Bent not Broken (94 page)

Spending time with my older brother Luke has always been one of my favorite things. Being so close in age, he really has been my best friend. We’re shooting hoops at the park by his apartment and this is the first time I’ve seen him since I got home from college last week. Aiming for a three-point shot, I toss the ball.
Swoosh
.

“Nice shot!” Luke says as he grabs the basketball, dribbling it back to the free-throw line to take one last shot for himself.

“Thanks. Pretty sure I just kicked your ass with that last game.” I laugh as we walk toward the park bench to grab our waters.

“It’s good to have you home,” Luke says, taking a long pull from his water bottle.

“It’s good to be home,” I say, pausing as I use my t-shirt to wipe the sweat off of my forehead. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” I take a quick sip of water. “I’m not going back to Arizona in the fall.”

“Oh yeah. Why not?” he asks rather abruptly, taking another drink of water.

“Honestly, football isn’t going to be my career. I’ve given this a lot of thought—meaningful thought.” I pause for a moment before I tell him, “I want to apply to the fire academy.”

“Seriously?”

“Dead serious. I’m not going back to Arizona.”

“Told Mom and Dad yet?” he asks with a chuckle and a raised eyebrow.

“Nah, soon. I wanted to talk to you and tell you first.”

“So you’re just going to walk away from your scholarship?”

“I am. I just know this is what I want to do,” I respond. I know he thinks I’m stupid to walk away from the scholarship with only one year left, but I have my mind made up.

“You know I’ll support whatever it is you want to do, and I’d love to work with you, little brother.”

“Thanks, man. I appreciate that. I’m going to head home and take a shower. Catch up with ya this weekend?”

“Sounds good,” he says as we grab our keys and head toward our trucks. I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that I have Luke’s support; now it’s telling Mom and Dad.

****

“What are you doing here?” I ask Ava, noticing her bedroom floor covered with papers.

“Just finished setting up the gym for tomorrow’s graduation. Took us twelve hours because those asshats didn’t follow the directions I left them yesterday. What does it matter to you anyway?” she bites at me.

“It doesn’t matter to me. I just didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Well, here I am.”

God, she’s so fucking pissy tonight. “Where’s Jess?” I ask casually.

“She went to Xavier’s party with Max and Adrian just like we talked about this morning. Did you lose your memory, old man?” she says without even raising her head to look at me. She’s in a fucking mood, and I can’t deal with her attitude when she’s like this.

But now I’m pissed off, my blood boiling. I told Jess not to go to that fucking party, but she went anyway, alone, without Ava. I walk across the hall into my bedroom, grab a set of clean clothes, and quickly change. All I can think about is what that fucking asshole Xavier will try to do with her. I’ve heard the stories firsthand of how Xavier gets girls drunk and takes advantage of them. Over my dead body will he fucking touch her.

The last place I want to show up is Xavier Garza’s apartment, but I’m going to go get Jess even if I have to drag her out of there kicking and screaming.

“Why didn’t she listen to me?” I mutter to myself.

Grabbing my wallet and keys off of my dresser, I head out the door. As I pull into the apartment complex, I can hear the music coming from the patio on the ground floor. I let myself in through there instead of going inside and using the front door. I immediately see Jess inside through the patio door, talking to Max and Adrian. When I see her smile, a sense of relief washes over me, but fuck if my pulse won’t settle down. She looks amazing. Her hair is down and wavy, flowing down past her shoulders to the middle of her back. She’s wearing jeans and a tight black shirt. She’s stunning. Xavier is mixing drinks at the counter, and I watch him walk over to Jess, handing her a red plastic cup before walking away. My pulse quickens when I see her bring the cup up to her lips. That’s all I needed to see.

When I step through the glass sliding patio doors into the main living area of the apartment, I hear, “What’s up, Garcia?” from Xavier. Everyone turns to watch me as I walk through the living room toward the small kitchen, including Jess, who looks surprised to see me.

Giving him a curt nod, I respond with my intentions of being here. “Not much, man. I just came to pick up Jess.” She squeezes the red plastic cup in her hand as she glares at me.

“Dating your little sister now?” Xavier laughs, taking a drink of his beer. Most of the room starts laughing at his remark, and it’s taking great restraint for me not to fucking snap his head off his body right here in his own apartment.

“She’s not my sister, Garza, and who the fuck I date isn’t any of your business, got it?” I say through clenched teeth. My tone is aggressive and I’ve positioned myself inches from his face.

“Settle down, Garcia. Just giving you a hard time, man,” Xavier responds, still laughing. He backs off slightly because he knows I don’t like him and that I’ll knock him out right here. I’ve done it before, and he knows I won’t hesitate to do it again. I’m still in his face when I feel a gentle hand on my bicep.

I don’t take my eyes off of Xavier until I hear Jess whisper, “Calm down, let’s just go.” Her hand is warm as her fingers tighten around my arm. Turning, I reach for her hand and start walking, pulling her toward the patio door that I just came in through. I see her wave and offer a tight smile to Max, who just nods his head at me as we leave. The party is silent now; everyone is watching us leave.

“Adios, Garza,” I shout over my shoulder.

“Asshole,” I hear him respond quietly. I can’t help but smirk. I am still holding Jess’ hand and I don’t let it go of her until we reach my truck.

“What the fuck was that?” Jess asks as she slides into the front seat and slams my truck door shut. “I am not a toddler. I can take care of myself, plus nothing was happening in there. You embarrassed me in front of my friends,” she scowls. Her cheeks are flushed with anger, which upsets me.

“
They
are not your friends?” I question and point towards the apartment.

“Max and Adrian are.”

“Yes, Max and Adrian are. The rest of those assholes aren’t,” I say with a raised voice.

I’m feeling a bit of remorse for the way I pulled her out of the party, but that remorse fades as I remember why I came to get her.

“Listen to me for a minute. Xavier is an asshole. He’s hurt girls before—intentionally. He gets them drunk and takes advantage of them.” I pause as heat rolls through me. I think about what could have happened to her tonight. “It’s happened more than once, and I know this because I know someone it’s happened to. I know you’re friends with Adrian, but his brother is a dick.”

Her head drops slightly forward, her hair falling over her shoulder. She looks so innocent, so pure. Watching her fidget with her hands, I make a vow to myself that no one will hurt her. Ever.

“Why didn’t you just tell me that this morning?” she asks quietly, turning to look at me. “I wouldn’t have come if I knew that,” she whispers.

“Look, what’s important is that nothing happened, and I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”

“Thanks for coming to get me.”

“You’re welcome. So, can I buy you dinner? Peace offering?” She nods her head as she gives me a small smile.

Chapter 5

Jess

While I am still absorbing the information Gabe just dumped on me about Xavier, I can’t help but smile a little when I think about how protective he was. My heart flutters a little in my chest when I sneak a peek at him as we’re driving to dinner.

“Where are we going?” I ask casually, trying to lighten the somber mood in his truck.

“Surprise,” he says, taking his eyes off the road to look at me.

“I don’t like surprises.”

“I know you don’t.” He chuckles.

“Then tell me where we’re going.”

“No.”

“Why?” I ask and then stick my bottom lip out in a pouty motion.

“The lip isn’t going to work, Jess. The only thing that lip is good for is me biting it.” Well, that shut me up.

“You know…” I start, pausing for a second. “You shouldn’t joke around about that stuff. I might actually think you’re serious.” I smirk and raise my eyebrow at him.

He pulls into the parking lot of Mancini’s Italian Restaurant, parks, and shuts off the engine. As he reaches for the door handle, he catches my left arm.

“Who said I was joking?” he asks with intensity and fire in his eyes. He maintains eye contact with me while my blood pressure rises to unhealthy levels. I swallow, trying to wet my tongue, which has gone dry.

“Were you joking?” I ask him quietly, maintaining eye contact. Studying his face, I want to run my fingers over the ridge of his jaw line, the straight line of his perfect nose, and his soft lips. As I wait for him to answer, he sighs, then releases my arm.

My eyes fall to his hand, which has dropped to the center console between us. When I look back up at him, I’m caught off guard by the quick movement of his hand as I feel it rest upon my cheek. Using his thumb, he traces my bottom lip back and forth, causing my breath to hitch lightly at his gentle touch.

“Let’s go,” he whispers, his hand falling from my face, leaving my question still unanswered.

We’re seated in the very back corner of the restaurant in a booth where no one else is near us. Since it is evening, the restaurant has turned down the lights, and most of the light is radiating from the small candles situated on each of the tables. The atmosphere is romantic, and I can’t help but notice how handsome Gabe looks right now.

Our server greets us immediately, and instantly sets her sights on Gabe; most women do.

“What can I get you to drink?” she asks with a devious smile, never looking in my direction or acknowledging my presence.

“Diet Coke,” I answer abruptly. She glances at me, blinking her eyes in annoyance that I answered her first. She turns her attention back to Gabe.

“Iced tea.” He answers her without ever looking at her, or even noticing that she’s ogling him. She leaves quickly, but not before casting one last snarky look at me over her shoulder.

“What are you going to order?” Gabe asks, still paging through the menu.

“Just spaghetti; I’m simple like that,” I say, setting my menu at the end of the table. An abrupt laugh comes from Gabe, catching me off-guard.

“You’re hardly simple,” he says, looking over his menu at me with both of his eyebrows raised.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that; ‘simple’ isn’t a word I would use to describe you,” he says sincerely. I blush at his remark.

“How would
you
describe me?”

“There’s no one word to describe you, Jess.”

“Give it a shot.”

“Give me some time to think of a word, ask me again later.” He smiles at me. His full lips stretch with his large smile. His teeth are perfectly straight and bright white against the bronzed skin of his face. I nod at him; just sitting with him, looking at him, and speaking to him has left me speechless.

“What are you going to get?” I ask curiously, turning the conversation away from me.

“Not sure yet.”

Our bitchy server is back with our drinks, a breadbasket, and her shitty attitude. We place our orders, Gabe finally deciding on chicken Marsala. Our server never stops smiling at Gabe; giving him flirty eyes and leaning into him with her hip against our table. I kick him lightly under the table to get his attention and flash him a tight smile.

“That’ll be all,” he says, sending our waitress on her way. “What?” he asks, looking confused. It amazes me that he doesn’t notice the way women outwardly flirt with him.

“You know, I’m sure she’ll just give you her phone number if you just ask,” I say sarcastically. “Hell, she’ll probably drop to her knees right here if you just asked her.” A deep laugh erupts from him and he tosses his head back with laughter.

“Do you think she’s the type of girl I should date?” he asks me, leaning in across the table, his arms folded in front of him.

“I don’t know what your type is, Gabe,” I shoot back at him, narrowing my eyes.

“I think you do.”

“Well, why don’t you save us both some time and energy, and just tell me,” I demand, leaning in toward him. I hate that this table is a barrier between us.

Turning his head to the side, I can see him contemplating his response. “You want to know what my type is? I’ll tell you,” he whispers. “My type is…” He pauses for a moment before continuing. “I’ll tell you after dinner.” He leans back, trying to contain his smile.

“Are you kidding me?” I roll my eyes at him. “That’s two things you have to get back to me on.”

He erupts in laughter again. “I love getting you all worked up,” he says, reaching across the table and placing his hand on top of mine. My eyes drop to our hands, and I look back up at him. I feel a wave of warmth run through me at his touch. He runs his thumb over the top of my hand and looks from our hands, up to me. His smile fades and a more serious look sets across his face.

“I wanted to apologize again, Jess. I’m really sorry if I embarrassed you tonight at Xavier’s.”

I let out a deep breath. I want to be angry with him, but I can’t. Before I have the opportunity to respond, he continues. “It’s just that, I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you.”

“Thank you for apologizing, again, but nothing would have happened.”

“You don’t know that,” he says sharply.

“No, I guess I don’t. But thank you for coming to get me.” I offer him a small smile.

The waitress appears with our food, and I can’t help but flash her a dirty look when she notices Gabe’s hand stretched across the table on top of mine. I’m not really hungry, but I take a few bites of the spaghetti I ordered, trying not to make a mess of myself. I notice Gabe’s demeanor has become a little more serious, and he seems distracted as if something is on his mind.