AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Maybe I actually thought you’d won a competition. Did you think ofthat?”
“I could believe that, but then I’d also have to believe you didn’t see the photos from earlier today.”
Maxine flinches, shaking her head. “What are you, some wannabe fucking debater or something?”
Lucy sighs. “Is there anything else?”
Maxine spins to Damien. “Are you seriously going to let her talk to me like that?”
Damien’s mouth falls open. Some sobriety seems to flit into his eyes and leaves just as quickly.
He peels his upper lip back in a sneer and aims it at Lucy. “You really do look like you won a….”
Letting go of Lucy’s shoulder, I step forward.
Damien is a muscular, fit man. He’s shorter than me since he’s a quarterback, but he’s younger, and I’ve heard he knows how to fight. There was a rumor a year ago he was going to be involved in a celebrity boxing match.
He trails off as I tower over him, glaring.
“The thing is,” I say, looking at him steadily, “if you finish that sentence, I’m not going to be responsible for what happens next. I won’t stand here and let you insult my woman, Damien. So make your fucking choice.”
There’s a moment where he still tries to seem like a tough guy, all pumped up, but then he returns my gaze. He's drunk, from the smell of it. His mask slips and I see the real him for a second.
He doesn’t want a fight, an argument, anything, not for Maxine.
And not just so he can hurt Lucy’s feelings.
“Maybe you were going to say you’re sorry,” I growl, my voice brimming with rage, the disbelief that this bastard would eventhinkabout insulting my woman.
“Uh.”
“Damien,” Maxine hisses.
He looks at her and shakes his head. “I’m sorry. I really am.”
“It’s okay,” Lucy says softly.
“I’m…I’m not normally like this,” Damien says, looking at me. “I’m just…I got carried away. It’s not right, and I’m sorry.”
I nod. “I’ve seen you in interviews. I never thought you were a prick.”
“I’m not,” he says, seeming more serious now. “It’s just….”
He waves a hand, and I know what he’s going to say.
It’s just Maxine.
It seems like a weak excuse, but it’s none of my concern.
I just want them away from me, away from my woman.
“Time to leave,” I cut in.
Damien nods, stepping back. Maxine stares at me, then Lucy. She looks at Lucy for a long time as if trying to psyche her out. But Lucy returns her gaze steadily.
Even more pride swells up inside of me when I see the poise of my woman and how little she allows Maxine to affect her.
Only after Damien and Maxine have left do I see Lucy’s real feelings. She turns to me, her eyes wide… but not with innocence, not with nerves.
