“What?” Linc’s confused expression was almost comical. “What are you talking about?”
“She broke Leroy Grimes’ nose.” I offered by way of explanation. “The day … Keegan.” I trailed off, not knowing how to even bring it up. Despite that, Linc understood. He’d lost his brother overseas. So he really did understand the pain I was going through.
“I followed up, after. Leroy insists that he ran into a wall. Even though I watched her assault him.”
“I mean,” Linc sniffed. “Leroy’s a dirtbag. But if you saw her do it, you can arrest her.” He crossed his arms, clearly wanting to find out where I was at with it.
Avery stiffened at my side.
“Although, if he insists that it didn’t happen, and there’s no body cam video of it happening, the charges won’t stick. Plus, you’d have arrested an elementary school teacher.” Linc held his hands up, one with the cap the other empty, like he was weighing scales.
“Oh,” he added almost dejectedly, except I saw the smile on his face while he said it. “And, she’s also the Fire Chief’s niece, so there’s that too.”
“I see what you’re doing, and I don’t like it.” I stared pointedly at him, trying to get him to shut up before he said something truly embarrassing and I had to shoot him with my off-duty weapon.
Turning to Avery, I took a deep breath. “Look,” I said on the exhale. “Rules and laws exist for a reason. I understand that you don’t believe that, but they do. And I won’t apologize for doing my job. I can’t tell you how many times I get lied to on a regular basis by suspects.” Explaining it to her made me feel like a jackass, especially in front of my brother and another cop, but I wouldn’t let anything get in the way of honesty.
“Law and order, everything has its place. I watched it happen, so I had to act. It’s that simple.”
Avery swallowed, and tears welled up in her eyes. Just like they had the first time I had tried to arrest her. My chest clenched, reminding me that she hadn’t been the one in the wrong.
“I’m not arresting you. Neither is Linc. But you have to get yourself under control. You’re a teacher, for fuck’s sake. You’ve gotta stop resorting to violence.” My tone was a little more harsh than I meant it to be, and from the way her spine bristled at my words, Avery wouldn’t be crying in front of me again.
When she opened her mouth, the fury written on her face clearly showed what she thought of me in that moment. I expected hate—for her to spit vitriol at me, for her to give me a reason to walk away, to take my brother home.
Instead, her shoulders slumped and she turned partially away from me. Even though I could still see the look on her face, the resignation. She was beating herself up, and I’d caused it.
Avery’s lips barely moved as she whispered, “I’m leaving.”
I watched her take her phone out of her bra and started tapping on the screen, completely dismissing me while she walked away.
Casey laughed suddenly, drawing my attention away from Avery’s ass. “Oh, shit. This is too good.”
I rolled my eyes before turning to Linc. “Take Casey home. Before he says something stupid.”
“What about you?” Casey smiled like a lunatic as his eyes darted between me and Avery. “We rode together, remember?”
I shook his keys at him. “I’m sober. And I’ve got your keys.”
Casey patted the pockets of his slacks. “Oh, what the hell?” Then he straightened up. “I am, in fact, drunk. Maybe I shouldn’t try to get Bria back just yet.”
Avery snorted, her back still turned, but looked over her shoulder at my idiot brother. “Good luck getting her back at all.”
He flipped her off, and Avery just winked. “I meant it. Good luck with that. She’s been planning her revenge for a decade, Casey. Ten long years, where we planned every conceivable way to torture you without anyone around to hear you scream.”
“She’s horrifying,” Linc muttered. Then he clapped his hands together. “Come on, Casey. I’ll drop you off on my way back to the station.”
Casey left, reluctantly. Not before giving me a few more pointed looks though. Once they were gone, I tried to think of what to say to Avery. What I could say that might make my earlier statement sting a bit less.
“Let me drive you home,” I finally managed to say. When it became clear that she was ignoring me intentionally, I coughed. “I promise I don’t bite.”
Avery turned, her eyes shining. “You might not, but I do.”
Her words shot straight to my dick, which suddenly decided to join the party. Ignoring the urge to adjust myself, I narrowed my eyes. She was teasing me, just for fun. Two could play that game.
“Great. I like a little pain.” With the keys in my hand, I walked away. “Get your ass in the truck, Ms. James.”
8
Avery
My mother didn’t raise an idiot. I got my ass in the truck. Yes, I’d thrown down the gauntlet, but I didn’t know what else to do. Everything about Carter drew me in, making it hard to even think when I stood next to him.
Hell, I’d had to force myself not to rub up against him like a cat in heat when he’d stood too close. So, that was how I found myself sitting in the front seat of the truck, my hands pressed between my knees. If I didn’t, I’d touch him and that meant that I’d fuck him. Besides, if I did that, there would be no chance of forgetting about him.
“I’m going to Bria’s house,” I told him when he passed the road to her house.
“That’s probably not a good idea,” Carter mused quietly. “Casey’ll end up there in the morning, and I’d be doing him a disservice if I didn’t have his back right now.”
“What?” My spine stiffened at the idea of him giving me a ride to make sure that his brother had access to Bria.
“You’ll end up killing him, and I’ve seen Bria with a hangover. She can handle her own, I’m sure. I don’t want to have to arrest you, Avery. And if you assault my brother, I really wouldn’t have a choice about doing it.”
All the righteous indignation I’d been working on for the last ten seconds evaporated into nothing, and I slumped back in the seat.
“Whatever, just take me home.”
“Can’t do that, either.” Carter tapped the steering wheel, humming along to music only he could hear. “Chris and that guy looked pretty chummy. You don’t want to interrupt their night. Nope. I think you should stay at your brother’s.”
My blood ran cold. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Except the smile on his face said that he planned on just that.
“He lives at the club.” I huffed. “I hate that place.”
Carter kept smiling, clearly loving the fact that he was about to ruin my night. “That’s your only option.”
Inspiration struck and I turned in my seat, straining against the seatbelt. “Is it, though?”
The smile dropped from his face, and I almost laughed when Carter clenched the steering wheel. “No.”