Under My Skin (Shady Falls Series Book 2) (16 page)

              “I ain’t scared, I’m pissed, and I ain’t leavin’ with you.”

              She tried pulling away from him, but he wouldn’t let her go. His grip on her arm was so tight, her skin turned red. There would probably be a bruise there tomorrow. This time when I stood, no one stopped me. In a flash I was around the table and had Grant by the throat. “Get you’re fuckin’ hands off of her,” I said through gritted teeth. My low, rumbling voice sounded foreign, even to me.

              Grant released his hold, he shoved his hands into my chest, but I had the momentum. I slammed him back into the wall and held him there. “Don’t touch her again, understand me?” I snarled, bearing down on him.

              “Jake,” Mia whimpered. I looked over at her waiting to see something, anything to tell me that she wasn’t going to stop me. “He ain’t worth it, Jake. Just let him go. Let him leave. He has no business here anymore.”

              Slamming my fist into wall next to his head, I released him. Grant crumpled, leaning against the wall for support. Turning to Mia, I waited to see what she would do. She gave me a gentle smile, and turned to the group.

              “I’m goin’ to bed,” she said quietly, her voice shaking just a bit.

              “Come-on,” Toni said standing. “We’re havin’ a sleepover like we used to when we were kids.” Toni turned to Monique. “You comin’, Moni? We’ll watch some movies and relax.”

              “Absolutely.”

              Mia’s posture relaxed. She nodded and smiled wider. “That sounds like fun.”

              “This isn’t finished, Mia,” Grant threatened, his voice strained like he was trying to control himself. This guy was a loose cannon. He could be a real threat down the road.

              I stood nearby and glared down on him. He needed to know that I wouldn’t let him do anything to hurt her.

              “Yes it is, Grant. I’m sorry I even let things go this long.” She paused and stepped toward him. Grant stood straight and looked down at her. “Please,” she said quietly. “Please just leave me alone.”

              “Mia,” he started but she put her hand up, stopping him from continuing.

              Mia didn’t say another word, but just turned to Toni and Moni and the three women left.

              Grant stood silently, eyes wide and mouth agape. He leaned into wall and watched Mia walk away, his whole body slumping in on itself. I snapped my fingers in his face, to get his attention. “You won’t call or contact her again, you got me?” I rasped. “If I see you near her, the next time my fist flies, it won’t be the wall that gets dented.” He snapped his head toward the wall to see the hole in the plaster. His body stiffened and he appeared worried. A satisfied feeling passed through me. “Stay in Charlotte,” I said, “there ain’t nothin’ in Mooresville for you anymore.”

Chapter Fourteen

Mia

“So what happened with Grant?” Jen asked at school on Tuesday morning.

              “I’m done with him,” I explained. “He got possessive, grabbin’ my arm and tryin’ to push me around.” I paused for a moment. “I shoulda listened to you.”

              “How’d you get him to stop?” she asked.

              “He grabbed me and tried to force me to leave with him.” We hadn’t talked about Jake at all since that night I saw him at Uncle Bobby’s. “Jake pulled him off me.”

              “Good. Maybe you and Jake can stop playing whatever game you’ve been playing.”

              “What are you talkin’ about?”

              “Nothing. Just that it’s obvious that man feels something for you, that’s all.”

              “What happened between you and Jake?”

              Jen looked down at her shoes, a bit of pink shown on her cheeks. She sighed, “Nothing happened, Mia. He wasn’t interested in me.”

              “That’s not true. I saw him dancin’ with you. He seemed extremely interested.”

              “Maybe he was for a moment, but as soon as he knew you were there and you were sick, that was it. He wanted nothing to do with me. He walked me to my car, told me he wouldn’t sleep with one of your friends, and he left.” She paused and looked at me, almost sad. “That man’s crazy about you.”

              Relief flooded me. Jake had refused Jen’s advances? Then he came straight to Uncle Bobby’s, telling me that he hadn’t gone home with anyone else either. That knowledge made me happier than I wanted to admit.

              Suddenly my conversation with Emma that night flashed in my memory. She had also claimed that Jake felt something for me. Then there was Monique and her insistence that Jake still wanted me. And of course Toni had insisted Jake could still love me if I gave him half the chance. Before we fell asleep for the night in Miami, Toni told Monique all about what happened when we were kids. Then they proceeded to gang up on me and insisted that I needed to talk to him.

              “He’s just a good guy, that’s all. It doesn’t surprise me that he refused to sleep with you once he found out we’re friends. That doesn’t mean he feels anythin’ for me though.”

              She shook her head and rolled her eyes at me.

              “What are you ladies talkin’ about?” Steve asked, walking into the room and sitting down on his seat.

              “Steve, if a guy passes up a sure thing and uses friendship with another woman as the excuse …”

              “He has a thing for the friend,” Steve said cutting Jen off.

              “He does not,” I insisted.

              “Who’s the guy?” Steve asked.

              “A guy Mia’s been pining for since high school.”

              “Look, both of you need to stop it. He’s barely talked to me in years, only when he has to. He definitely doesn’t want me anymore.”

              “You can deny it all you want, Mia, but I was there. He wanted nothing to do with me once he realized we’re friends.”

              “Jake’s just a good guy, Jen. It doesn’t mean anything.”

              “Who is this guy?” Steve asked.

              “He …” I started to say, but Jen cut me off. Why were my friends insisting I bring up shit from the past?
Either all these people are delusional or I am oblivious.
 

              “Basically, they slept together, he told her he loved her, and they got into an argument and she told him she didn’t need him.” She turned to me and smiled. “That about sums it up, doesn’t it?”

              Groaning, I nodded. Thinking about Jake made my stomach churn and my heart race. Maybe all the misery was my fault – Self-inflicted unhappiness that’s lasted for years. “Yeah, that’s about it.”

              “So years later he still has no idea why? Mia, no wonder he’s pissed. You gotta tell him. Even if it’s just to clear the air.” Steve said firmly.

              “I don’t know. It was so long ago.” The thought of talking to Jake, of telling him how I was confused after watching my parents’ marriage crash made my stomach churn even more. My head throbbed and my thoughts raced as I imagined that conversation. It would be a nightmare.

              “Yet you’re still suffering every day,” Jen said. “And I’m telling you, he still has feelings for you. At least tell him what happened. Tell him you’re sorry for not clearing the air sooner. But talk to him. It could help.”

              “I don’t know if I can ever be that open with him.”

              Steve stood and walked across to where I was sitting. He stooped down and looked at me straight in the eyes. “Now you listen to me, you need to do this for your own sanity. It doesn’t matter what he thinks or if it fixes anything for him. It’s about you fixin’ things for yourself. Nothin’ more. It will make you feel better if you clear the air.”

              I nodded. “All right,” I sighed. “Fine. I’ll try to talk to him at some point. But the time has to be right.”

***

“Mia, we need to talk,” Grant’s message said. Hearing his voice made me feel ill. I had hoped the messages were done. At first it was a couple times a day, every day. Then the calls dwindled. I hoped he’d gotten the hint, but apparently he hadn’t.

              Then my mother called.

              “Hello?” I answered smiling. I loved when I had the opportunity to talk to my mom. She was a nurse in Shady Falls and rarely worked normal hours. Being alone, she opted for the night and evening shifts to let her younger co-workers have shifts so they weren’t missing their children.

              “Hi honey, how are things goin?” Her sweet voice sounded so tired.

              “Good actually,” I replied. “School’s great and my students are so sweet.”

              “How about everything else?” She pushed in her non-intrusive way. My mother wasn’t one to ask many questions, but she had her way of finding out what she needed to know.

              “Just cut to the chase, Momma. What do you wanna know?” I laughed out. She didn’t like to pry, but she was always concerned.

              “Fine,” she huffed. “Is there somethin’ goin’ on? I had an interestin’ visit this afternoon.”

              “What are you talkin’ about?”

              “That man, Grant, came to visit me today.”

              I was stunned silent for a moment. She waited patiently while I registered what she just told me. Grant went to visit her? He didn’t even know her. Today’s message was the first in over a week. “Why the hell would he go visit you?! He met you like once!”

              “I don’t know, Mia. He showed up about eleven this mornin’ and stayed until just after noon.”

              “Didn’t you work last night?” I asked. “Did he wake you up?”

              She sighed. “It’s not a big deal. He just wasn’t gettin’ the hint when I told him I needed to sleep, so I went to the bathroom and texted Mike to come over.”

              Snickering, I asked, “Was Mike scary enough?” Mike was Toni’s father. He was six and a half feet tall, big and burly, with a full beard. He looked like the typical older biker with his leather cut and black work boots. Mike could be exceedingly intimidating when he wanted. He was basically like a father to me. After my dad left, he kind of took that place. He and my mother had been friends for years, so it was no surprise she called him.

              She laughed. “He sure was. Grant left shortly after Mike got here. Honey, he was askin’ a lot of questions about you. And he was askin’ me to convince you to talk to him.”

              “Momma, I don’t wanna talk to him. He’s not a good man.”

              “Listen, I don’t want you to talk to him. He’s bad news, honey. There’s somethin’ not right about him. To randomly show up at your parent’s house unannounced is bizarre.”

              “Yeah, that’s so weird,” I agreed. “I had no intention on contactin’ him. I actually thought he was done callin’ because I haven’t heard from him in a few days. But then he called just a bit ago.”

              “Obviously not, darlin’. And Mike agrees that Grant’s no good. Stick by your friends. Let Toni, Cade, and Jake know what’s goin’ on, okay?”

              Let Jake know? There was no way I was even thinking about bringing Jake into this. He already came to my rescue twice when it came to Grant, I couldn’t ask him to do it again. “You better get some sleep, Momma. I’ll see you in a couple days for Thanksgiving.”

              “Yep,” she said happily. “We’re havin’ a big dinner this year. Mike, Bobby, the Hansons, and Julius Fuller and his family are comin’.”

              “Where are you sittin’ all those people, Momma?”

              “We’re havin’ dinner in Mooresville. Didn’t anyone tell you? I’ll be there on Monday to help Bobby get the bar ready. We’re havin’ everyone there.”

              She was making plans with Toni’s dad and Uncle. She was calling Mike Rizzo to rescue her from my weird ex. “Momma, is there somethin’ I should know?” I asked. She’d been alone for so long. When my dad split for parts unknown, she poured herself into raising me and working. She never talked about dating or going out, ever. Although she was always friendly with Mike and Bobby Rizzo, she never spoke of either of them in that way. 

              “I gotta go, darlin’. I’ll see you soon. Love you.”

              “Momma, don’t …” The phone went dead, I couldn’t believe she hung up on me. She was definitely hiding something, and I was gonna find out what it was.  

***

The next couple days were quiet. I had a fun week planned for my students. We decorated the class with pumpkins, cornstalks, and hay bales. Then we went to an apple farm where we helped pick apples to bring home to make apple dumplings.

              “Ms. Slone,” Gage’s loud voice rumbled through the empty classroom as he walked into the room on Wednesday morning. “I have a surprise planned for your class in the gym. Can yinz come down around one o’clock today?”

              “What are we doin’? We had plans to have game day before gym.”

              “Oh no. It’s a surprise. See you about one.”

              I smiled and nodded. “Ookaayy,” I drug out, “We do love surprises,” I said sarcastically.

              He snickered as he turned and left the room. It was no secret among my colleagues that I was anal retentive about my schedule and my class. I insisted on maintaining the same schedule and rarely, if ever, deviated from it. Even the principal knew he needed to warn me about fire drills and other changes so I could plan and prepare accordingly.

              “What’s he plannin’?” Steve asked.

              “I don’t know,” I huffed out. “Since he doesn’t want us there until one, we should probably pass out their apple dumplings and get them packed up before we go down.” I sighed again.

              “You need to calm down,” Steve said watching me start to freak out about the schedule I had planned. “The kids will have fun no matter what we do.”

              “You’re right,” I conceded. “Let’s get the day going.”

              The day went along like normal, mostly. Usually Gage came by during his planning period and he typically ate lunch with me, but he didn’t come around at all, further adding to my not so normal day. When one o’clock finally arrived, Gage’s daunting frame appeared in my room. His huge smile shown bright in the darkened doorway.

              “Ready to go?” he announced. “It’s time for gym fun!”

              The students all cheered, excited to see Mr. Andrews. Relaxing, I smiled. “Okay, everyone. Time to line up. Get in line with your partner.”

              Jen, Steve, and I got the kids arranged and quiet so we could walk to the gym. When we walked through the door, we entered a different realm. The gym was decked out like a fall harvest wonderland. There was a maze, a face painting station, and games. There was so much taking up every square-inch of the humongous gym, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. How the hell did he pull this off when he worked all last night and he’d been teaching classes all day?

              “How … When …” I began to question. My eyes turned misty and tears gathered in their corners when I saw the wonder and excitement in my students’ faces.

              Gage didn’t answer my stuttered questions. He just smiled and announced to my students. “Now, first you all need to put your coats and book bags in the bleachers. In order to have fun here, you have to stay with your partner. Does everyone have their partner?”

              They all raised their joined hands and jumped up and down with a cheer. Their giddy smiles and wide eyes, full of wonder, was a sight to behold. Gage continued. “Okay then, there are grown-ups at every station, go have fun.”

              Off they all ran to the activities that caught their eyes first. Jen and Steve followed the more needy children to whatever they wanted to do. They both looked just as excited as the kids, their smiles and wide eyes were almost as large and full of wonder.