Just as I pull the faded red Quick Stop gas station shirt over my head, I hear someone walk into the room. I spin around half expecting to find Lex. Instead, Rick walks in without knocking. Not surprising.
“Oh, sorry, didn’t know you were getting dressed in here,” he leers.
Okay, I lied. I might need this job, but I don’t like it. Rick gives me the creeps, and this isn’t the first time he’s accidentally walked in on me changing. That’s why I always put the shirt over what I’m wearing.
“It’s okay, I’m fully dressed anyway,” I say awkwardly while tugging at the hem of my shirt.
“Yeah…” He looks me up and down, his beady eyes raking over me, and even while fully dressed, I suddenly feel naked. “I’m heading out for a bit. You got the store, right?”
“Ah, sure.” He hasn’t left me alone before to run the place, but I guess I know everything I need to know. Still, being completely alone here at night is a little scary. I hate to admit it, but now I wish Lex would have stayed with me.
7
Lex
Did she seriously just get out of the truck and walk the fuck away mid-conversation? Yes, she did. I watch as she walks across the road, then the parking lot, and disappears inside.
I take some calming breaths and grab the steering wheel, strangling it with my hands. Reasoning with myself, I try to think about what I said, and how it may have bothered her. All I want to do is protect her, and all she wants to do is fight that protection.
Does she think I’m trying to control her? Force her to do something? I wouldn’t even consider doing that. I’d just rather have her somewhere else than here. Somewhere safe, somewhere that she doesn’t have to look over her shoulder every five seconds.
Doing my best to let go of the anger pulsing through my veins, I watch her, not even feeling bad about my newfound obsession. The age difference between us doesn’t mean shit to me, nor does the fact that we’re at two different points in our lives. Before Jude walked into that bar, I had no purpose, but now I feel as if I have one, and the marks on her back have only encouraged that deep-seated need to protect her.
Staring at the dilapidating building, I wonder why Jude would decide to work here, in this shitty gas station, in the bad part of North Woods when she could easily work anywhere on campus. Hell, if I told my brother she was looking for work, I don’t doubt he would make up some random position for her, especially if he knew she was working here.
Leaning my seat back, I adjust my cap on my head and prepare to sit here for the next few hours. Part of me wishes I could turn off the protective nature Jude brings out in me, but another part of me enjoys it. Enjoys watching her, making sure she is safe. She doesn’t understand the need, and I can’t fault her for not getting it.
I’ve been thinking about what I found online about Ivan and Roman and the gym. It’s just another reason for me to watch over her.
“She’s a liability. Make sure she stays quiet or someone else will.” I can hear Roman’s voice in my head like a blinking warning sign. What did he mean by that? Was he going to send someone out to hurt her? My muscles tense at the thought. I need to talk to him, to ask him what he meant by that statement.
Headlights dart across the truck, blinding me for a moment as a beat-up Durango pulls up to a gas pump. Two guys climb out, laughing and swaying on their feet. Blood starts to pump through my veins at an accelerated rate, and I can hear the beat of my heart in my ears.
Involuntarily, I grab the door handle and cautiously watch as one of the guy’s attempts to pump gas while the other stumbles up to the door. Like a mountain lion watching prey, I give them my full attention, slipping out of the truck, I fall back on my time in the military, moving without a sound.
One guy meanders into the gas station, and I watch through the windows as he walks straight back to the coolers for beer. The guy outside finishes pumping gas and walks inside as well. A bad feeling festers in my gut, and I stalk closer to the building. It could be nothing, or it could be everything.
Peeking around the corner, I spot Jude and the guy who pumped gas having a conversation. I want to snap his neck for even talking to her, but that’s irrational of me.
I push the door open and walk inside. There is a bell ringing above my head, but neither Jude nor the guy pays me any attention.
Grinning, he leans forward over the counter and touches her cheek with his hand.
Fear flickers in her blue eyes for a fraction of a second before she slaps his hand away, and I know I’m about to lose my shit.
“Come on, baby, don’t play hard to get.”
I don’t think, I just move. Probably faster than I’ve ever moved before. Crossing the room in a flash, I grab the asshole by the neck and pull him away from Jude, who lets out a tiny shriek. The guy stumbles back and into a shelf, dragging off boxes of candy as he goes.
“What the fuck,” he slurs, just as his friend comes up behind me. He tries to tackle me, but I’m faster and stronger. Overpowering him with ease, I strike before he knows what’s going on. My fist slams into his nose, bones crunch beneath my knuckles, and I can’t help but smile.
“Lex! Stop!” Jude yells, but my body moves on instinct. I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to.
When guy one is backing up, holding his bleeding broken nose, guy two has his go. He swings, almost hitting me, but I duck down in time just to come back up with my already bloody fist, clipping him right in the jaw.
I’m vaguely aware of the doorbell ringing behind us, but I don’t give it my full attention until I hear someone else coming up behind me.
“Hey! Stop it, take it outside, assholes. You’re messing up my store!”
I look over my shoulder and find the guy I’m assuming is Rick, sneering at me. He is older than me, old enough to be balding. He also has a beer gut and yellow teeth. A prime human specimen all around. He’s just another shit stain under my boot.
“I was just about to leave anyway,” I growl. “Let’s go, Jude.”
I swing my gaze over to her, fully expecting her to fight me on this, thinking I’m going to have to drag her out of here. But to my surprise, she just nods her head and dashes around the counter toward me.
“You can’t just leave,” Rick spits, his eyes on Jude.
“She can, and she will. Better yet, she’s not coming back either,” I tell him while watching Jude pull her work shirt off, over her head, throwing it down onto the counter.
“I quit. Not because he said so, but because I want to,” Jude explains before pushing past me and out the door. I give the drunk idiots one last warning look and turn to walk out, but Rick isn’t done yet.
“She didn’t give two-weeks-notice, so she ain’t getting her check,” he yells, narrowing his eyes. Rage still pumps through my veins, and this idiot is going to be the one thing that sets me ablaze all over again.
“You listen up, and you listen well. She was damn near assaulted in your gas station, and you’re worried about her quitting before she puts her two weeks in. You’re a special kind of piece of shit, aren’t you?”
“Get the fuck out!” he growls, taking a step toward me, but what he doesn’t know is that I’m not intimidated by shit, least of all him.