“I wanted to kill him. I would kill anyone who hurt someone I love.” His hand relaxes and he brushes the hair from my face. “That includes you. I wouldn’t hesitate to hurt someone if they were going after you.”
I take a shaky breath. “Who would want to hurt me?”
Perry steps past me and looks around. When he doesn’t find what he’s looking for he releases a string of profanities.
“When did Walker leave?”
My eyebrows pull in. “Walker was with you. He left an hour ago to go meet you.”
Perry’s eyes harden, looking over my shoulder. “An hour, huh?”
My heart starts to pound. If Walker wasn’t with Perry, that means he lied about where he was going. There’s only one reason Walker would ever feel the need to lie to me.
“What’s going on? Why are you here right now when you need to get as far away from here as possible if you any chance at getting away?”
He laughs bitterly. “I’m not trying to get away. I’m already fucked.” He takes a seat in the chair by the door, resting his head in his hands. “I’m too late.”
On shaky legs, I move to stand beside him. When I place my hand on his shoulder, he jumps. His eyes flick up to mine. “Tess, I’m too late.”
“Too late for what?” I whisper.
Before he can answer a pounding on the front door startles us both. We exchange a weary glance and Perry brings his finger to his lips as he stands. He proceeds to walk behind the partition separating the shop and the front office. When he’s out of sight, I shake out my hands and walk to the door. A key jingles through the lock as I get closer and I breathe a sigh of relief when I see Walker enter.
“Oh my God!” I cry, throwing my arms around him. “Where were you?”
He looks over my shoulder as Perry steps into view. “I was with Perry.”
I pull back slowly to study his face. “Walker.” My tone is a warning and he cringes slightly.
His eyes fall between us. “Okay, I wasn’t with Perry.”
“No fucking shit,” Perry says, taking forceful steps toward him.
Walker holds his hands up. “Will you let me explain please before you murder me, too?”
Perry’s nostrils flare. “So, he’s dead.”
Walker shakes his head. “I don’t know. Mack called me when you ran off. They took him in the ambulance, but his vitals were weak.” He gives me a long look. “He might not make it.”
I turn to Perry and grab his arm. “It was self-defense, right? You said he was hurting her.”
Perry’s eyes remained locked on Walker as he speaks. “He’s a minor. I could get attempted murder—or worse.”
My eyes drift back to Walker and all the color drains from his face. I suspect he’s thinking the same thing I am. A life without Perry could spell disaster for us. He’s what holds us all together, whether Walker wants to admit it or not.
“I heard it on the scanner. They’re looking for you,” Walker adds, leaning against the counter.
Perry runs his hand over his head and nods. “Yeah, I have to turn myself in.”
My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach. How can everything go from being pretty much perfect to being completely fucked in a matter of one night? I can’t stop the tears from falling down my face, so I turn away from him.
I break into sobs when a pair arms comes around me. I don’t have to turn back around to know it’s Perry. He presses his lips below my ear. “Sweetheart, I’m coming back. I don’t know what kind of deal I have to make, but I’m not leaving you.”
This causes me to face him. “You can’t make a deal that could get you killed. You know what they’ll want from you.”
He smiles and my heart breaks a little more. “I promise I’m going to fix all of this.” He looks over his shoulder to Walker. “That includes you, too. No more deals while I’m gone.” He takes a breath. “However long that may be.”
Walker nods but his features are hard. I have a feeling tonight was supposed to be important and Perry’s impromptu freak-out messed it up somehow.
Another knock on the door causes all of us to jump again. It’s a much smaller knock and I have one guess who it could be. Perry removes me from his arms and looks out of the small keyhole before pulling the door back.
Sloan has mascara running down both sides of her face, dressed in Perry’s sweatpants and old t-shirt. She would die if she saw how she looked right now. Obviously she knows how important this is because I half expected her to stop at home and freshen up.
Before Perry can get the door all the way back, Sloan jumps into his arms and wraps her legs around him. He walks backwards into the room, stroking her back while she sobs into his shoulder.
“This can’t be happening,” she cries. She pulls back and places her hands on his face. “They’re talking murder, Perry.”
His jaw clenches. “He’s not dead yet.”
“Yet?” Sloan’s eyes widen. “If he dies, you’re totally fucked. They’ll never let you out of prison.”
Perry smooths her hair and kisses her once. “Don’t worry baby, we’ll figure it out.”
“How?” Sloan cries, jumping down from his arms. “What did he even do to cause you to freak out like that?”
Perry tenses again, his eyes drifting closed for a moment. When he opens them, they blaze with the intensity I saw when he first arrived. “I don’t know. I saw his hand around her throat and I lost it. I couldn’t control it and I didn’t fucking want to.” He slams his fist on the counter. “I knew there was something off about that fuck!”
I look to Walker who is extremely quiet right now. Every now and then he glances at his phone and tucks it back in his pocket quickly. I walk over to him and nudge his shoulder.
“Who are you talking to?”
He leans over and kisses my cheek. “Nobody, babe.”
I narrow my eyes. “You’ve been talking to nobody for the past ten minutes.” I motion to Perry. “And in the middle of a serious crisis.”
“It’s business.”
“Fuck business,” I say a little too loudly.
This gets Perry’s attention and he walks over between us. “What are you doing?” He grabs Walkers phone before he can pull it back. He growls as he scrolls through the messages.
His voice is low and eerily calm. “What did I tell you?”
Walker squares his shoulders. “It’s not always about you, Perry. I can make my own decisions without your approval.”
Perry shakes his head. “Not this time.” He shoves the phone back in Walker’s hand. “You call him and tell him the deal’s off.”
“What deal?” I ask in frustration. More and more I feel like I’m completely out of the loop.
Walker looks to me and then back to Perry. “We’ll discuss this later.”
Perry laughs bitterly. “There isn’t going to be a later.” He throws his arms up. “Look at me. I’m covered in the blood of the town’s star quarterback. I’m going away for a long fucking time. We talk about this now.”
Walker crosses his arms. “Fine, I’ll tell him no. If you’re not going to be here I won’t do it without you.”