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“Nineteen.” He puffs up his chest.
“And do you know how old my daughter is?”
He fumbles for a second but then shrugs. “Fifteen, I guess.”
“Fifteen.” I bounce on my toes. “Do you make a habit of messing around with underage girls?”
“Look, man, it wasn’t like that. She came on to me.”
“Wrong answer.” I spin and hit him in the chin with my elbow, but I don’t hit him hard.
I want him to stay conscious.
“Fuck!” He cups his chin. “Jesus, Hunter.”
“That’s Mr. Meyers to you,” I reply. “My daughter is a minor. You are an adult. In what universe did you think it was okay to put your hands on her?”
“Listen—”
“If you give me more shit about her coming on to you, you won’t walk out of here today.”
He swallows hard and rethinks. “I like her. She’s hot. And funny.”
“I’m going to give you some advice. You’re always asking me for it, so here it is. Are you listening?”
He nods and keeps his eyes on mine.
“Don’t fuck around with any underage girls. Ever. It’ll only get you into trouble. Keep your head in the ring. Keep your dick in your pants. If your dick happens to make its way out of your pants, make sure she’s over the age of fucking consent. Do you want to end up in jail?”
“No.”
“Do you want me to kill you?”
His eyes widen. “No.”
“Because that’s what’s going to happen if I find out that you’ve even so much as looked at Rachel again. She’s too young for you, D.”
“Yeah.” He sighs and pushes his hand through his blond hair. “Yeah, okay. Look, I’m sorry, okay? I just like her.”
“I like junk food, and I can’t have that, either.” I get close to him so only he can hear. We’ve lured in quite the crowd. “Touch her again, and you’ll regret it. I promise you that.”
“I got it.”
I nod and walk away from him, confident that I’ve just solved that problem.
Now, to work on the next.
I make my way to the locker room and change again. I’d normally spend a few hours here at the gym, working out and training, but I need to set some things in motion.
I’ve just grabbed my bag when Nate walks through the door and grins when he sees me.
“Been a while,” he says and shakes my hand. “That last fight in Vegas was a damn good one, man. I’m sorry I missed it.”
“Thanks.” The last fight. I still haven’t quite wrapped my head around it.
“What are you up to now?”
“Finding a place to move with Rachel. She’s been getting into trouble, hanging with kids she shouldn’t. I just had to shake down Derek because I caught him with his hands on her last night.”
Nate’s eyebrows shoot up. “What the fuck?”
“Yeah, exactly. It’s time I move her out of the city.”
“Where are you thinking of going?”
I blow out a breath. “I’m not sure. I want a smaller town for her, a slower pace. But I don’t want to go too far. My parents are here and not getting any younger, you know?”
“Yeah, I get it.” Nate nods. “Julianne has family on a little island nearby. It’s just a ferry ride away. It’s a nice place, definitely what you described. You should check it out.”
“If it’s that close, I’ll look into it. Maybe I’ll find a nice place on the water. Enjoy the quiet for a while.”
“That’s how you know you’re getting old. When the peace and quiet looks appealing.”
I snort. “I’ve had nothing but chaos for my entire adult life. I’ll take the quiet. Rachel’s going to stay with my parents for a few days. I think I’ll check out this island.”
“I’ll text you the details. Keep me posted on it.”
“Will do. Thanks.”
I leave the locker room with a new purpose.
Looks like I’m headed to the beach.
With Rachel safely tucked away with my parents, I made my way over on the ferry last night and checked into the vacation rental I reserved online.
Rachel still isn’t speaking to me and has been pretty mellow since the other night, so I trust that she won’t give Mom and Dad a hard time.
I plan to be here for two days to look at some property and get a feel for the place. I did some research. The schools are ranked well, there’s little to no crime, and it seems to be a pretty laid-back place.
I would never have considered a small town when I was younger. I wanted the action, the fast pace of the city.
But this is what’s best for Rachel and me. And, so far, I like what I see.
A small village with a few restaurants, shops, and cafés. There’s a pub that reminds me of many I visited when I was in Ireland, and I’m headed that way for dinner.
The neighborhoods are well kept and nice. There are some beautiful homes for sale on the cliffs overlooking the ocean, and I have an appointment with a realtor to look at several tomorrow.
