Page 108 of Wrench

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remembered everything.

¡°Samantha, I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry for not calling you. Truly. You deserve more than, well,

what we just did as an apology.¡±

¡°I don¡¯t know about that.¡± She flashed her teeth at me with a smile. ¡°That was pretty

great.¡±

¡°I¡¯d say,¡± I chuckled. ¡°But¡­ I want to explain. After I dropped you off¡ª¡±

¡°I need to tell you something.¡± She interrupted me, a darkness suddenly shading her

face.

¡°Oh. Okay?¡± I said. ¡°Are you sure? I can be quick¡­¡± She ignored my offer completely

and began sharing what she had to.

¡°After¡­ after you dropped me off that night¡­¡± She swallowed and traced the rim of

her bottle. ¡°There was this guy¡­ he followed me home and¡­¡± Her voice cracked. ¡°He

warned me to stay away from you.¡±

My blood ran cold, and my fists clenched to my side as an unsettling, but confident,

sensation rippled through me. ¡°What¡¯d he look like?¡±

¡°Blond,¡± she said. ¡°And he had a tattoo on his chest, I think it was like a target or

something?¡±

¡°Archer,¡± I said through gritted teeth. I wanted to smash a hole in the wall but knew

that wouldn¡¯t make the already frightened Samantha feel safe. Instead, I walked behind

the bar and grabbed another beer, leaning where the draught beer was. I bit the inside of

my cheek, remembering Archer coming in later than the rest that night. ¡°I could fucking

kill him.¡±

¡°Please don¡¯t,¡± she said flatly. ¡°Something tells me that¡¯d make it worse.¡±

Inhaling through my nose, I moved behind her, still perched on the bar¡¯s ledge and

rested my chin on her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Samantha¡­¡±

I felt her loop behind my arm to stroke my hair with her fingers while she asked,

¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±

Sighing, knowing I had no way out, I moved to the barstool closest to her and said, ¡°All

right, so we¡¯ve got this rivalry¡­¡±

She listened, enthralled and horrified as I explained the Freeways, the house

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