were just about to call it a night.” He looks back at Mia, motioning for her to go inside. When she makes no attempt to move, I can see him growing visibly agitated, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Uh, listen, my girlfriend and I are in the middle of something.” He rolls his eyes at me, clearly trying to signal something akin tobitches be crazy. “If you wouldn’t mind giving us a little privacy…”

“Ex-girlfriend,” Mia states flatly, barely audible enough for me to hear.

“What was that?” he harshly spits out as he turns his attention back to Mia.

I try to keep my tone level, feeling my stomach do a little flip in excitement. That was all I needed to hear. I’m all in now, my confidence returning in an instant.

“She said ex-girlfriend,” I reply a bit more aggressively than planned. There’s a rush of adrenaline flooding my system as I take a few steps forward, closing the distance between Sebastian and me. “Listen, I don’t think she wants to talk right now. Why don’t we all just take a step back?”

His attention turns back to me, and I see his brain assessing the situation. Standing next to each other, the equation becomes crystal clear. I’m bigger, stronger, taller, and clearly not about to let this go.

“That’s fine,” he lets out quickly, more shrill this time, as he takes a step back from me. “I have to make it back to the city tonight anyway. We’ll discuss this later,” he warns Mia. Just like that, he leaves without a second glance in my direction, heading up the gravel path leading back to the main house.

We stand silently for a few moments. She looks like a deer in the headlights for the second time tonight as her gaze stays locked on the grass a few feet ahead of her.

I take a few steps forward and gently place my hand on her shoulder, brushing my fingers over her bare skin.

“Hey, you okay?” I let out as comforting as I can manage, desperate to check on the girl in front of me.

She shudders slightly at the contact, and I drop my hand immediately. When she looks up at me, there’s still a bit of fear in her eyes, but they start to warm as our gazes meet. I watch in fascination as she sucks in a quick breath and swallows. It feels like she’s working up the nerve to say something, and I’ll be damned if I don’t have all the patience in the world to wait.

“I think I’m going to, uh, go for a walk,” she says hesitantly.

I nod as she proceeds to swerve past me, walking toward a little dirt trail leading into the forest. Her scent wafts past me as I shamelessly breathe it in. She smells like summer, fruity and sweet. It fades though as the distance between us grows, suddenly, the realization hits me. I bound after her.

“Wait, by yourself? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I’m not going far, Jack,” she replies, already looking more lively than she did moments ago.

I can’t help the small smile that breaks out. “You remember me?”

Even with the setting sun, I can see the soft pink rush across her cheeks as she drops her head to her sandals. “Uh yeah, we met at family skate, remember?”

I nod.

“And you’re on my dad’s team, so, of course, I, um—”

“Can I come with you?” I ask before she finishes her sentence. This surprises even me, as my mind raced to find the words before the logic of avoiding her even registered. To my relief, though, she nods gently before turning back to face the path.

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