Page 15

Casper

The clang of metal echoes through the gym, the smell of sweat and rubber thick in the air. My arms burn as I press the barbell up again, trying to drown out the image of Penny’s bruises, the purple, blue, green stains marring her freckled skin. God, I can’t unsee it.

I grunt and push harder, forcing the barbell upward despite the burn.

Ethan whistles.“Easy there, Hulk. What’s gotten into you today, big bro?”

I drop the bar back onto the rack and wipe my face with a towel.“Nothin’.”

He arches a brow.“Uh-huh. You look like you’re about to strangle the weights. Spill it.”

I sigh, grab my gloves, and head for the punching bag.“I took Penny to file a restraining order yesterday.”

Ethan follows, pulling on his gloves too.“How’d it go?”

“They said it’d help the case if we had pictures of the bruises.” I start hitting the bag. Thud. Thud.“So I took some Polaroids.”

Ethan catches the bag as it swings back hard.“And?”

I stop, breath heavy.“She took her blouse off.” My throat tightens.“Her ribs… her back…” I shake my head, trying to erase the image.“You could see a damn shoe print on one of them.”

Ethan’s jaw tightens.“Son of a bitch.”

“Yeah,” I mutter, and slam my fist into the bag again, harder this time.

He steadies it, eyes locked on me.“Cas.”

I freeze.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve seen a woman roughed up. You’ve dealt with worse. So why are you taking this so hard?”

I rip my gloves off, chest rising and falling fast.“Because she’s different, Ethan.”

He smirks.“Different how?”

“She’s…” I exhale, struggling to find the word, my chest tightening.“More.”

“More?” Ethan teases, but his eyes soften.

I stare at the bag.“I’ve never wanted to protect someone so damn bad. Never wanted to hold a woman and promise she’d never get hurt again.” My voice cracks.“And with all I’ve seen, car wrecks, domestic calls, kids abandoned… I’ve never wanted to kill someone the way I wanted to kill that bastard yesterday when I saw what he did to her.”

Ethan studies me quietly for a long moment, then nods.“That’s not just protectiveness, Cas.”

I meet his gaze.“I know.”

He smirks again.“Well, Sheriff, looks like you’re in trouble.”

I chuckle under my breath, shaking my head.“You think I don’t know that?”

Ethan tosses his gloves on the bench and grabs his water bottle, watching me pace.“You care about her,” he says simply.

“Yeah.” The word slips out before I can stop it.

He nods slowly.“Then be careful.”

I frown.“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Cas, you’ve got a good heart, but Penny’s been through hell. She doesn’t need a hero who’ll swoop in and fight her battles, she needs someone who’ll stand beside her while she learns she can fight her own.”