Page 84 of Old Fashioned
It was an instant reaction, every nerve standing on end as my chest fluttered with thefight or flightadrenaline kicking into gear. The hair stood up on the back of my neck, but I remained where I was leaning against my truck, simply blinking when what I really wanted to do was ram my fist into his jaw.
“I didn’t realize you were married.”
He growled at that, running at me but stopping with a few feet between us, his finger now pointing in my face. “Don’t try to be fucking smart with me. I’ll arrest you right now and take your assallthe way down, you understand me?”
“What exactly would you arrest me for, Randy?”
“Anything I goddamn please,” he spat with a smile. “Don’t you see?Imake the rules here, and if I say you were driving drunk, or resisting arrest, or carrying a gun that you tried to pull on me?” His smirk climbed. “Then you were. No one questions me. I’m the Chief of Police, you worthless motherfucker.”
The urge to connect my fist with his face strengthened, but I crossed my arms over my chest tighter, willing myself to calm down. Hitting him would only give him fuel for all the fire he just threatened me with, and as fucked up as it was, I knew he wasn’t bullshitting.
Hecouldget away with any of the things he’d just listed.
It was my word against his, and as one of the few men of color in this town, I knew the odds weren’t in my favor.
Suddenly — and all at once — everything Sydney had said to me at Noah’s wedding clicked.
She wasn’t a coward for being afraid of Randy and the power he possessed.
She was smart. She was aware.
And she was a mother doing what she could to protect Paige from the man standing in front of me.
My heart sank at the realization, and I reminded myself to stay calm, to not agitate him, to play by his rules until I was out of this situation.
So, I waited, knowing he had something he wanted to say — and I just hoped once he’d said it, he’d leave me alone.
“Now,” Randy said, straightening. “Are you, or are you not fucking Sydney?”
My jaw clenched, because the way he spoke about her was as iffucking herwas all she was good for. He had no idea what he’d lost when she left him, and he never deserved her in the first place.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes, Sydney and I were dating,” I confessed — mostly to see the look of incredulousness on his face. But I didn’t have a smug smile to meet him with, because my heart was already breaking before the next words made their way out. “But, we’re not anymore.”
Randy narrowed his eyes, as if he didn’t believe me. When he found no sign of a lie, he must have been satisfied, because he smiled again, taking a long swig from the bottle wrapped in that bag before he took a few steps back. “That’s what I thought.”
I cocked a brow.
“I don’t know what happened between you two, but I hope you realized that you willneverhave her.” He stopped walking backward, tilting his head to the side a little, his red eyes narrowed in on mine. “Sydney ismine, do you understand? She always has been, she always will be.”
My fists clenched where they were tucked into my sides, but I held back, biding my time until he would be gone.
“Stay the fuck away from her, Becker, or I swear to God, I’ll take you and your entire family down.” His wicked grin split his face then. “And believe me when I say Ican.”
With another slug from the bottle, he opened his door, pointed at me one last time, and slipped inside the squad car, slamming the door shut behind him.
Then, he revved the engine to life, flicked on the blue and red lights and an ear-splitting siren, and peeled out of the parking lot, leaving me in his dust.
Sydney
Paige and I slept in the next morning, which was usually impossible with Paige, but all the excitement from the game had kept her up late and led to her passing out hard when I finally got her tucked in.
We woke around eleven, and then she insisted on making me chocolate chip pancakes — which always ended up being more work for me than for her. But, she was adamant that we celebrate, and I was in need of a distraction from the way my chest was slowly ripping open, so I obliged.
The kitchen was covered in flour and smudged chocolate and bits of batter when we finished. We ate in the living room, still in our PJs, leaving the mess in the kitchen while we watched College Game Day.
When we were done eating, Paige asked if she could drag all her art supplies into the living room to make a card for Jordan. And of course, I told her yes, because what else could I say? I didn’t have the heart to tell her he likely wouldn’t be by as much as he had been.
Would he?
