Page 73 of Legal

“Just a few twinges.”

“Oh, right. You got your period. At noon.”

“Actually twelve fifteen.”

“That’s some freaky shit, Jills. I don’t know how you know this stuff.” I didn’t know either; I just did. My superpower, I guess. “Okay, I need to take off. I trust you’ll be okay if I leave you with Chase?” I gave her a look, and she laughed. “See you both Friday. Love ya.”

She left, and I went back to watching the game, wondering how I was going to get out of it. I’d still go, but bringing Chase with me sounded as harmonious as a flute with no holes.

I felt a person sit close beside me, and I turned. “Perry, what’d you—”

“Hey, firecracker.”

My stomach rolled, and I moved down a bit, brushing off all the bugs that had just landed on me. I did my best to ignore him and focus on the field, but his energy was oozing over. I’d probably make it too big of a deal to get up and go somewhere else, so I just stayed put. We were in a public area anyway.

Trevor scooted toward me. “Now, why do you have to go and be like that? I only wanted to apologize for my behavior the other day. It wasn’t cool to get all alpha on you. Obviously, you’re not into that shit.”

That wasn’t alpha; that was jackass.“Apology accepted.”Now stay the fuck away from me.Once again, I moved down and once again, he did the same.

“Come on, baby. You’re hurting my feelings here.” He clutched his chest. “Just give me a chance. Soon as you’re done with Chase, let me in on the action. I’ll let you take charge. I like… experienced women.”

I stood up, not caring if I was making a greater issue of it. He needed to be stopped. “Stay the—”

“What the fuck are you doing?” Chase surprised both of us, seeming to come out of nowhere. He was right in Trevor’s face.

“Hey, bro. Just watching some ball and getting acquainted with your lady here.”

Chase’s fist connected hard with Trevor’s jaw, knocking him back into the stands. The vibration almost sent me down as well. “Chase!” I yelled. What the hell’s going on? The game had stopped, and everyone was looking at us. I felt like an idiot.

Trevor was struggling to get up, and I worried that Chase was going to lose his shit again and keep him down. He was standing over him like he wanted to rip his head off.

“Dammit, stop!” I was so frickin’ irritated. If he wanted to play this crap, I wasn’t going to stay around and watch.

I grabbed my purse and stormed off. “Jillian, where are you going?” Chase was soon behind me, catching up. “Jillian.” He latched on to my arm.

“Are you finished? Or do you need to go back and get another shot in?” I could have been overreacting, but I didn’t think so. Maybe it was just hormones pushing my limits, but I didn’t think that either. It was something else.

Chase pulled me against him. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” My muscles loosened in his embrace, but my blood was still pumping at a frenzied pace. “Trev was fucking with you, and I didn’t like it.”

I squirmed away, keeping him at arm’s length. “Chase, I don’t need you to defend me. I can take care of myself. I handled him the first time, and I was capable of handling him this—”

“What do you mean the first time?”

Fuck.“Don’t worry about it.” Me and my goddamned mouth, but that still didn’t make the point any less valid.

“Do not tell me not to worry about it, Jillian. What did he do to you?”

His voice was even and controlled, but I could tell he was boiling under the surface. I didn’t want to give his testosterone another reason to strut its stuff.

“Come with me first.” I took his hand and led him into the rec building. It was sometimes used for concessions, but right now it was empty. “It’s not a big deal, Chase. When I went over there, he was a little out of hand, but it lasted all of thirty seconds. I told him to back off, and he did.”

He took a deep breath. “Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

“Because it wasn’t a big deal! Chase, I told you, I can take care of myself.”

He grabbed me tight and held me close. His body was solid, unyielding. God, he was strong. I loved that, but I was so conflicted over all this macho crap.

“Jillian.” He stroked my hair, breath hot against my neck. “Whatever involves you is a big deal to me. Do you understand that? Don’t ask me to stop defending you because I won’t do it. If I ever think you’re in harm’s way, I’m going to react.”

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