Page 60 of Strong Side
“Casey, please stop!” she cries out.
“That all you got, pussy?” Trey taunts as he wipes his nose with the back of his hand. “Or do you need your buddies to step in and help?”
I lift my arm to hit him again, but Archie steps between us.
“I think it’s best you leave, don’t you?” He pushes a finger into Trey’s chest.
“Fuck you, Griffith. Why are you here anyway? And you brought your baby into a fucking bar? Go back to Dallas.” Trey spits blood and nearly hits Archie’s boot.
Archie just laughs. “You a fan, Trey? You know where I live? That’s cute.” He tips his chin toward his friends. “Now, boys, we don’t need to make this worse, do we? I hate to break that pitching arm of yours, Trey.” He leans in. “My fiancée might get real mad at me if I have to beat your ass in this bar. And I still haven’t had my wings yet, and that’s the only reason we came to Logan’s today.”
One of the guys steps up and puts a hand on Trey’s shoulder. “We got it, Griff. There’s no problem here.” He pulls on Trey’s shoulder. “Let’s go, man. We ain’t stepping in to save your ass.” The guy tips his chin at us. “Great game yesterday, boys. Sorry about him.”
Trey jerks out of his hold and stalks to the door, pushing it so hard that it hits the wall outside.
“What a baby,” Beck chirps.
The baseball players follow Trey out, and then Archie wraps an arm around me and pulls me in the direction of our table. I look down at my hand and see blood on my knuckles.
“I’ll be right back.” I walk past the table, not looking at the girls.
Beck follows me into the restroom. “You got one in, Case. Now let it go. She’s yours, and you know it.”
I shake my head back and forth as I rinse the blood off my hand. “He’s fucking vile. What he said about Noelle …” I seethe, just thinking about the prick. “He’s been texting her, and she didn’t tell me.”
“I’m sure she had her reasons. Try not to read into it too much.”
I look up, and we make eye contact in the mirror.
“Talk to her.”
I nod. “I just don’t understand why she wouldn’t tell me.”
“Case, she’s with you. That’s all you need to know. The rest, it’s just noise.” He tips his head toward the door. “Now let’s go eat some wings with our friends, and then you can talk to her when we get home.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.” I grab a paper towel and dry my hands.
He doesn’t say anything in response and walks out.
I know he’s right, but Trey has fucked with her for far too long. For two years, I watched as she ran back to him, mistake after mistake. He said he owns her. He did, for a long time. Not just her body, but her mind. Is it possible he still has a hold on her?
I stand and run my fingers through my hair and take a deep breath to calm myself down. Outside of football, I’ve never hit anyone, and I don’t regret it now. Even when Beck and I paid him a visit last year, before he even cheated, I didn’t hit him then, even though I really, really wanted to. But I’m not that guy. That’s not the man I want to be for her. And what if she is texting him back? She’s taken him back before. Who’s to say she wouldn’t again? I like to think we’re enough, that we’re more than what they had, but he planted that doubt, and now I need to know.
When I get back to the table, there are baskets of wings and French fries sitting in the center of the table. Thankfully, no one says anything to me, and they act as if nothing happened. I don’t want to talk about it in front of everyone. Besides, Archie is leaving soon, and we don’t get much time with him now.
Noelle places her hand on my leg, eyes full of worry. “You okay?”
I place my hand on top of hers. “I’m fine.” I give her a strained smile.
We join in on the group conversation as we eat, but I notice Noelle hasn’t eaten much, so I know she’s upset too. Yeah, we’re gonna need to talk this out. No more guessing where I stand with her, whether this is real or still just a ruse. I’m gonna lay it all out. Tell her that I want her. My heart belongs to her. Always has, always will.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
NOELLE
Today did not turnout like I’d thought it would. After an amazing night with Casey, I was looking forward to hanging out with his friends because, well, they’re fun, but also, I know he misses having Archie around.
