Page 41 of Back To You

I make a mental note to delete the camera footage for the parking lot when I get back inside, but I have a feeling that Jett won’t involve the police after a whole bar witnessed him threaten Annie.

“What the fuck?!” Jett booms, and I can’t even pretend to feel sorry for him. His hands go to his head, pulling the thin strands between his fingers before turning to me.

“Aren’t you going to do something?” he yells, but it comes out more as a whine. There’s a look of pleading in his eyes as he looks from me to his truck.

Annie finally decided it had enough and starts walking towards us.

“What do you expect me to do?” I counter with a shrug of my shoulders. “You pissed her off.”

Making her way through the crowd, Annie rests the bat on her shoulder and walks over to the group of college kids, who are looking at her in awe.

She holds the bat out to no one in particular. “Thank you for the rental, boys,” she chides, adding a wink for good measure before three different kids reach out to grab the bat from her, all mumbling different “you’re welcome” sentiments.

While the baseball team has heart-eyes, I look over at Jett who has steam coming out of his ears. The guy is smarter than he looks, because he just storms over to his beaten-up truck, hops in the driver’s seat and speeds off as the rest of the patrons cheer.

I see Mia and Eddie run up to Annie, Emmett and Drew—with Lennon in tow—right behind them. Mia’s hands go to Annie’s cheeks, cupping her face and pulling a smile from her while Drew shakes her head trying to hide her own smile.

Eddie and Emmett each hold up a hand, making Annie grin ear-to-ear as she reaches up to slap her hands against theirs, and I tear my attention away from Annie to look at Ava.

“You okay?” I ask her, resting my hand on her shoulder.

She exhales. “I’m okay.” Giving me a small smile, she turns to make her way back inside, and I hope tonight showed her that she deserves much better than a guy like that.

“Hey, bartender.”

I turn around to find a beer-soaked Annie.

There’s a flush to her face from that handy work on Jett’s truck, her cheeks almost as red as her lips.

“Hey, honey.”

There’s a few feet between us, and she closes the distance with a step forward. This is the closest I’ve been to her in three weeks.

Now that the excitement is over, the crowd has gone back inside, along with our friends, so it’s just the two of us.

The sun set at least half an hour ago, and with nothing but a few street lights, the Lenny’s neon sign, and the moonlight, it feels like we’re the only two people left on Earth.

“That was quite the show,” I say, balling my fists to resist the urge to trace my fingertips over the smooth skin of her arms.

She shrugs. “He deserved it.”

“I’m sure Ava appreciated someone standing up for her like that.” I put my hands in my pocket as I rock back on my heels.

“That wasn’t for Ava.”

I lift a brow and cock my head, confused as to who else it would be for.

“I mean, yeah, I would have stepped in for any girl in that sort of situation, but—” she uncrosses her arms to tuck her hair behind her ears, her white tank top is soaked through, showing the outline of the white, lacy bralette she has under.

I pull my hoodie off over my head, leaving me in a black Henley and shorts, and I put it over her head before she can tell me to fuck off.

“But what?” I ask, a small crack in my voice I hope she doesn’t notice, as she pushes her arm through my sweatshirt.

She looks so small in my hoodie, the bottom hem hitting her mid-thigh, her hands barely sticking out of thesleeves, and the hood on her head dropping down on her forehead. I have to hold in a chuckle.

“He touched you,” she whispers, and all signs of humor fade.

I nod, but I still don’t get what she’s trying to say. My face must be easy to read because she rolls her eyes and sighs.

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