Page 23 of Sassy Pants

“I need you to trust me when I say this guy is bad news.”

“I trust you.”

“Good.”

“Chaser sent you pictures, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, babe. He did. You don’t need to catch sight of that shit though.”

“Show me. I want to know what he’s capable of.”

“He will never touch you. I’ll make damn sure he gets the message.”

“Stud. I don’t want you going after him. Let the law handle him.”

“He needs to know that pieces of shit like him won’t be tolerated. I may be an outlaw. And darlin’, I’m no saint. I’ve done time for stealing cars, but there’s a line even I won’t cross, and that’s I’ll never fucking put my hands on you or any woman out of anger.”

“I believe you.”

“Perfect. Now let’s forget about that shitstain and get back to where we left off.” He dips his head, and I press against his chest.

“Show me what he did.”

“You’re not gonna let this go, are you?”

“Nope.”

“All right. You want a beer? Wasn’t sure what you like. Jelissa sent me a list of some of your favorites. So I got Diet Coke.”

“A beer sounds terrific.” I think I’m going to need something with what he’s about to show me and after all he’s told me.

Stud swipes his finger across his screen and hands me his phone. He’s the first guy who has just handed me his phone. Noah would have rather died than let me gander at his phone which should have told me all I need to know about him. I suck in a breath and tap on his messages.

The images load and I gasp. Tears spring to the corners of my eyes. The photos show a young woman with brown hair with dark dried blood crusted around the hairline. Her eyes and nose bruised and swelled up so much I can’t tell what she looks like.

“Told you it wasn’t pretty.”

“I thought I was prepared, but that’s just…”

“I know.” He wraps an arm around me.

“I could do with that beer now.”

“Can do.”

Stud goes to the fridge, and I go into the living room trying to push those images far from my mind but failing. I kick my shoes off and plop down on the couch. I hear him popping the caps off the bottles before he joins me, minus his boots and leather jacket.

“Place came furnished but we can change out anything you want.”

“This is fine. I don’t want you going to the trouble. I mean, I might only be here a few days.”

Stud growls but doesn’t make a comment. Instead he hands me my beer. “Picked up some Chinese takeout from that new place that opened last month. Jelissa mentioned you fancy it. It’s in the fridge if you want any.”

“I’m fine, but seriously I don’t want you going out of your way for me.”

“I do it because I want to. Told you. I like you and want to explore this. I’m not in any hurry, but you know where I stand.”

I don’t know what to say. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around this situation with Jesse.

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