the basement of his aunt’s house, where he had a much-abused punching bag hanging from the ceiling. All were safe places to let his anger burst forth uninhibited.
But even when restrained, Colt’s anger was still his constant companion—simmering inside like a kettle on an always-warm stove. By following his Aunt Jane’s recipe, he was mostly able to control himself, but there were still situations that felt beyond his control, and when someone he cared about was threatened, he lost control almost completely.
The fights he had in high school (including one in which he broke a fellow student’s jaw and another’s arm) were almost all in connection to his cousin, Melody. He would never forget the day his Aunt Jane sat down with him at the kitchen table, two cups of chamomile-lavender tea before them, after they’d returned from the courthouse.
“You were acquitted,” she said, toeing off her Sunday shoes under the table, “because the jury was persuaded to believe you were acting by proxy in self-defense of Mel. She couldn’t defend herself, so you did the job for her.”
“They had her hair,” muttered Colt, staring at the table. “They had her by the fucking hair.”
While Aunt Jane generally reprimanded him for coarse language, she’d let it slide that time.
“And those strands of red hair caught between Bobby Callahan’s fingers are what saved you from prison.”
Colt nodded, remembering how it felt to go looking for Mel after school that day, only to find her on her knees behind the cafeteria by the Dumpster, one boy about to zip down his pants while the other held her ponytail in his fist so she couldn’t escape. Colt could barely remember what happened next. When his brain cleared, Mel was begging him to stop, her sobs breaking through the haze of his fury, while Bobby Callahan and Steven Riley lay in bloody heaps on the asphalt.
“You love her,” said Aunt Jane with soft, heartbreaking simplicity, and Colt nodded, reaching up to swipe away the tears that gathered at the corners of his eyes. “It means the world to me that you love her so much, Colton, but you cannot take on the whole world for her sake.”
But I will, he thought. I will take on the whole fucking world for Mel if that’s what it takes to keep her safe.
“If you do, you’ll end up in jail. And if you’re in jail, you’ll be no use to her,” said Aunt Jane, reaching for his hand. “You understand me, Colton? You hear me?”
“I hear you, Aunt Jane.”
“Here’s what I need from you, Colton Lane: stay out of trouble and make a decent living. Can you do that for me, son?”
It hurt when she called him son. It hurt in a good way.
“I can.”
“Your heart is so big, but you have to be careful how much you love. The more you love, the more you have to lose, the more you strike back.” She was staring at his face—he could feel the severity of her eyes on him. “One day I will be gone, and I am counting on you to take care of Mel. If she doesn’t have you, Colton, she has no one.”
He looked up at her, locking his eyes with hers. Aunt Jane had been his salvation. Without her, he’d have spent his childhood in juvie, he’d have gone into foster care, he would have been utterly abandoned after the deaths of his parents. The simple and seminal truth was that he would do absolutely anything for her.
“Melody will always have me. I’ll make certain of it.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise, Aunt Jane.”
She nodded at him, her eyes and smile sad, at odds with the steel in her voice when she continued, “Remember your promise. Be careful who else you love. Be careful that loving someone else doesn’t put your promise to me in jeopardy.”
His aunt’s words echoed in his head as he glanced over at Verity, who looked out the windshield with a dreamy half smile on her face.
She was a bad idea.
Such a bad idea, because in the very short time he’d known her, she’d gotten under his skin in ways he couldn’t have possibly anticipated.
Be careful who else you love. Be careful that loving someone else doesn’t put your promise to me in jeopardy.
There was only one solution, he thought resolutely, looking away from Verity’s pretty face. He could help her. He could date her. He could even fuck her, if that’s what she wanted. But under no circumstances could he fall