Page 41 of Players and Pages
“Don’t you dare listen to a word of that, sweets,” Jackson told me firmly. His dark green eyes were full of indignation on my behalf. “You are so fucking perfect. Sexy. Smart. Independent. Strong. Business savvy. They are all the ones out of our league. If anything,you'reout of ours.”
“Damn straight,” Bea agreed. The cop taking her statement chuckled at her words as he tried and failed to keep her attention long enough to get any real answers.
Finally, he turned to me after giving up on her. “Well, if this was aimed at you, can you tell me why that is?”
“Us,” Cy said easily. “We play for the Knuckleball Knockouts. This has ‘crazy fans’ written all over it.”
My eyes widened enough that the sheriff eyed me. “That seems to mean something to you. Has there been more?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “For almost a week now I’ve been harassed in my emails.”
“What?” Taryn and Bea gasped while my guys eyed me with varying looks of concern and hurt. I hadn’t trusted them with this and I was realizing now that was a mistake.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I thought they’d just go away when I didn’t give them some kind of reaction. It didn’t feel like a big deal.”
“That never works on people like this, sadly,” the sheriff sighed. “Can I see them?”
“It would be easier inside,” I said, unlocking the door and ignoring the streaks of blue dripping down around the handle.
The shop was still dark, untouched, and I let out a relieved sigh as I flicked on the switch. It was the same as always. Shelves tidy, everything in its place, pleasant scent of books and ink in the air.
I led the sheriff to the computer, my pack firmly behind me, refusing to give me space. I’d always faced everything alone and it clearly didn’t help this time, so I didn’t protest as Cy and Jackson stayed at my back, Griff at my side.
It took a few moments to boot up our systems and log in to my email.
“This all went to your work?”
“Yeah, there was an attempt to get me fired. Guess they didn’t realize I was part-owner,” I admitted. My voice sounded hollow as I pulled up the long string of emails. There was a new set of them, one that blatantly asked if I liked the new artwork.
I stepped out of the way as the Sheriff nudged his way in, eyeing my guys but they didn’t back away. There was a mix of curses as they read the increasingly ugly words.
These assholes cut me down on everything. My town. The shop. Weight. Looks. Background.
I stayed away, refusing to let any of it penetrate the shaky barrier around my sanity right now.
“My IT guy is coming out. You got a printer? We’ll want copies, too,” he said, already tapping at the phone and walking away.
Shit. This just got even more real.
Then the guys were in front of me.
“Peach, why didn’t you tell us?” Cy asked. He kept his voice even and careful but the way he was holding back still had tears slowly tracking down my cheeks.
“I’m used to handling things alone. I’m sorry,” I answered, trying to keep the tears at bay.
“Hey, don’t cry,” Griff groaned. “I can’t take it. You’re breaking my heart, gorgeous.”
“It’s just… I thought they’d give up, go away. Then it got worse and I started to let some of their words sink in, then I was too ashamed to tell you,” I admitted. The darker side of my thoughts had won finally.
I couldn’t meet their gazes and even as they pressed against me, I felt the armor around me try to keep us apart.
“This is why you were acting a little off, huh?” Griff’s words weren’t a question at all. He had already connected the necessary dots.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Sometimes it doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t, sweets?” Jackson asked.
“You guys. Me. This.” My hands gestured between us but Cy reached out, circling my wrist with his fingers. It wasn’t harsh, but firm enough my lips fell open and I gaped up at him.
