“What is?”
“I don’t even hurt where the bruises are,” I noted, mesmerized by the unfamiliar face staring back at me.
Jack’s forehead creased. “Where do you hurt?” he asked, the pain in his eyes evident.
“My cheeks and jaw.” I touched them gingerly.
“I’ll go get you some ice and ibuprofen. They’ll help with the pain and swelling.” He grabbed my hand, turning me toward him. “If I ever find this guy, I’m going to f**king kill him for putting his hands on you.”
I shook my head, my heart breaking. “I just want my camera back.”
“I know,” he said before looking away.
“Hey, Jack?” I stopped him. “Why did Dean say he was my brother?” I asked, suddenly remembering what the officer had said.
Jack shrugged. “I don’t know. I can only guess that he thought he was doing you a favor. Or protecting you somehow. Why?”
I smiled and quickly winced with the pain. “I just liked it, was all.”
His dimples flashed in his cheeks as his lips turned upward. “Oh yeah? And why’s that?”
I shrugged. “I liked the way it sounded.”
I didn’t know it was possible, but I watched as his dimples deepened as his smile grew. “So did I, Kitten. So did I.” He walked out and my heart stammered with his confession.
Jack’s cell phone rang and it reminded me that I still needed to call Melissa. I walked toward my bed and reached for my cell as Jack leaned in, his hand covering his phone. “You don’t mind if Dean stays here tonight, do you?”
“Of course not. I was just gonna tell you to call him. I’m gonna call Melissa real quick,” I told him, relieved that Dean was coming over.
He removed his hand from covering the phone before bringing it up to his ear. “She says it’s fine. I don’t think so. Hold on, I’ll double-check.”
He looked at me again. “We don’t need anything, right?”
I shook my head. “Nope, just get him over here.”
“She says no. She won’t care. Make sure Gran knows we’re both staying here before you leave. Okay, see you soon.”
“I won’t care about what?” I asked as soon as he hung up.
“If he stays here all weekend,” Jack said before straightening his stance.
“Oh. Not at all. I sort of want him here.”
“Oh, really? Trading me in already?” He winked at me and I laughed.
“Ouch. Don’t make me laugh, it hurts.” I grabbed my cheeks with both hands. “No, it’s just that I want to be around him ’cause he was there. He knows how I feel because he experienced it too. Is that weird?”
“It makes sense to me, Kitten,” he said with a smile.
“I really need to call Melissa before she shows back up here.” I started to press buttons on my phone and Jack turned away, closing my bedroom door as he left.
“Oh my God, Cassie! What happened? What is going on? And what took you so long to call me back? I’m freaking out here!” Melissa yelled into the phone.
“Sorry, it’s been a crazy night.” I held the phone away from my face, taking care to not press it against my cheek like I normally would.
“Is Dean okay? Is Jack there? What happened?” Her questions shot out rapid-fire.
“We were walking to the softball game to see Jack and we got jumped. Some guy stole my camera, beat me up, broke a forty-ounce bottle over Dean’s head—”
“Oh, Cass, he stole your camera?” I could hear the sorrow in Melissa’s question as she interrupted me, and her compassion for my loss affected me more than I expected.
I struggled to even out my breathing as I swallowed hard. “Yeah.”
“I’m so sorry. I know you’re more upset about that than anything else.”
“You know me well.”
“Are you okay? I mean, where did he hit you? Did Jack freak?”
“Jack’s pretty…” I paused. “I don’t know what Jack is. Pissed? Sad? Angry? He’s all over the place. Oh, but hey, I think Dean’s gonna stay here this weekend. Do you mind if he sleeps in your bed?”
“Not at all. Just tell him no funny business in there. I don’t want to come back to sheets I have to crack in half or anything.” Melissa laughed at her own joke.
“You are so gross.” I chuckled, trying not to scrunch my cheeks.
“I know,” she responded proudly. Her tone changed as she asked, “How’s Dean? Is he going to be okay?”
“Apparently he’s going to be fine. He must have a pretty hard head,” I joked.
Melissa was quiet for a moment. “I’m just glad you’re both alright.”
Before I could respond, there was a knock on my door and it opened slowly. “Kitten, Dean’s here.”
“Hey, Melis, Dean just got here and I really wanna go see him. Can I call you later?”
“Yeah, you go. Tell the boys I said hi and I’m glad they’re staying with you.”
“I will. Love you.”
“Love you more,” she said before hanging up, and I tossed the device onto to my mattress.
I emerged from my bedroom and locked eyes with Dean as Jack stood beside him. My eyes instantly watered up at the sight of him. “Dean! Are you okay?” I said, my voice frantic. I ran to him, locking my arms around his back and squeezing.
“I’m fine. How are you? Are you okay?”
I nodded. “You have no idea how scary it was to see you hurt like that.” I tried to shake the images from my mind that I was certain were seared there forever.
“You have no idea how horrible it was to see some guy hitting you,” he replied, his voice rising in anger.
“Can we not talk about that right now?” Jack’s voice sounded angry and I was grateful for the subject change.
I let out a sigh. “I’m just happy you’re okay. Does your head hurt?”
“Like a bitch,” he muttered.
“Before I forget, Melis said you could stay in her room.”
“Yeah? Well I was going to stay in there even if she said I couldn’t,” he said with a laugh. “It’s okay if I take a shower, right?”
“Of course. There’s a shower in Meli’s room. She has extra towels under the sink.” As I spoke, Jack reached for my hand and pulled me toward the couch.
“We’ll be out here when you’re done,” Jack said, before sitting down and pulling me onto his lap. “I’m going crazy inside right now, Kitten. I feel like I’m losing my f**king goddamned mind. I’m not going to practice this weekend. I won’t leave you alone.” He leaned his head against my chest and I ran my fingers through his hair.
“Jack, I love that you care so much about what happened to me, but you can’t be by my side twenty-four hours a day. And you absolutely cannot skip practice this close to the draft. Are you out of your mind?”
He glanced up at me, the pain evident in his narrowed eyes. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you!”
“When you go to practice, Dean will stay here with me. I won’t be alone, okay?” I prayed my suggestion would ease his worry.
He let out a long, exasperated breath. “Okay. He’s the only one I trust anyway…” His voice trailed off. “We’ll take shifts.”
I rolled my eyes, but he didn’t notice. “You have to get past this, Jack. You can’t take it upon yourself to be my personal bodyguard.”
“Yes, I can.”
“You’ll drive me insane,” I snapped, my voice harsher than I intended. “And then I’ll break up with you.”
Jack’s head snapped around as he glared at me with shock and surprise. “What?”
“I don’t want a babysitter. I don’t want a bodyguard. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Jack, but I don’t want to feel like I’m in a f**king cage.”
He slid my body from his lap and turned to face me, his forehead creased. “Cass, just give me some time to deal with this, okay? It just happened and I feel like I’m losing my goddamn mind.” He cringed as he continued. “Do you know what it feels like to want to beat the shit out of four of your teammates? Four guys I’m supposed to respect and trust. Four guys I trusted completely before tonight.”
I watched as his face twisted with his pain, my heart aching. “I can’t tell you not to be mad at them, Jack. I don’t know why they ran and left me there. I’m sort of conflicted about all that. It did happen really fast, though, I can tell you that. It’s like one minute the guy was with me, then with Dean, then back at me.” I closed my eyes, my head shaking.
“That’s exactly it. You might be conflicted in regards to them, but I’m not.”
Dean walked into the room, a towel wrapped around his waist. “Remind me that it’s really going to f**king hurt next time I try to wash my hair.” He smirked. Dean’s ability to bounce back so quickly after what happened amazed me and gave me hope.
“I’m really tired. I’m gonna go to bed, okay? Love you both,” I said before pushing myself from the couch.
“So much for our weekend alone, huh?” Jack offered me a slight smile.
I looked at Dean before responding. “It’s okay. This is better anyway.”
TWELVE
JACK
The fact that some stranger had beaten up Kitten and stolen her camera drove me out of my f**king mind. It had been three weeks and her bruises had faded, but my anger hadn’t. I never told her, but I cruised up and down that street every day, sometimes before and after baseball practice, looking for the a**hole that had touched her. He was lucky I hadn’t found him yet.
I also looked everywhere for her camera. I searched online, went to local pawnshops, but it didn’t show up. I wanted justice for her…vengeance, really. But more importantly, I wanted to be the one to deliver it. And every day that I was denied that, my anger toward my cowardly teammates grew. I hadn’t talked to any of the ones who were there that night, my temper flaring out of control whenever one of them was near.
I walked into the locker room and changed into my practice uniform in silence. “Carter!” Coach Davies shouted from his office. I glanced up and our eyes met. “Get in here,” he demanded before turning his back to me. Coach was a good baseball player, but he was an even better man. He was the reason I chose Fullton State over the other schools. I wanted to play ball for someone I respected, and I respected Coach Davies.
I slammed my locker door shut and hustled into Coach’s office. “Shut the door.” He motioned before leaning back in his swivel chair. “Come sit.”
I sat in the old wooden chair, my mind racing before he spoke. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you and your teammates. I heard something about your girlfriend getting beat up and I’m really sorry about that, but your team is your family and you need to work it out.”
“No disrespect, Coach, but my family wouldn’t let my girlfriend get the shit beat out of her while they ran away and hid.”