Page 57 of Puck Lust

“Just, ah, heading out for a call.” I force my lips to turn upward, but it seems to satisfy him because he claps me on the shoulder. “Catch you inside.”

I barely make it outside when another voice slithers into my ears.

“Leaving so soon?”

My feet stall like they’ve just wandered into a pool of sticky tar and are now glued to the cement steps.

I turn slowly to face the man I’ve both hated and feared for the past seven years.

“You haven’t returned any of my attempts to reach out, Jack.” Coach Dalton pushes off the wall next to the revolving glass entrance door and he slowly inches toward me like a scorpion ready to attack its prey.

“Yeah, well, I figure we said everything we needed to years ago.”

“Not true.” Coach steps closer. “That’s why I had to send my friends to find you in Oakland and deliver my message. I think sometimes it’s good to get a few reminders, you know, just in case you forget what hangs in the balance.”

His voice slices at my skin like a million tiny razor blades, cutting just deep enough to be a warning. Fucking bastard. Of course he’s the one who sent those goddamn thugs. I knew it had to be him or my asshole father involved. Although, thinking about it now, my father is probably dead, in prison, or too strung out to even form words. I should have known it couldn’t be him.

“It’s hard to forget the worst night of my life,” I hiss.

“Yeah, well, you should consider yourself lucky.” The corners of his lips curl into a sinister smile.

“Why are you even here? This event is for people who actually give a shit about others, not blackmailing bastards like you.”

“That hurts, Jack.”

Fuck, I wanna pound the shit out of this guy, right here and now.

Except if I do, I know what I’ll lose.

Everything.

So I keep my fists clenched tight at my sides, and it’s not lost on Dalton, either. He smiles bigger.

“I know exactly what you want to do right now. I also know you’re not that stupid.”

“You’re actually not worth the energy it’d take.”

“Maybe you believe that. I think you’re scared. And you should be.”

“Leave me the fuck alone. I did what you wanted.”

“Yes. But just remember, if that changes at all, you know what I’ll do. I will take you down with me without a thought.” His lips pull into a tight line. “Always remember, Jack. You’re one word away from the same hell you tried to escape. And I’m the one who can send you right back there.”

He doesn’t say anything else.

He doesn’t need to.

I got his message.

Dalton sticks his hands in his pockets and casually walks over to the valet, who conveniently has his Audi parked at the curb. I watch as the car peels away from the curb before sliding my back down the side of the wall. My head falls into my hands and I press my fingertips against my temples to drown out the memory, but darkness takes over and my mind slips into the abyss, a mess of what-if’s looping around my throat like a noose.

The kids I help, they’re all victims of circumstance.

They didn’t get to choose their lives, they were born into them along with the people who created those realities.

Most times, they can’t get out. They deal and they suffer, their hopes and dreams festering in a sea of disappointment and dismay.

I was one of the lucky ones.

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