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“For now,” Jaxon sighed. “What’s to stop him from bringing all of this back?”
“If Dad succeeds, maybe Roy will have him arrested.”
“Maybe,” Jaxon acquiesced, unwilling, or just unable to accept any end to this Eric McKinnon nightmare. He wished he’d never even met him. None of this would be happening.
Liar. You know he’d be fucking with Teagan anyway, given his father’s political plans.
Even with that knowledge, he still couldn’t help but take some of the blame on himself. Or all of it. Eric might very well have dropped Teagan if Jaxon hadn’t gotten involved. Fuck, he’d only been trying to help her. Perhaps he’d made it worse?
He felt sick to his stomach as they made their way into the restaurant. It smelled of chips and grease, and felt a bit too warm, even with the cool temperature outside.
Teagan slipped her hand into his and squeezed as they approached Eric in the booth where he was seated.
“Hey, there’s the happy couple now!” He was sitting alone, but the tables all around them were full. Which meant he wasn’t alone this time. Far from it. “Have a seat, will you?”
He gestured to the expanse of booth beside him, and Teagan gingerly sat down first, which made Jaxon nervous, he’d meant to put himself between Eric and Teagan, but there was nothing for it now.
He slid in close to Teagan, reaching for her hand as they waited.
Eric leered at the two of them before speaking. “You know, I wasn’t really fully believing that you two were together… thought maybe it was some sort of joke or prank. But…” He sucked his teeth. “Jaxon really hooked a good one, didn’t he?”
Jaxon’s jaw set roughly, his teeth clenching the more Eric spoke. “I knew he wanted you way back when. Could tell by the way he spoke about you.”
Teagan’s eyebrows went up and Jaxon squeezed her hand. This was bullshit. All of it bullshit. He’d spilled a lot, but he’d known better than to ever tell anyone about his feelings for Teagan. He prayed to the God that she knew somehow. That she knew Eric was lying through his teeth, hoping for a reaction.
Teagan’s perfectly sculpted brow was the only thing that moved. The right one rising slightly and giving her a very bored look. She exhaled deeply, sounding very much like a sigh. “Do you have something for me, Eric?”
He smiled then, one of those sickening ones where you could see all his teeth. He looked like some poor child’s first jack-o’-lantern or something. “I do indeed, but I thought we could sit and chat for a moment, Teagan? Do you mind if we chat? I have something I need to tell you.”
“Fine.” she snapped, making Jaxon cringe a bit because she needed to tone it down. He could hear her seething hatred in every syllable she uttered. And if he could, so could Eric. “Go on, then.”
Eric’s eye twitched a bit, and he started in very quickly. “You’re awfully rude for someone who stole something from me yesterday.”
“Am I?” she asked. “Seems like you’re the one with the upper hand, regardless. The phone got wiped before we got it home.” She reached into her pocket and slid the bricked phone across the table.
Eric smirked and grabbed it, sliding it into his own pocket.
“Right so that brings me to the unfortunate news I have to share. Well, it’s unfortunate foryou. But in exchange for those lovely photos you want to keep all to yourself, it turns out Jaxon’s done something rather selfless. It’s making up for his selfishness before, but still. Perhaps that will soften the blow a bit, darling.”
She smiled without humor. “Go on, then.”
Eric’s eyes flashed, and he clenched one hand into a fist and slammed it on the table. “Jaxon sold out your dad. Sold out that ‘cousin’ of yours too. That Dave Davis? He’s not your cousin. He’s your half-brother. Turns out your daddy-dearest couldn’t keep it in his pants.”
Teagan was silent for a long moment. Jaxon braced himself for her cold shoulder. They’d rehearsed this. She knew exactly how to look at him.
But she didn’t.
She didn’t say anything at first. She did look at Jaxon, but it was with all the love he’d grown to know and expect from her gaze. And when she turned back to Eric, her eyes were as icy as her mother’s. More so, even.
She shrugged and shook her head. “I already knew that. Do you really think Jaxon keeps things from me? He told me. Told Dad too.”
Eric was silent for a short while before he finally responded. “You’re bluffing.”
She grimaced and shook her head. “Nah. I’m not good enough at lying to bluff you.”
He looked between the two of them, getting angrier and angrier the more he looked. His eyes narrowed, and he moved closer to Teagan, provoking Jaxon to scoot away and take her with him.
Eric paid it no mind, he leaned so close he could have kissed her if he wasn’t by all appearances, looking like a snake who wanted to bite her head off. “You’re a fucking liar, Teagan Madden.”
