Page 214 of Steeling Her
“I’m fine!” he replies roughly back at her even when she’s trying to help.
“What is going on here?!” Rodger returns from the crowd, who thought he had left, looking between me, Carter, and Ted. He’s a smart man, so I’m sure he’s put two and two together. I know he stayed to keep one eye on him and the other on me.
“This asshole decided to punch me in the face.” Ted points a finger directly at me.
I do nothing but roll my eyes. I wish I could say “You deserved it’ to his face. This isn’t my first fight either.
“Is that true?” he asks me and I don’t hesitate to nod.
“I didn’t like the way he was speaking to Carter,” I tell him confidently. Like a light switch goes off in his head, he faces Ted once again.
“And what way did you speak to my daughter?” He lowers his tone, wordlessly warning him to choose his next words carefully. He doesn’t sound all that impressed with him.
“It’s fine, Dad. We were just about to leave.” She helps Ted up and makes sure he’s okay.
He doesn’t deserve a woman like her.
He takes her kindness for granted, and it’s sad that she takes this sort of treatment from him.
That son of a bitch has been getting on my nerves since day one.
“Carter—” Her dad tries to stop her but she storms off and walks out on us, Ted following close behind her. She’s mad, I can tell.
“Just leave her to cool down, Rodger,” Elaine comforts him, rubbing his chest as he stares at his daughters retreating frame. We all watch her leave with a few shoulders slumped as he follows closely behind her and cupping his face where I hit him.
“Asshole,” he mutters.
I step forward only to be held back by TJ, who has to intervene to stop me from hitting him again. I would have done it gladly because Carter wouldn’t have seen me this time.
“You need to reel it in, Jackson,” Rodger warns me. “That is not the way to handle things with him. Or Carter,” he continues. I know he’s right but something about Ted just irks me. “That’s your playing arm, too, so be very careful.” He makes a valid point.
“Yeah, sorry.” I nod in disappointment at myself. I caused a scene, and people watched the entire thing play out. Videos of it will be thrown around by the media come dawn. For now, social media will have it in its grasp.
“Okay, no more fighting. This goes for all of you, but I’m talking about you in particular.” Her dad points at me to emphasize his point.
With a tight lipped smile, I agree to keep my hands to myself. I’ll only wind up in more trouble. I don’t want that anymore when I’m already in one with Carter.
Just as I confirm, he takes Elaine and leaves for good, following the pathway out where their daughter had just left moments ago.
I feel a smack on the back of the head; I snap my neck to see who the culprit is. I see two green eyes staring back at me in a blaze. “Don’t fuck this up for yourself, Nick. Your chances with her are running out, and if you keep swinging your fists, you won’t ever get her back. Don’t make it harder for yourself,” Haley whisper yells at me before nodding her head towards the exit as well. “We’re leaving too,” she announces to everyone with a scolding tone directed at me. I’ve never been reprimanded by my younger sister. Mother, yes, but never by Haley.
As I roll my eyes, I sigh and nod the guys goodbye as I leave, putting one foot in front of the other. People continue staring at me as I pass and smile. I ignore their attention and push through the crowd with my hands in my pockets to keep people from staring even more.
We manage to make it out of the club in a couple of minutes.
It’s at times like these where I wish I could have a restart button but, then again, he provoked me.
“Stop smiling, Nick,” Haley scolds me again, but as I stare at her, I begin to see a smile of her own forming on her lips. This makes me smile even harder. She slides into the car, and I follow her while TJ slips in to the other side.
“Then what are you smiling?” I mock her.
“I’m not!” she denies, rolling her eyes.
“Both of you, stop.” TJ rolls his eyes with a smile of his own on his face As we begin to drive away. “You know what you did was wrong, Nick—”
“I know, I know. I shouldn’t have hit him.” I put both hands on my face, tired of hearing this over and over again.
“Oh no, he deserved it, but you didn’t have to be so smug about it.” I whip my head around to face my best friend in shock that he said that.
