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“It won’t do you any good. You’re in my hometown.”
“Then my attorney in Fort Worth will handle this.”
“When you talk to him, don’t leave out that you manhandled Riley in front of four witnesses.”
“Fuck you!”
“I suggest you get your sorry ass out of here before I hand it to you again, city boy.”
“Chad, please just go,” Riley said, her voice cracking.
He stepped over to her. “You’re crazy if you think I’m leaving you here. You’re coming with me. We’re going to your parents’ house, and then you’ll pack your bags and follow me back to Fort Worth.”
“No, I’m not doing any of that. You overreacted about all of this and have made such a wreck of things.”
“I didn’t overreact! You ate lunch with him!” Chad yelled, pointing at me. “You‘ve also seen him on other occasions that I knew nothing about until today, and you did who-knows-what with him all those times. This is wrong, Riley. Every single bit of it!”
“No, it isn’t! You just don’t understand the history between Rhys and me.”
Disgust covered Chad’s face, and he scoffed. “I’m fucking gone. Have a nice life.”
He got into his BMW and sped off, making gravel fly into the air behind him. When he was out of the parking lot, my brother, Rachel, and Macie let go of me. Then I walked over to Riley.
“Are you okay?” I asked, lightly touching her shoulder.
She flinched away. “No, I’m not okay, Rhys. I won’t be getting married now.”
“Because of me?”
“Because of Chad and you. You both overreacted.”
“I did not! Riley, I never laid my hands on you when we were together, and I will not stand back and watch any man do that to you. I don’t care who he is. Chad just abused you.”
“That wasn’t abuse.”
“It damn sure was! Has he ever shaken you like that before?”
Riley paused and then looked at Rachel. “Sister, please take me to Momma and Daddy’s.”
“Okay.”
After the girls left, I asked Jackson, “Was I wrong for knocking the hell out of Chad?”
“Nope.”
“Then why does Riley think so?”
“Chad put her in a hell of a position, but she included you in her lashing out. Her world just imploded, man.”
I dragged my hands down my face. “What can I do to fix it for her?”
“I don’t think there’s anything you or any of us can do. Riley is going to have to figure this out on her own.”
“This is killing me. Seeing Chad shake her like a rag doll, I know he’s done that to her before and probably worse.”
“Probably.”
I glanced around. “I’ve gotta get out of here.”
