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“Thank you, but I’m a big girl and can protect myself.” I pulled away from his arm. The little bit of skin to skin contact flustered me. “Now, Jason, what do you want?”
“To be with you. Genni, we are destined to be together; we have been since high school. You just couldn’t recognize it then.” He focused on me, his eyes taking on a crazy obsessive light. “You need a man who can handle anything, including teaching you certain things.” He glanced around and leaned forward. “Private things. You need a man who isn’t afraid to take charge.”
“I don’t need a man. Period. Not one who will take charge nor one who won’t. Jason, I just buried my gran. A relationship is the farthest thing from what I need.” Our waitress arrived with our drinks and pie.
“Burger and fries will be up in a jiff.” She had the nerve to wink at Brian before she left, and I wanted to rip that eye right out of her head. That brought me up short. What the fuck, Genevieve? If he wants to take the chance on contracting the clap, then let him. I peered out of the corner of my eye to see if Brian was watching her, only to find his eyes were on me, and a slight smirk spread across his face. Jerk.
“Genni, that’s what I mean. You don’t know what you need right now. Your life is in turmoil. Let me be the one to handle things so you can simply grieve. Trust me, it will be good between us.” His voice took on a note of desperation that teetered on the side of whining.
“I appreciate that you want to look out for me, Jason, but we tried the whole dating thing in high school. We aren’t a good fit. My feelings haven’t changed over the years.” I picked up my fork and dug into my piece of pie. Before I could ask, Brian had taken it upon himself to doctor my coffee for me. I reached for the cup, enjoying the warmth it radiated.
“Thank you,” I whispered. He just smiled in response.
“Jesus, with him around, I can’t get your attention for nothing,” Jason exploded. His fist hit the table, making it shake, and sloshed Brian’s coffee over the rim. “You need to leave. Some friend you are, horning in on what’s mine.”
“Jason, I am not yours. Don’t you get it? The answer is no. It will always be no. I appreciate what you did for Gran while she was alive, but it doesn’t mean there is anything between us.”
“Of course, it does. Why else would I have taken care of that old crone?” His harsh words shocked me at first, and then I got pissed.
“Old crone?”
“Yeah, that old bitty was annoying as hell, but I put up with because she was your gran, and that’s what you do for family.” Jason’s food arrived, and he covered the fries with ketchup, totally oblivious to the volcano of emotions bubbling up inside of me.
“You pompous ass son of a bitch.” I pushed my food away, appetite gone. “You were a self-centered jerk in high school, and you have only grown into a piece of shit with a badge on your shirt. I don’t want you ever coming near me or my gran’s again.”
“What you gonna do, little girl? I’m the law in this town.” His sneer was pure evil.
“I’ll knock you on your ass and let her have her way with you,” Brian growled, slowly leaning forward. “If I see or hear of you going near her, I’ll bring hell down on your head. Remember who I AM and what that brings with it.” He turned to me.
“I’ve lost my appetite. How about you?”
“Yeah, my stomach has gone sour. Can you give me a ride home?” I didn’t want to walk, and getting a ride from Brian was the lesser of two evils at the moment.
“Let me get this to go, and I’ll take you home.” Jason waved the waitress over.
“You aren’t listening,” I said as I stood. I opened my mouth to continue, and Brian caught my eye, shaking his head. He stood, threw some bills on the table, and put his hand on my lower back.
“Let’s go.”
Jason stood and blocked us. “I said I would take her home.” He stepped up, nose to nose with Brian. Before any more words were exchanged, I pushed them apart.
“Brian is taking me home, Jason. I told you, I don’t want you. Stay away!” I raised my voice so others around us would hear. I wasn’t going to have him accusing Brian of forcing me to do anything.
He glared at me. “This isn’t over.”
“Yes, it is, Jason.” Brian placed his hand on my lower back again, steering me around a seething Jason and out the diner door.
“Don’t look back,” Brian said under his breath as we moved. He helped me into his truck and quickly moved around the hood, joining me in the cab. We stayed silent on the ride back, which was fine with me. I kept replaying what Jason said over and over in my head.
“He won’t stop, will he?” I finally asked as we parked in the driveway.
“If you want an honest answer, no.” Brian shut the truck off and got out, walking around to help me. “Do you want me to stay with you tonight?”
I unlocked the front door and turned before going in. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. If Jason drives by and notices your truck in my driveway, it might incite him further.”
“You think I care about that? It’s not safe for you to be here by yourself while he is still out there. He’s right; while that badge is still on his chest, he can pretty much do what he wants in this town. Until we can get that taken away, you need extra protection.”
“I can call Kendra to come and stay with me. He won’t try anything if I have company.” As much as I wanted Brian, and my body screamed to let him in, I didn’t trust myself to have him around me. I watched his emotions flow in his eyes. I knew he wanted to force his way in, but he wouldn’t.
