Page 9 of Big Trouble
I expected her to tell me she was a feminist and my comments weren’t acceptable.
I expected a reaction.
Nothing happened.
She simply carried on with her attempt to remove the boot as if those words had never left my mouth.
She ignored me.
I think I hated that more.
The crunch from my ankle brought me back to the present. Each motion, no matter how tiny, caused pain to shoot up my calf into my hamstrings. Mom hadn’t let me have any painkillers before the appointment so every burn, cramp and twinge manifested itself threefold. I chewed on my lip trying to breathe through it. Then, like a wounded animal, I lashed out at my tormentor.
“You fucking bitch! That hurts!” I pushed her away from my ankle, causing her to topple over and land on her ass.
Lo glanced up at me, her brown eyes glassy.
“Where the hell did you train? In a sadist’s dungeon? Who gave you a job here? I should sue for incompetence,” I raged.
“See you on Thursday?” she managed.
“In your dreams,” I hissed as I grabbed my boot and cane and hobbled towards the door.
Then, just for fun, I hurled a few more insults at her, questioning her qualification and sexuality. It was meant to make me feel better, but when I glanced back over my shoulder, I discovered tears running down her face.
Dammit, I’d actually made her cry.
I really was a special kind of asshole.
“Well, well, Jack Cairney. What brings you back to town?” Adriana, the pretty blonde waitress I’d dated a few times welcomed me to the bar.
I leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. “Take it you don’t watch the news?” I tapped my ankle with my cane, trying not to wince as the pain shot up my leg again. “Bit of an accident. Had to come back here to recuperate.”
Her blue eyes widened. “Seriously? What happened?”
“Don’t listen to him, he’ll only exaggerate it.” Andre Cash laughed. He’d picked me up, saving me from both another uncomfortable drive and the embarrassment of Mom dropping me off.
“Why don’t you guys get a table? I’ll be over to take your order in a minute.” Adriana gestured to a table in the corner. “Couple of beers, right?”
Andre checked with me. “Not going to interfere with your medication?”
I shook my head. “Nah, I’m between doses now.”And it sucked.A couple of those super-strength anti-inflammatories would have sorted me right out. I needed their calming effect after the session with Lo. The potential reliance I had on the pills niggled at me. Not quite enough to stop taking them outright, but with Mom’s strict adherence to the dosage and timings I knew she’d keep me on the straight and narrow. It wasn’t as if I had much of a choice.
We headed over to the table, me limping along behind Dre as fast as I could. I couldn’t wait to get rid of this cane. I joked it was a great way of getting women to help me, but I hated being so dependent on something simply to get me from A to B.
Adriana came over straight away with the beers and left us with the menus, even though neither of us had any real need to read them. We’d been here often enough to know what was on offer.
“How are you doing, Jack?”
I’d heard the question a million times before. And while I was sick to death of it, I knew it came from Andre’s heart. I deeply regretted not being able to get back for the funeral, but at the time I didn’t know whether Mom would be arranging mine instead. I knew I had to go and see Scarlett, but there was something stopping me. If I saw her, I knew I’d break down and I wasn’t ready.
I stalled for time, slugging some beer, hoping if I had enough it would dull the pain in my ankle and shoulder. “It’s tough,” I admitted. “I thought I was invincible. I pushed myself harder and harder to get pole position and make sure I started the race in first place. I wanted to challenge for the title this season. And I was getting there. A couple of podiums.” I grinned. “Although it got to the point where it was either a podium finish or an inglorious crash meaning a DNF.”
“You were doing well. But I guess you’re done for this season?” Andre stared expectantly at me.
My race team hadn’t spoken directly to me about it, but their silence spoke volumes. A reserve rider had already taken my place in the last race and was gearing up for the next.
I guessed I was done too.
