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And I froze.
Chapter Eighteen
Brad
My gut was full of fluttering moths. My mouth was dry. My skin felt tight.
These were new feelings. I was nervous.
Fucking nervous for this date with Daphne.
I’d never been nervous about a date in my life.
My black pants and white cotton shirt felt all wrong. I grew up on a ranch. I wore jeans and cowboy boots…and never, never a white shirt. White didn’t stay white for long on a ranch.
In the car was my sport coat. The temperature was too hot for it at the moment.
I took a swig from the bottle of Coke I’d brought with me. Why did my tongue feel like sandpaper? Man, this had to stop. No woman was worth this. Get a grip, Steel.
I pulled up in front of Daphne’s dorm at four forty-five.
Damn. Early.
I was never early.
This was insane.
I drove away from the dorm. I had fifteen minutes to kill.
My car phone rang. Yeah, I had a car phone. I was a Steel, after all.
“Yeah?” I said into the phone.
“Brad? I need you. Come quickly. I’m at your place.”
Shit. Seriously? “Wendy? I can’t. I’m busy.”
“Please, Brad. It’s an emergency. I’m in trouble.”
“Fuck,” I said under my breath. I hung up the phone and drove the five minutes back to my condo.
Wendy was indeed there. Her car was parked in front and she had let herself in. Time to change the locks again.
I parked and walked in.
And she attacked.
She was on me like a rabid dog.
She pressed her lips to mine and then spread kisses around my jawline to my ear, where she bit the lobe. Hard.
“I know about your little slut, Brad,” she whispered.
I pushed her away. “You said this was an emergency.”
“It is. If you don’t get rid of the slut, you’ll see what an emergency it will be.”
“Don’t threaten her.”
“The only reason I haven’t already gotten rid of her myself is because she’s Larry’s half sister.”
“Since when are you and Larry so close?”
“Loyalty, Brad. There’s this little thing called loyalty. I have it. You, obviously, do not.”
“Loyalty? Really?”
“I promised Larry I wouldn’t harm his sister.”
“Since when are you okay with harming anyone, Wendy?”
“You’re the one who taught me how to shoot a gun. If I harm anyone, you hold some responsibility.”
I had, when we were in high school. I was a good shot, and she’d wanted to learn, so I taught her. We couldn’t go to the range together without an adult, so we practiced on the ranch during the weekends. She took to it like a pig to slop.
Now, with the crazed look in her eyes, I vowed I’d never teach another person to shoot a gun.
“What the hell has happened to you?” I demanded.
“You know me, Brad. I get very testy when I don’t get my way.”
“No one gets his way all the time, Wendy. You know that.”
“Not me. I always get my way.” Her eyes misted. “Except for once.”
Our child. She was talking about our child. She and I were horny teenagers, and we’d failed to use birth control once.
Only once.
Of course, once was all it took.
She got pregnant but miscarried. A blessing in disguise. Neither of us was ready to be a parent in high school.
Still, she found a way to use it against me any time she could.
I remained calm. She wasn’t going to trip me up this time.
“Get out of here,” I said, “or I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.”
“No, you won’t.”
“You want to try me? I’m not Tom or Larry. I’m not your lackey.”
“Tom and Larry aren’t my lackeys. They’re my friends. They’re loyal. They’re better men than you’ll ever be.”
“Fine. They can be better men than I am. I don’t rightfully give a fuck.”
“Get rid of her,” she said angrily, “or I will.”
Rage welled in me. “You stay away from her.”
“I won’t hurt her. I promised Larry. But…sometimes accidents happen.”
“You fucking bitch.” I clenched my teeth. “If she so much loses a hair on her head, I’ll have you arrested.”
“For harming a hair on her head? Fuck you, Brad. What about the promises we made to each other?”
“We were kids. We’ve been through this.”
“You’ve been through this. We have never been through anything. We belong together. You know it as well as I do.”
Damn. It was five o’clock now. I was late. I hadn’t planned on dealing with Wendy today.
But today, it seemed, was the day. I didn’t have a choice.
“Sit down,” I commanded. “Now.”
She sat.
She always sat.
All I needed was my commanding tone, and Wendy would do anything I asked. In the bedroom, at least. Outside the bedroom? That was always up in the air, but I could get her to obey me about seventy-five percent of the time.
This appeared to be one of those times, thank goodness.
“Listen to me, and listen good,” I said. “We’re over, Wendy. There’s nothing more between us.”
