The Jock by J.L. Beck Page 0,37
a dot on the map. There are little ma and pa stores, a grocery store, and a couple diners, but that’s about it.
The explorer slows a bit and then turns right onto a side street. I follow behind but pull up to the curb and throw my truck into park when they come to a complete stop in front of a brick building. Blair rushes out of the explorer before it’s even in park, nearly tripping over her feet. I stare dumbly at the sign hanging on the brick exterior.
Clover Spring Police Department
Why did she come all this way to go to the police department?
A guy comes rushing out of the police station a moment later and collides with Blair. He wraps his lanky arms around her, lifting her off her feet as he hugs her.
A deep primal growl fills my chest, and I grip the steering wheel to stop myself from getting out of the truck. I imagine this is what raw jealousy feels like. Who is this guy? I think to myself a moment before it hits me right in the stomach, the force of the thought slamming into me like a freight train.
Boyfriend. It’s her boyfriend. It’s the only explanation. The blood in my veins boils. She blew me off to come get her boyfriend at the fucking jail? She has a boyfriend. She has a fucking boyfriend, and this whole time, I’ve been trying to get with her.
Betrayal slices through me like a dull knife cutting through a piece of steak. I should look away. I know it but I can’t. I watch with boiling disdain, rage as hot as the sun. I want to punch the fucker in the face, steal Blair away from him.
Sizing him up, I narrow my gaze. He’s tall like a bean pole and younger than Blair and me with light brown hair and an eye color I can’t make out from this distance. I’ve got about an extra hundred pounds on him. One punch is all it would take for me to knock his lights out.
He releases Blair, who reaches into the back pocket of her jeans and pulls out a wallet. I watch as she rifles through it before shoving bills into the guy’s hand. I watch his lips move, the words I love you fall without fail from them.
I love you. I blink and let myself sink deeper into the feelings I refuse to acknowledge. This was stupid, driving here, worrying about her. This whole fucking time, she was driving to come see her boyfriend, and I was worried something bad was going to happen to her. Ha, she fooled me. I’m not really sure why her having a boyfriend bothers me so much, but I don’t allow myself to dwell on it.
I’m overcome with rage and pull away from the curb, driving away without looking back in the rearview mirror. The entire way home, I’m assaulted with thoughts that make me want to beat the hell out of someone.
I’m such a fucking fool. I realize now I was getting emotionally attached to her. I can’t believe I let her see something no one else has ever seen in me. I can’t believe I allowed myself to become so vulnerable. I’m a goddamn fool.
The image of Blair and her boyfriend is burned into my brain and leaves me seeking vengeance. I have no reason to be feeling territorial, or jealous, I know this. I have to push the thoughts of her from my mind. I have to bury whatever feelings were starting to build, crush them, destroy them.
I know just how to do that. With another girl.
When I get back to North Woods, I text Crystal and tell her to meet me at my house. By the time I get there, she is parked at the curb and exits her car as I’m pulling into the driveway. Still brimming with anger, I don’t say anything as I unlock the door and walk inside. I go straight for my bedroom, and like a puppy following its owner, she follows behind me.
“Where would you like me?” she asks as I flick on the light.
Actually, looking at her now, all I see is everything she isn’t. Her blonde hair is bland in comparison to Blair’s silky mousy brown hair. Her eyes are brown, not the icy blue I’m accustomed to. She’s nothing that I want and yet the only thing that I can have.
“On your knees,” I growl and start to