“Don’t be stupid,” he snaps. “Vic asked me to fight.”

“Whatever,” I answer, tired of fighting. “You need something on these cuts. I have a bag in my car,” I say, but one look at the parking lot reminds me I didn’t park here because I didn’t drive here. “Fuck.”

“Let me guess. You don’t have a car and you need a ride home,” he says with a furrowed brow.

I don’t answer but give him an uneasy expression. He rolls his eyes before turning away from me and walking toward the lot.

“Lucky for you, I brought my bike tonight. Let’s go.”

Chapter Seven

Rafe

With her arms around me, we sail through the darkness, the cool breeze in my face. The drive is quiet out here, and I like it that way. It gives me time to just think.

Normally I think about cases at work, but tonight I keep replaying the days back in Newport between me and Shelby. I try to remember how I felt about her then. It’s not like thinking of a memory, but feeling it. And the memory of her felt comfortable, like Shelby was the closest thing I had to something nurturing in my life.

It doesn’t line up with the feeling I have toward her now. Now, Shelby represents this new sense of frustration and chaos. My lifestyle demands control. At work, at the gym, with the guys—I need to maintain control at all times. Shelby is...completely out of control. She shows up when I least want her to, out of nowhere, and she doesn’t listen to me.

Except of course for a couple of times I’ve noticed the way she bends, stopping herself when I tell her to. As if she doesn’t want to listen to me, but she has no choice.

I wanted to keep her around to get information on her brother, but at this point, it’s not worth it. She’s weaseling her way back into my head, and I can’t fucking think straight. I need her out of my life, immediately.

As we pull into my parking spot, she climbs off the bike and waits for me. It’s past midnight now, and my exhaustion is suddenly overwhelming. It’s been a sleepless week.

“Please let me look at your head inside,” she begs.

“I’m fine. Will you stop trying to take care of me all the goddamn time?” I answer, stomping across the lot toward the building.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she snaps from behind me, but I ignore her as I reach the elevator. She’s standing next to me when it opens. “I’ve been nothing but kind to you, and you’re always an asshole to me.”

My molars grind as we walk into the elevator together, and as soon as the doors close, I spin on her, glaring down with rage in my eyes. “Bullshit,” I snap, and her face pales. “You’re not being kind to me. I know you have that manipulative brother of yours in your ear all the time. I wouldn’t be surprised if he planted you right next door to me just so he can keep tabs on me. Is he plotting his revenge? Does he just want to torture me for eternity with you showing up everywhere I turn?”