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“Long story. Want to pull it from my phone and clean it up? I’ll fill you in?”
“Fuck yeah.”
“See you in an hour. Gonna check on Casey first.”
I end the call and go back into Casey’s building, trying to hurry before Casey spills her guts to Lily. I’m shocked she hasn’t already, but I’m also glad she hasn’t because Casey doesn’t know all the details. She only knows her mom lied about the baby, but now I finally have more than just my word to offer. I just have to listen first. Hopefully, being in my pocket won’t make it too hard to clean and it’s clear. Bonus to it all: I have proof to rock Davis’s world, too. The guy isn’t all bad, but he did fuck my wife, made sure I stayed on the road for years, only seeing my daughter occasionally, and kept me from moving up. Only fair for him to realize I was still fucking his wife after they were married. It’s the least he deserves.
When I get to their floor, Thad is coming out the door. He stops in front of me, hands in his pockets, as he sizes me up. “That anorexic, plastic bitch is what you chose over Lily?” I raise a brow and let this guy that thinks he knows something to keep running his mouth like a jackass, curious about where he’s going with it. “Guess it worked in my favor, right?” He shrugs and smirks. “Now, I’m the one fucking her every night.”
Yep. I shouldn’t have let him finish. My fist flies without conscious thought, landing on his jaw. He staggers back a step, rubbing the spot. “Huh. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.”
My lips stretch, revealing all my teeth as I swing again. This time, I put a little power behind it.
He flies backward, landing on his ass a couple of feet away. He slowly pushes himself to a sitting position and touches his bleeding lip. “I knew I was right.” When he grins at me, showing bloody teeth, my anger grows, and I step forward, ready to beat his ass. He holds his hands up, making me pause. “Easy, jolly green giant. Don’t eat me.”
I blink, shake my head, and blink again. Because what the fuck? This guy is either stupid or high.
“I don’t think you want to piss her off by breaking her fiancé’s face.”
I growl, but back off because he’s right. It won’t do me any favors with Lily. Instead, I remember I am a grown ass man that doesn’t have to fight with his fists—even though it felt so damn good. I grab his arm and help him to his feet, but before I release him, I offer a quick warning. “Talk about her like she’s some cheap trophy again, and your face won’t be all I break.”
This fucker laughs, then slaps my back as he walks away. “Sure thing, big guy.”
Seriously. What the fuck?
Liam
I walk into Henry’s with a six-pack of non-alcoholic beer, not bothering to knock. You’d think I’d learned my lesson about that months ago when I got an eyeful of him fucking his girlfriend’s face, but after years of tour buses and closed quarters, not a lot fazes me. But I do like to give Henry hell.
I step out of my boots at the door, remembering what my mama taught me long ago about respecting other people’s homes, and walk through the house to the kitchen. Henry and Ashleigh stand there, arms folded across their chests, glaring at each other in a standoff. Nothing out of the ordinary.
“I will sit when I get ready to sit,” she tells him as I set the beer on the counter, then kiss her cheek.
“If you don’t stop being so goddamn stubborn, I am getting the handcuffs.” I snort, knowing damn well that won’t deter Ashleigh. Henry turns his attention to me with a glare. I grin as I pop the top on the can. “Tell her, Liam. She’s due in two weeks. She shouldn’t be on her feet.”
“Nope.” I emphasize the P as I turn up the can. “Pretty sure she’s got more experience with this than we do. Leave her alone.”
She looks at Henry with a grin and a nod as he growls. “You’re supposed to be on my side, asshole.”
“Leave her alone, you overprotective buffoon. She won’t break.”
Ashleigh walks to me and wraps her arms around my waist as she pokes her tongue out at him, making me laugh.
“Trouble…” Henry growls, looking at her and then me before tossing his hands in the air with a huff. “Fine. You win.” She beams as she turns loose of me to do a little dance that looks more like a duck spinning in a circle. “For now,” he adds, lifting a brow at her, bringing her dance to an end with a pout, then turning to me, rolling his hand in the air. “Spill.”
I tell them what Casey and I walked in on, which wasn’t much. We got there in time to see Krista swinging her open palm toward Lily, and Lily dodging, then swinging her closed fist, connecting with Krista’s most recent nose job, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out what happened. Krista’s lucky we appeared when we did. My reprimand was instinctual, wanting to protect Lily, but if Krista had gone after Lily again, she would’ve walked away with more than a bloody nose. If she walked away at all. I call Lily Tiger for more than her fiery temper.
Though she be but little, she is fierce.
I’m not entirely uneducated.
Ashleigh laughs like a banshee, her voice echoing through the room. “You’re going to wake up Kaykay with your caterwauling,” Henry teases her.
She doesn’t stop laughing, even when she rushes to the bathroom, yelling over her shoulder, “Don’t play that recording until I’m back.”
Henry shakes his head, his eyes never leaving her until she disappears at the top of the stairs. His overprotectiveness hasn’t eased much since he almost lost her to his insane brother a few months ago. I swear it’s an epidemic among my friends. It makes me wonder if I should find new ones.
“Like there isn’t a bathroom six feet away,” he grumbles under his breath before he turns to me. “I would’ve paid good damn money to see Lily nail that skanky bitch.”
