Page 66 of Battle Scars

“Maybe,” Manny says thoughtfully. “I’ll talk to Gabe about it, but I’m not sure he’s our guy.”

My eyes flit back and forth between them, because now I’m not so sure.

“Roger that,” Eli says before he turns on his long legs and lopes away with a confident grace. There’s probably some very lucky woman out there somewhere waiting for him to come home.

I, on the other hand, fell for a man who can’t, or won’t, let himself share in those emotions.

The movies lied; unrequited love doesn’t have a happy ending. This just hurts.

“Don’t go there,” Manny warns, his voice so low, only I can hear it. It startles me. He couldn’t possibly think I want to move on to Eli, can he?

“What?” I ask, still shocked that sweet Manny would think so low of me.

“He’s got something he needs to work through with a woman,” he explains. “And you don’t want to be the Yoko that breaks up Stonegate Security, because you may not realize it, but Eli is Gabe’s boy—his protégé—and messing with their relationship for an orgasm at best or retaliation at worst is not a good plan.”

“One, that is disgusting,” I snarl, my voice low. “How dare you think so little of me when I have done nothing but be kind to you. And two, I was thinking that he’s a nice guy and there is probably some very lucky woman out there waiting for him to get home from this job and how guilty that made me feel.”

“Addie—”

“I had thought the same about you, but now I take it back,” I interrupt. “I won’t tomorrow, but right now, you hurt my feelings.”

“Adrienne, I’m⁠—”

“And last, that was not nice, but you also have no idea what happened with me and Gabe, and frankly, I don’t want you to. I don’t want anyone to know, because I was stupid, and I shouldn’t have gone there. I did, because I’m weak where he is concerned, and now it hurts. I don’t want to hurt anymore, Manny, and I don’t want anyone else to know I’m an idiot, because that just compounds the hurt.”

“You’re not an idiot,” he says softly.

“He was always going to hurt me, Manny.”

“Yeah,” he sighs. “He always was. But⁠—”

“No buts. It hurts too much.”

“Okay, sweetheart, no more buts,” he agrees.

“Good, because I have tapes to run.”

“I’m sorry for casting judgment on you though,” he says. “I saw you look at Eli, and it upset me. I want you for my boy. Gabe needs some good in his life. That’s a big deal. You don’t know it, but it is.”

“Manny—”

“So, I’m sorry I judged you. It was a dick thing to do, and I know better,” he says. I’m still stuck on the fact that he said he wants me for Gabe, but also that Gabe was always going to hurt me. “I am truly sorry.”

“It’s already forgiven,” I assure quietly.

“Thank you,” he replies. “Now let’s get you to the down room.”

“Yeah.” I let him lead me through the track, and the whole time, I think Manny’s wildly wrong. Because I don’t feel hurt as much as I feel destroyed.

Thankfully, I don’t have much time to think on it, because suddenly the world splinters apart and everything goes black.

“Adrienne!” someone shouts. My body rocks back and forth as they shake me. “Addie, Addie, Addie…”

I blink my eyes open. I’m lying on my back on the tarmac at the side of the track as memories flit around behind my eyes like someone’s flipping through channels with a TV remote. Quickly, one after another:

Bobby kissed me.

Eli threw me under the bus.