Page 28 of Fighting Temptation (Men of Honor 1)
Oh no! I run outside quickly and feel relief when I see Jaxson climb in a truck that I assume is his, which makes me wonder where his bike is. When he starts up his truck he guns the gas, speeding out of my driveway, purposely spitting rocks at Wyatt’s $80,000 BMW.
Great!
“Fuck! That son of a bitch!” Wyatt yells, checking his car.
I get the familiar urge to stick up for Jaxson but then I tamp it down. I know he has a right to be mad about his car. I walk over and get in the car silently. When Wyatt gets in he slams the door.
“What was he doing here Julia? I thought you guys weren’t friends anymore.”
“I was just as surprised to see him as you were Wyatt. I didn’t know he was in town. I haven’t spoken to him in a year.”
“What did he want?”
“He said he wanted to talk about what happened between us, said he wanted to explain himself.” I shrug tiredly, “We didn’t talk much, he wasn’t here long before you showed up.”
Wyatt knows Jaxson turned me away when I went to see him in Germany, but nothing else. It’s not my place to say what happened. Heck I don’t even know the extent of what happened.
“I’m telling you now Julia, I won’t put up with it. If you’re with me, then you won’t be seeing him.”
I turn on him in surprise, anger taking over my exhaustion, “Don’t Wyatt. Don’t make me choose, because if you do, it won’t be you. This is our third date, we aren’t even official. I don’t know what’s going to happen with Jaxson, but no one tells me who I can be friends with.”
I can tell he doesn’t like my answer. He glares back angrily at me but it’s an anger that causes a shiver of apprehension to run through me. I’ve never seen him like this before.
“Look maybe this is a mistake, maybe we should do this another time,” I say nervously. When I go to get out of the car he grabs my arm.
“No wait. Listen, I’m sorry Julia. He just really gets under my skin. You know we have a past, but you’re right, I shouldn’t tell you who you can be friends with. I will leave that up to you to decide. I just hope for your sake you’re smart about it. It’s only a matter of time before he leaves again.”
I sit in silence for a minute feeling irritated with his last comment. Then he grabs my hand gently in his: “Listen let’s not let this ruin our night, ok? Let me take you for that drink I promised you. I’m sure you can use one and hopefully I can help get your mind off your troubles,” he smiles charmingly at me and the weariness I was feeling earlier disappears.
I want to say no. All I feel like doing is going to bed and crying myself to sleep. But instead I give him a small smile and agree, “Alright.”
I really do feel bad that I don’t have feelings for him. He’s attractive, has a good career being a lawyer and has money. It always surprised me that he wasted so much time asking me out when he could have his pick of women.
“Great,” he says looking relieved. He presses a soft kiss to my hand and I wait for that spark. The one that I feel through my whole body, the one I get when… No don’t go there Julia. Damn who am I kidding, I’m so screwed.
I race through town, my muscles wound tight with a dangerous rage. “Fuck!” I slam my fist down on the steering wheel. I expected a lot of shit but not this. What the hell is she thinking?
‘I don’t want to be alone for the rest of my life’, thinking about her painful admission causes my chest to tighten.
I need to stop this before something happens to her, she doesn’t know what she’s getting herself into. The thought of that mother fucker getting his hands on her makes me sick to my stomach.
I fly into Cooper’s driveway and barely shut off my truck before I’m running up his front steps. I pound on the door and decide if it doesn’t open in 10 seconds I’m going to kick it in.
“What the fuck!” Cooper shouts opening the door. I grab him by the shirt catching him off guard and throw him into the wall. “Why didn’t you fucking tell me!?”
Cooper shoves me back, “Get the fuck off me man, what the hell is wrong with you!?”
We both tackle each other and land on the floor, causing chaos all around us. Something smashes…
“Oh my god, what the hell are you two idiots doing!? STOP!” Kayla shouts.
Coop and I continue to roll around, throwing punches while trying to pin the other. “How could you let her date that piece of shit?”
“Goddammit what the hell are you talking about?”
We start to tire out and my common sense begins to kick in, making me realize that I’m wasting time. We sit up breathing harshly and both wipe blood from our mouths.
“What the fuck is wrong with you man?” Coop asks looking at me in outrage.
“She just left with Jennings,” I say feeling sick.
He looks at me in confusion, “Who?”
“Fucking Julia!” I can tell he doesn’t know but I find myself asking anyways, “You didn’t know?”
“No goddammit! I would have fucking told you if I did.”
Shit! “I’m sorry, I thought you knew.”
We both look towards Kayla, she’s standing there wide-eyed, looking nervous as hell.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” Cooper asks her angrily.
She clears her throat and straightens her shoulders as if ready to take us both on. Normally I’d find this amusing but right now I’m too pissed off.
“Because it’s none of your business, it’s especially not his,” she yells pointing her finger at me.
I stand up and try to make her understand. “She isn’t safe Kayla, she’s in danger with him.”
“Just because you don’t like him Jaxson doesn’t make him dangerous.”
