Page 65 of Hazel and Elijah Find Out: First They F*cked Around

My face and neck grew hot. It was humiliating to be spoken to like child—even worse because he was right.

“Yeah.” I sighed. The hope I’d had that my past could be left behind me died. It would never leave, not in this town. It’d always follow me.

It wouldn’t hurt just me.

Turning, I found Dennis standing in the doorway, looking like a good Samaritan, Boy Scout who’d never been in a fistfight in his life.

And yet another way he was better for Hazel than me.

Chapter 20

Hazel

“Ijustwantedtobe sure you’re okay.” Dennis bent to scratch Banjo behind the ears. The dog’s tongue lolled out the side of his mouth.

The sky was gray and overcast, the clouds threatening snow. I should have worn my coat, but I wouldn’t be outside long. I wrapped my sweater tighter around my middle.

“Uh, I’m good. Just a little shocked. I hadn’t heard about this.” I looked at my phone—no messages from Elijah. I assumed he was still coming to the clinic, but we hadn’t talked today. He also hadn’t said anything about the fight he’d gotten into with Shane Briar last night. Finding out from Dennis felt wrong. I couldn’t pinpoint what emotion I was feeling.

Concern mixed with apprehension?

Last night had been full of highs—we made our donation, and it’d been fun. But there was also the low of everyone wondering what Elijah was doing with me, and the prickly feeling of being under scrutiny.

“I bet.” He straightened and looked at me. “I worry about you. I’ve heard some things that make me pretty skeptical about this guy.”

“You know how rumors work around here. You can’t trust everything you hear.”

“That’s what I thought too, but then there was that fight last night and…” He shrugged. “It made me wonder if there were truths to what I’d heard.”

“I’m okay.” I pointed my thumb at the employee entrance to the clinic and changed the subject. I didn’t want to discuss the state of my relationship with Dennis. “You’re sure you can get the stairs fixed before you leave?”

“For sure. I’ll get your office door closing properly too, and when I get back, I’ll do some more stuff.”

“Thank you.”

As I hugged him goodbye, tires from a large, rusty, white truck rounded into the parking lot. He pulled away, keeping his hands on my shoulders. “You know he’s the lucky one, right?”

My eyebrows shot up. “Uh… sure. Thanks.”

Dennis nodded as if everything was resolved, though I was still reeling.

He drove away as I waved one more time. I shivered against the cold breeze, and speed-walked to the building. A door from the truck opened and closed behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I half-heartedly smiled at whoever this new person was. But when I saw the black and blue bruise on Elijah’s face, I skidded to a halt. In just a few strides, I met him in the middle of the parking lot.

“Your face.” My hand hovered above his injury.

A muscle flexed in his jaw. “It’ll heal.”

“What happened? Shane Briar did this?”

“So you heard.” He leaned back on his heel, and a bitterness fit strangely at the corners of his mouth. “Right, Ranger Dipshit.”

“Don’t call him that. He’s not the one who got in a fight last night, so you’re not in the best position to call him a dipshit, anyway.”

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

When it was obvious that he wasn’t going to elaborate, I asked, “Is your face the worst of it?”

“My pride is.”

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