Page 87 of Beneath the Stands (Sugarlake 2)

All the beats belong to him, anyway.

Eli drags Jason completely over the counter until his feet scramble to find purchase on the ground. Letting go of his shirt, Eli pushes him forward until they’re both standing in front of me.

My mouth parts, my stomach doing somersaults inside me.

He grips the back of Jason’s neck. “Apologize.”

Jason stares at the ground, mumbling.

Leaning in close, Eli’s brows raise. “What’s that?”

“I said, I’m sorry. Hell, man. Everyone knows Becca used to get around. She knows I’m just messin’ with her.”

Eli’s eyes snap to me, his irises dark in their wrath. A throb spikes between my legs, shooting like lightning, electrifying every nerve.

“What in tarnation is goin’ on in here?” Jason’s momma, Betsy, stands in the back door, taking in the scene.

Eli doesn’t move his gaze from me, and he doesn’t relent his grip from the back of Jason’s neck. “Just teachin’ your boy some manners, Ms. Wallace.”

Betsy tsks, walking over and smacking Jason on the back of the head. “Boy, what have you gone and done now? I ask you to watch the store for five minutes and I come back to you runnin’ off my customers.”

“Ma, it—”

She puts up a hand. “I don’t wanna hear it. Go on now.”

She shoos him away, and Eli finally releases his grasp, the deep red rings on the sides of Jason’s neck making heat flare low in my abdomen.

It’s disturbing how turned on I am by the evidence of Eli’s violence.

Betsy puts a hand to her chest. “I’m awful sorry for anything he may have said. You know he’s never quite gotten over you, Becca, but don’t tell his wife I said it.” She winks, turning to Sarah. “Now, let’s talk weddin’s!”

Bile rises in the back of my throat, because for a minute, I had forgotten that’s why we were here. For just a split second, it was easy to pretend.

But Eli isn’t mine.

Sarah smiles, sashaying toward Eli and standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “My man is always trying to be the white knight, riding in to save the day. Becca’s a big girl, Eli. She can handle herself.”

I suck on my teeth and nod my agreement, even though it’s a lie. Because the truth is, I love the fact that her man defended me. Love how it seemed like his passion centered around me. And how, for that brief moment, her man still felt like mine.

The rest of the floral trip is uneventful—me staying back and not being much help, too lost in the teeter-totter of emotions sloshing around inside me.

After an hour and a half of debat

ing whether the roses should be pink or white, Sarah finally makes a decision and we leave. I follow them out, silent and ready to get the hell out of here. I need to remind myself yet again why the decisions I’ve made are the right ones.

Right now, they feel a lot like a mistake.

I get to my car door, spinning the key ring around my finger. “Well, y’all. This has been fun. I’ll see you Saturday mornin’ at the bakery?”

“Yes! Can’t wait to taste all the yum.” Sarah grins, patting her stomach.

I smile right as her phone rings. Her brows furrow as she glances at the screen, excusing herself and walking back toward the florist.

Before my gaze even falls on Eli, I already know he’s looking. He’s always looking. I wish he would stop looking.

The energy crackles between us. It’s torture, being close enough to feel the pull, but too far to touch.

My stomach flips as I search for what to say. “Thank you.”

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