Hal tilted the mirror again and then grunted.
Wyatt looked at the reflection, seeing that Terry was touching Tabitha’s hair. He grunted too when the spark of jealously hit him in the chest.
“So, Parker,” Wyatt started, because he was in desperate need of a distraction to keep him from leaning into the backseat and punching Terry. “You dating someone?”
“No.”
Wyatt raised his eyebrows at the curt one-word answer. “You got your eye on anyone?”
“Why the fuck are you asking?” Hal barked back, finally looking away from the road to glare at Wyatt.
“Do you have a problem with me asking?” he asked curiously.
“Yeah, I have a problem with it. Mind your own damn business.”
Wyatt had seen one too many defensive criminals dragged into the sheriff’s office not to have red flags going up everywhere. This was turning out to be a highly educational trip into juvenile delinquency. Wyatt needed to cut school more often.
A grin quirked at the corner of his mouth, even if he was having a very hard time wrapping his brain around the idea that was forming. He was a little too nosy not to press the issue, especially when the silence had Hal messing with the mirror again.
Wyatt made a point to lean over, now being blatant about it rather than subtle. He looked at the mirror pointedly. “Wanna tell me what you’re looking at back there?”
Hal shoved him with a low growl of frustration, which said something about him. Not many people shoved Wyatt these days. Hal didn’t bother to straighten the mirror, but his eyes were back on the road, his shoulders even more tense, and there was a pulse of noticeable fear throbbing off him.
“I’m just asking ’cause my girl’s back there. You don’t like redheads, do you, Parker? I’d hate to think me and you have a problem.”
“Wyatt,” Tabitha said in warning.
Wyatt threw up his hands defensively. “Some guys have a thing for redheads, Tab. That’s a fact. I know ’cause I’m one of them, but then again maybe he has
different tastes
.”
They pulled into the driveway, and Hal was on him before he’d put the car into park. He wrapped his large hand around Wyatt’s neck and leaned in with a low growl of fury. “You listen to me, you little shit. I don’t give a fuck how badass you think you are on the football field or how invincible you think your daddy’s badge makes you. If you say one word ’bout Terry to anyone, I will fucking bury you.”
Wyatt smiled broadly when he saw how flushed Hal’s face was. “Defending his honor?”
“Motherfucker.” Hal shoved him, forcing Wyatt’s head to crack against the window. “I ain’t kidding.”
Wyatt laughed. “I can tell.”
Hal shoved him again and then sat back up. He put the car into park with hard, jerky motions. “Terry, I’m gonna kill you instead of him. You don’t know him like I do. He is not gonna let this shit go. I have no idea how Powers tolerates his mouth living in that house like he does. He is a fucking force unto himself.”
“I just wanna know one thing,” Wyatt said before Hal could get out of the car. “Do you check me out in the shower?”
Hal turned around to give Terry a dark, angry look.
Wyatt glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Terry wince in response as he said, “I didn’t think ’bout that.”
“Yeah, you wouldn’t. You don’t think ’bout anything.” Hal turned back to glare at Wyatt once more. “No, I
do not
check you out. You ain’t my type, Conner. So don’t flatter yourself.”
“It seems to me like I’m kinda your type.” Wyatt arched an eyebrow and gestured to himself. “Oh, come on, you looked. You can admit it. I ain’t gonna hold it against you.”
“Fuck you.”
“Hey, I don’t care if you did. I ain’t shy.” Wyatt laughed again. “You can look if you want.”
“Un-fucking-believable.” Hal got out of the car. “I’m staying here today. I got to figure out what I’m gonna do. Short of murder, there’s no muzzling this prick.”
He slammed the door hard enough to make the station wagon shake, then leaned back against it and put both his hands to his face as his shoulders slumped.
“Why did you have to do that?” Tabitha asked, the disappointment sounding in her voice. “That was mean.”
“Yeah, you’re an asshole,” Terry agreed. “Dunno why I wanted to help you. Come on, Tabitha, we’ll figure your shit out. You can walk back to school, Conner. You ain’t welcome in my house anymore.”
“Shit.” Wyatt winced, feeling guilty almost instantly. He ran a hand over his face, wishing he had gotten more sleep last night. “I’m sorry. It’s just, I’m freaked out ’bout what happened last night, and you’re brushing me off and crawling all over him.” Wyatt turned around and gave Tabitha a look of hurt he couldn’t hide. “And I don’t understand why. Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” Tabitha said softly and imitated Hal outside when she covered her face with her hands. “All of this is my fault. Now Hal’s upset when he was nice enough to drive us and—”
“Look, I’ll fix it,” Wyatt said quickly and then opened the door and got out. He walked around the front of the car and came to stand next to Hal. He reached out to touch Hal’s shoulder. “Parker.”
Hal knocked Wyatt’s hand away without looking at him. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
Terry and Tabitha got out of the backseat. They cast him disappointed glares as they walked to the house. Wyatt got the distinct impression if he didn’t somehow make things right with Hal, he was going to end up sitting outside, and that wasn’t an option. He wanted to know what the hell had her crying and bruised up this morning. Every defense mechanism he had was going off.
It was little wonder he started something to ease the anxiety that had him wound up so tightly it felt like it was squeezing the air out of his chest.
“I ain’t gonna say anything,” Wyatt told Hal earnestly once Terry and Tabitha went inside. “You want it private, and I get it. The secret’s safe. You’re a good guy. I wouldn’t ’cause you problems for nothing. I know most the guys on the team are assholes.”
“And why the hell should we believe you?”
“I guess you shouldn’t. I’m an asshole too. Probably the biggest one of the lot.” Wyatt leaned back against the car and shrugged. “I swear, Parker, that girl gets under my skin, and I end up doing the stupidest shit. Ask Clay ’bout it sometime if you don’t believe me. I get jealous, and I stop thinking, but that ain’t your fault, and I’m sorry I used you as a distraction. Not my place to give you hell over your preference. Tits are awesome, but whatever. This is America, and it’s your choice who you wanna spend your spare time with.”
Hal let out a choked, broken laugh that made him sound like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “Jesus, Conner. Is there a filter for that mouth of yours?”
“Probably not.” Wyatt sighed. “But really, maybe you ought to start looking harder at the other side. God, Tabitha always smells so good, and she feels amazing pressed up against me, all curvy and soft. I just wanna spend every minute next to her. I can’t imagine wanting a fella over something like that.”
“It ain’t that easy. I
have
looked. Probably closer than you have. I’ve been with a few girls.”
Wyatt raised his eyebrows. “Been with?”
“Yeah,
been with
.”
“Wow, if I’d been with a girl, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be dating Terry Dower.”
“You ain’t never—” Hal arched an eyebrow at him.
Wyatt shook his head.
“Really?” Hal frowned. “I figured you’d been doing it since middle school. Any girl with a pulse likes you.”
“Yeah, but I only got one girl in mind.” Wyatt looked back to the house longingly. “I love her so dang much sometimes I feel like I can’t even breathe without her around.”
“I sorta caught that.” Hal sent him a hesitant look. “You know, Conner, her home life ain’t great.”
Wyatt nodded miserably. “I know.”
“Terry said Vaughn Davis attacked her last night.”
“
Attacked her
?” Wyatt repeated as his entire body stiffened.
“Calm down. He didn’t rape her; I asked. They just scared her,” Hal said quickly and threw one big arm out to stop Wyatt when he pushed away from the car. “Now don’t be barging in there like a bull and scaring her worse. Stop. Take a breath and listen to me for five minutes.”
Wyatt wasn’t listening. He shoved past Hal, intent on getting to Tabitha and finding out exactly what happened last night. He was cursing himself for not listening to his instincts and stopping her from going home. He was halfway across the yard when Hal downed him with a tackle that was impressive. Thank God for grass. He’d have lost a tooth for sure, and his father would kill him if he needed another one capped.
It only took him a second to recover despite being crushed under Hal’s weight. He threw his elbow back into Hal’s chest hard enough to knock the air out of him. Then he rolled out from him easily and got to his feet. Hal grabbed his ankle, but Wyatt was in full offense mode and broke out of the hold. He stomped on his hand for good measure. Hanging out with Clay all the time was bad for his sportsmanship.
Hal shouted in shock and then rolled over, grabbing at Wyatt’s ankle again with his other hand. He was quick for a linebacker, almost as quick as Wyatt, but not quite.
“This ain’t a football field,” Wyatt warned Hal in a low voice because he really didn’t want to fight him. “You keep attacking me, and I’m gonna start swinging. Trust me, Parker, you don’t want that. I got more than one black belt that says I can end you.”
“You cannot go in there and start barking at that girl. She is fragile, and you’re just gonna make things worse for her. Remember when you said you stop thinking. This is one of those moments for you. You’re gonna fuck up. Now I’m helping you. So I suggest you stop and appreciate it before someone calls the cops. How do you think that’s gonna turn out, seeing how class started twenty minutes ago?”
That was enough to give Wyatt pause. He looked around, glancing at the windows of Terry’s neighbors. Hal got to his feet with a groan, holding his injured hand.
“Hell, Conner, I think you broke it.”
If the threat of his father showing up didn’t jerk Wyatt back to reality, that sure did. He looked at Hal’s hand in concern. “Are you fucking with me?”
“Yeah, I think I’m fucking with you.” Hal flexed his fingers and then shook his hand experimentally. “It should be fine. Christ, you’re a hazard. Is this what you and Powers do at the rec center all the time?”
“He’s trying out for varsity wrestling,” Wyatt mumbled, still watching as Hal flexed his fingers.
“Feel sorry for the guys on varsity then. Holy shit. Fighting you is like trying to battle a hurricane.”
“Thanks.”
Hal looked up. “That wasn’t a compliment.”
“Then I hate to tell you, that wasn’t fighting.” Wyatt winced. “You can’t tackle me off the field. It messes with my sensors. I’m from a cop family. I’m all offense.”
“No kidding,” Hal said sarcastically and shook his hand once more before he looked up. “You got to cool off for a minute before you go in there.”
Wyatt took a deep breath and nodded, deciding Hal could have a point. “W-what’d she say to you? What do you know?”
“She told Terry the whole story. I just got the finer points of it.” Hal shrugged, giving Wyatt a long look. “But from what I gathered, her brother and Vaughn caught y’all doing something inappropriate and—”
“It wasn’t
that
inappropriate.” Wyatt interrupted him.
“Well, I guess it was enough to set them off. They cornered her in the bathroom, and I think Vaughn threatened to do some pretty nasty things to her.”
“Why?” Wyatt’s blood was pumping in his ears, but he fought past the haze to sort out details like Jules would in this situation. “There’s something missing here. Why would they just go after her like that?”
“Well, she ain’t bad-looking.” Hal shrugged. “Which I’m sure you noticed.”
“But you said
they
cornered her. Brett’s got a different motivation than Vaughn.” Wyatt pressed as he frowned at Hal. “Is there something you ain’t telling me?”
Hal shook his head. “I don’t think so, but I got it all secondhand.”
“I’m going to talk to her.” Wyatt started toward the house but was stopped when Hal grabbed the back of his shirt. He turned back around, glaring at Hal. “What now?”
“She’s had to tell the story once. Why not just let her rest? Girls ain’t as solution oriented as fellas are. Sometimes they just want someone to be there for them.”
“Are you giving me advice on girls?” Wyatt couldn’t help the laugh of disbelief that slipped out of him. “Really?”
“I do have more experience with them.” A smile quirked at the corner of Hal’s lips. “A lot more.”
Wyatt had to shrug in agreement. “I guess that’s true. But you forget, I have a twin who’s a girl, and she’s solution oriented. Her life sorta revolves around it, actually.”
“Your sister ain’t a normal girl. But that one in there is, and I think you ought to let it go for a little while. There’s nothing you can do ’bout any of it right now anyway. Terry will tell you what happened later.”
“I don’t think your boy Terry likes me all that much,” Wyatt couldn’t help but point out. “He might leave out things on purpose.”
“I’ll make sure he tells you. I know it’s important,” Hal assured him.
Wyatt stood there contemplating everything. He didn’t want to make Tabitha upset. He didn’t think there was anything worse in the world than seeing his girl crying, and he sure didn’t want to be the cause of it.
He already felt guilty about kissing her out in the open. He couldn’t believe one kiss could cause this many issues. He rubbed at the back of his neck as he took another cooling breath. He suddenly needed to be with Tabitha, to know for himself that she was fine.
“Yeah, okay, you’re right.” Wyatt turned and walked to the house, not really sure if he meant the words or not, but he was willing to say anything to get into that house.
He could deal with Vaughn and Brett later.
* * * *
Terry’s bed was really soft, with an expensive mattress and nice sheets to boot. It was big too, overall much nicer than her beaten-up twin-size at home. She snuggled under the covers, which smelled like men’s cologne. It sort of reminded her of Wyatt. She noticed he’d been wearing that stuff lately, and she’d be lying to say she didn’t like it.