Page 25 of Fall With Me

Uncomfortable with that comparison, I felt a shudder shake my shoulders.

The passenger car door opened suddenly, causing me to jerk back against the seat. Wild eyed, I watched Dennis slip into the seat next to me. My gaze bounced to the front of the car. Henry was gone. So was the Mustang. Reluctantly, I looked back at Dennis.

He tugged off the hood of the plastic, yellow poncho. “What were you thinking, Roxy?”

I opened my mouth.

“Don’t answer that question,” he snapped, scrubbing his hand along his jaw. “I already know. You weren’t thinking a goddamn thing.”

I snapped my mouth shut.

“I cannot believe you. You of all people should know better than to do what you did.”

Casting my gaze to the steering wheel, I pressed my lips together as I nodded. I did know better.

“You’re so damn lucky,” he said. “Henry’s not pressing charges.”

My gaze swung toward him. “What?”

He shook his head as he flipped his stare to the window. “He decided not to press charges. Which is great, because I really don’t want to explain to Reece why I had to arrest you.”

Oh God. Reece.

“Or have to deal with your parents, who I’m sure would be hella proud of what you did,” he added, laying it on thick. But hell, I deserved it. “However, your ass is going to pay for that window to get fixed ASAP. You got it?”

“Yes,” I replied immediately. “As soon as I know how much it costs, I’ll pay it.”

A moment passed. “Henry’s going to get an estimate, and it’ll go through me. I think that’s for the best right now.”

I agreed 100 percent.

“Dennis, I’m ... I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I was just so angry that he was there, and he grabbed my arm—”

“He said he grabbed your arm right before you threw the book,” he cut in. “By the way, I think that’s the first time I’ve seen a book take out a windshield, so thanks for that. But he didn’t make it sound like it was an aggressive move. And you didn’t bring it up when I first got here. Is there something I don’t know?”

“It wasn’t an aggressive move. He wanted to talk. I didn’t.”

“And that’s your right, Roxy. You don’t have to talk to him,” he agreed. “But you can’t damage his property.”

“I know,” I whispered.

Dennis sent me a long, sideways look. “I wasn’t around when that shit went down with Charlie. Hell, I didn’t even live in this state, but I’ve heard the details. I know what happened, and if it were my decision, the punk ass would still be sitting in jail. But it’s not my decision.” In the cramped seat, he twisted toward me. “And I get that it’s majorly fucked up that he’s out and he gets to come around here, but little girl, you’ve got to pull it together. You can’t do shit like this. It doesn’t help anyone, especially yourself.”

I stared at him.

“You feel me?” he asked.

“Yeah, I feel you.”

Needless to say, I was late for my shift, which sucked ass, because it also meant I wasn’t going to get the design done for a blogger before I left for work. It was going to be a long night, because I was going to have to finish it up when I got back home.

Surprisingly, Jax hadn’t known about my very powerful throwing arm, but when I told him what I had done and he caught me by the hem of myWALKERS NEED LOVE TOOshirt and dragged me down the somewhat quiet hall, I knew I was in for Lecture Number Two of the night.

“Girl, what in the hell were you thinking?” he demanded.

“I wasn’t thinking anything,” I told him. “That was the problem. I just got so pissed and stopped thinking.”

He stared at me, brows raised. “That isn’t a good enough reason.”