Page 53 of Inviting Trouble
Hailey bit her lip. “I guess.”
“And then we’ve got one week to turn you into a badass.”
“One week!”
She jerked her chin. “You reopen after the New Year, right? That’s one week.”
“I can’t possibly learn self-defense that quickly.”
Mad ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head for the confidently tousled look. “I learned to be beautiful in a week, right?”
Hailey looked extremely doubtful. Mad narrowed her eyes and Hailey rushed to agree. “Absolutely!” she exclaimed, though not very convincingly.
Mad put her hands on her hips, glad they’d settled things here. “All right, then. You get the word out to book club and anyone else you think might be interested in self-defense, and I’ll reserve some gym time. I’m thinking Thursday afternoon since most of us have off this week. Maybe Saturday morning too. Sunday we party for New Year’s Eve. Sound good?”
Hailey traced the tile of the kitchen floor with the toe of one velvet boot. “You really think you can get gym time that quick?”
“I have connections. We’ll ask Chief O’Hare when you make your report. He has the keys to the high school. Maybe he’ll even want to help teach.”
Hailey chewed on her fingernail. This was disturbing because Mad knew Hailey never liked to ruin her nail polish.
“Babe power!” Mad said, holding up a fist for a fist bump.
Hailey reluctantly released her fingernail. “Babe power,” she said a lot less enthusiastically. Her return fist bump was more like a soft nudge.
Mad made Hailey’s fist connect a little more forcefully.
“Ow,” Hailey complained.
Mad sighed. “We’ll work on it.”
Chapter Thirteen
Park drove back from Maine with Ty on Friday after spending a few extra days hanging out at Claire’s cabin, hoping the distance from Mad would help him cool off. He wished he’d had time to buy a car stateside because driving with Ty was irritating as all hell. It took a lot to get Park angry and Ty had just about got him there.
“All I’m saying is, you don’t mess around with Mad,” Ty said for the fifth time since they’d left Maine. Park was counting.
“Nobody messes with Mad,” Park said tightly. “She can take care of herself.”
“If our friendship…” Ty paused, “if our family means anything to you—”
“It means everything!” Park slapped a hand on the dashboard of the rented sedan. “Why do I still have to prove I’m worthy? Like any minute you guys are going to change your mind about me and give me the boot.”
Ty ignored that. “I know you’ve always had a soft spot for her and that’s why, back then and now, I told you she was off-limits.” The very first time Mad had caught Park’s attention at the town pool as a teen in a swimsuit, Ty had issued a very believable threat of bodily harm that put a quick end to Park’s quiet admiration. Then Ty had followed up his threat with a deal Park believed he had no choice but to accept.
“Not her,” Ty had said. “She’s not someone you mess around with and then dump. You want to keep your place with our family, then you treat her like familyand that’s it. Deal?”
The Campbells meant too much to Park to ever risk losing his place with them. “Deal,” he said, earning a quick bro handshake. An overwhelming relief ran through him that his continued place in the Campbell family was no longer on shaky ground.
Now Ty was back on the same track, reminding him why Mad was off-limits. “She’s not some girl you hook up with and dump.”
“What if I don’t dump her?” Park asked. He felt accused and tried before he’d even had a chance. He knew he came from a crappy situation—his mom a junkie, his dad an alcoholic, his baby sister dead—but he’d grown up. His sister’s death had been called “crib death,” though he suspected it was neglect. So, yeah, he’d been pissed off as a kid and used his fists for a long time, but he’d worked hard to be better than that. He’d have a good job soon. Was he really that awful? Too low to be with the adored Campbell little sister?
“You gonna marry her?” Ty asked.
He pressed his lips together. He knew he wasn’t marriage material.
“Didn’t think so,” Ty said like he was onto Park’s nefarious intentions. Never mind that Mad had seduced him. Park wouldn’t have gone there otherwise, no matter how tempted he was. Mad deserved better than him, he’d always known it, and Ty knew it too.
