Page 41 of Protection for Nichole

“I know Griz came by to talk, and you told him to fuck off. Apple, tell me what’s going on?”

Apple closed his eyes, and Jay glanced around. They’d attracted the interest of a few of Apple’s neighbors.

Jay lowered his voice. “Can we go inside?”

Apple frowned and glanced around. He nodded and turned to head in. Jay locked his car before following.

Once inside, Apple grabbed two beers and set them on the table. “Sit. It’s a lot.”

Jay took a seat and cracked open the beer. He would rather stand, but he didn’t want to appear confrontational to Apple. The man was going through something and he didn’t want to antagonize him.

Jay blew out a heavy sigh as he sat, then opened the beer, drinking half. Jay thought Apple was going to start talking, but he shook his head. Jay wanted to prompt him, but he knew Apple wouldn’t talk until he was ready.

It took another minute or so before he started in on his story. “I thought she loved me. She said she did. I’d been seeing someone, but they weren’t ready for commitment. Then Tara came into my life. She was hot and heavy from the get-go. She made me feel great, took care of me, did everything girlfriends are supposed to do. It was intense. I really thought she was the one. But she never cared about me.”

Jay didn’t know if he should say something. Telling Apple that Nichole wasn’t anything like that didn’t seem to work. She wasn’t this Tara woman Apple had run into. Heck, he’d never even heard of Tara before this all came up. He needed more information, but Apple hadn’t been forthcoming.

“She only wanted me to use me. She was going to expose something. It wasn’t a big deal. The Navy was already working on fixing the issue. I know the Navy doesn’t get everything perfect, I’ve seen it, but this woman used me. And I allowed it.”

“I’m sure you didn’t allow it.”

“Fuck, man, I let her—fuck. I fucked up and—” Apple hit him with a hard stare. “You’re fucking up, too, allowing a reporter into your life. She’ll want information, and you won’t be able to say no.”

“Apple, I love you like a brother, but you are one hundred percent wrong about Nichole.”

Apple threw up his hands. “How can you know? I didn’t know. She only fucked me to steal my keys and break into the base.”

Apple’s words hit hard. “She did what?”

“She broke in and stole paperwork from my office. She almost ended my career. If my CO hadn’t been as good, I would be in prison with her. She fucked me over.”

Jay shook his head. “Man, that sucks.”

“She contacted me a few weeks ago. She wants me to come to the prison where she is and talk.”

Jay narrowed his gaze. “Wait, you aren’t going to meet with her, are you?”

Apple shrugged. “I want to hear her apologize so I can tell her to fuck off.”

“Have you gotten counseling about this?”

Apple rolled his eyes. “No. I don’t need counseling.”

“Maybe you do. You’re still very pissed off about this. I don’t think it’s good for you.”

Apple’s chair screeched as he stood. “I’m fine.”

“Dude, you’re agitated, and it’s showing.”

Apple shut his eyes, his jaw twitching as he clenched his teeth. “I’m fine.”

“No, man, you’re not. I’ll go with you, and we can talk about Nichole. Which, you’re going to come to my place this weekend and eat a meal with us.”

“Fuck.” Apple’s lips thinned as he stared at Jay, shaking his head. “What if I don’t want to?”

“You need to get over this thing. Nichole isn’t this Tara woman. She’s not like that at all. You need to separate the two. Nichole isn’t going to betray me.”

Apple snorted. “That’s what I thought about Tara.”

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