Jake

 

The insistent pressure of Lauren’s hands and the panic in her voice grabbed my attention. I covered one of her hands with mine, squeezing it to let her know I heard her, but I didn’t shift my attention away from Nick.

“I told you to leave her alone,” I said.

“Yeah, well, I figured she should be the one to tell me.”

Grinding my teeth for a second, I finally checked my anger enough to say, “She has. Multiple times. You won’t let it go.”

Natalie walked up to Nick. “Give it up. Let her go. I am.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“She’s kicking me out,” Lauren said, her voice so soft I had to lean down to hear her.

“It’s about time,” Renee said from across the room where she stood with her arms folded across her chest. Her expression was hard and her voice was bitter.

I took hold of Lauren’s arms, gently squeezing to get her attention. “Okay, let’s get you out of here.”

“But where will I go?” she asked, her voice breaking.

“To Grams’ house. At least for now.”

“But, I can’t just dump myself on her.”

“Trust me on this, okay? Go grab what you need.”

She nodded and turned away, but only got a few steps when Nick stepped forward and grabbed her arm.

“Lauren, just let me talk to you.”

Lunging forward, I gripped his wrist hard. “Let go of her. Now.”

Nick’s eyes shot to me, and he let go of her, shaking me off as he did, but only because I relaxed my grip.

Not taking my eyes off him, I said, “Go, Lauren. Hurry.”

She ran from the room, and I narrowed my eyes at Nick. “Get it through that thick skull of yours that she’s done with you.”

Even though I was half-expecting it, it caught me off guard when Nick lunged at me. I side-stepped him, pushing at him as he swept past me. He crashed to the floor, but rolled and popped back up again. He swung his fist, and I deflected it from my face. It landed on my shoulder like a battering ram, surprising a grunt out of me.

Distantly, I heard Lauren cry out. I didn’t want her in the middle of this. With all the strength I could gather, I pulled my fist back and hit him in the jaw. He went down like his bones melted, crashing into the table behind him. China plates, silverware, and the burning candle flew up and rained down on him. I stood over him, my chest heaving, waiting to see if he was going to get up. After a couple of seconds he came to, but lay there groaning so I stepped back.

Just as I did, Renee strode over and dumped a full pot of hot spaghetti on his head. He screamed and urgently wiped at his face, flinging noodles away. Renee stood over him with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. Natalie was freaking out over the state of her living room, and I didn’t blame her. The end table was pushed sideways, a lamp was lying on the floor, and the whole area between the couch and kitchen island was strewn with debris from the table.

Lauren stood in the hallway, looking stunned. I nudged her gently until she turned so I could meet her eyes. “Come on. I’ll help you.”

She broke into a run toward her bedroom and I strode after her. She pulled a small duffle bag out of her closet and started tossing clothes in. “Can you unplug my phone charger? Down next to the bed.”

When I handed it to her, she dropped it in her bag and went back to her closet. A fast food bag caught my attention and I picked it up. It was still warm, so I held onto it since it was clearly supposed to be her dinner.

Lauren crammed a pair of boots in her bag then spun slowly around, looking lost. “What about the rest of my things?”

“We’ll figure it out later. Let’s just get out of here for now.” I zipped up her bag and slung it over my shoulder.

She nodded, picking up her backpack. I followed her out, turning off the light and closing the door behind us. She stopped in the bathroom and came out with her toothbrush and a few other items that she put in the duffle while I held it. “What if Nick is still out there?”

“Don’t worry. He won’t mess with us.”

Her eyebrows rose, but she didn’t say anything as she started walking again. When we emerged into the main part of the house, I looked around sharply. Renee was gone, but Nick and Natalie were in the kitchen trying to clean him up. They glared at us, but didn’t move toward us. As I opened the front door, I met eyes with Nick and directed a hard, warning look at him.

“You parked in the yard?” Lauren asked, staring at my truck that was only a few feet away from the porch.

“I was at work when you called. By the time I got here, I wasn’t in the mood to care about parking.”

She climbed in when I opened the passenger door for her and I put her duffle bag on the floorboard in front of her. As I got in and put the keys in the ignition, I looked anxiously over at her, wondering how she was handling this all so calmly. Her face was white and her expression was tight, but I knew she had to be badly shaken.

As I drove, she stared out the window, I reached over and took her hand. Her fingers curled into mine, gripping hard, and I held on until I needed to let go to maneuver into Grams’ narrow driveway.

“I hate foisting myself on her,” Lauren said as we got out of the truck.

“Don’t. She’d be furious if I took you anywhere else.”

Opening the front door, I held it open for Lauren, dropping her bag next to the door and setting her dinner on the dining room table. “Grams. Where are you?”

“In the kitchen,” she called out.

Lauren set her backpack down next to her bag and took my hand as I held it toward her. “Come on,” I encouraged, seeing the hesitant way she hung back.

As we walked in, Grams took one look at Lauren’s face and turned from the sink where she was washing dishes. She dried her hands and moved toward us. With one questioning look at me, she pulled Lauren into a hug.

“There, there, child. What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering, Lauren started crying, wrapping her arms around Grams’ waist.

“Can she stay with you for a while?”

Grams stroked Lauren’s hair. “Of course. As long as she wants.”

We moved into the living room, where I pulled Lauren down next to me on the couch and held her close while she filled Grams in on what had happened. Me too, really, since I’d missed the beginning.

“I can’t help it,” I said, biting back a laugh. “It’s kind of funny. Did Nick totally forget that Renee lived there too?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know what he was thinking. I know they’ve been flirting since the dance the night I broke up with him. I’m not surprised she thought he set it all up for her.”

“It’s worse than you think,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “That night you ran out of gas, I caught them kissing each other.”

Sitting up straighter, she asked. “Are you serious? What a creep he turned out to be.”

“Didn’t surprise me any. I knew he was going to break your heart eventually and it was maddening.”

“Why didn’t you tell me what he was up to?”

Running my hand along her arm, I said, “I didn’t feel like I could. After all, you might think I had ulterior motives. Besides, you probably would have just said he was different now.”

“I would have, at first,” she said. “Beth warned me a little once. He was so different in New Mexico. I mean, I knew he had a temper, but I never would have dreamed he would turn it on me.”

Grams nodded her head. “People who can’t control their tempers eventually hurt everyone.”

“At least I didn’t do something stupid like marry him.”

My heart clenched at the thought. “Don’t even talk about it,” I said, my voice rough.

Just then, Lauren’s stomach growled and she crossed her arms in front of her. I untangled myself from her and got up to reheat her dinner. When I came back, she broke off from whatever she was saying to Grams and reached out for the plate with her burger and fries.

“My dinner. Oh my gosh, I love you!” As the warmth of her words spread through me, she looked up, her eyes wide.

I grinned at her. “You know, you can’t do anything romantically. We hold hands for the first time in an arm wrestling contest, we kiss over the kitchen sink, and the first time you tell me you love me, it’s over a warmed-up burger and soggy fries.”

She turned her face down, but from the rise of her cheeks I could tell she was smiling. “It was just a figure of speech.”

I squatted in front of her and tilted her chin up. “No, don’t take it away from me. I love you too, you know.”

“You do?”

Leaning forward, I kissed her. Not caring that Grams was watching or that her dinner was between us, I poured all my heart into the kiss. “Yeah. I really do. Don’t tell me you didn’t at least suspect it.”

“I was sure hoping.”

“Now that we’ve settled that, I’m going to get out of here. Grams will take good care of you.”

“Do you have to leave so soon?” she asked, her disappointment tugging at my heart.

“Yes, unfortunately. I have some things I need to get done before tomorrow, but I’ll come over in the morning, okay?

She nodded, and I kissed her again. Pulling away took all the self-discipline I had. I dropped a kiss on Grams’ cheek and said, “Take care of her for me.”

“Oh, get out of here, Romeo.”