I walk around the chair until I’m standing in front of him. When he doesn’t look up, I peel off my coat and toss it on the couch behind me. Kneeling between his legs, I peer up at him, sucking in a breath as I get my first glimpse of his ruggedly handsome but fight-mottled face. “Oh, Sawyer!” I cover my mouth with both hands for a second. His right cheekbone looks red and, if I’m not mistaken, a little swollen and his lower lip looks awful. It’s puffy and split on the side and the skin around the cut is turning a very lovely shade of purple. The knuckles on his right hand are also swollen and bruised. “Babe, what happened?”
He clears his voice and grits out, “Willow wasn’t supposed to tell you to come.”
“You didn’t want to see me?” I suck my bottom lip into my mouth, waiting for him to answer.
“I did, and I wanted to tell you everything that went down, but then this happened.” He jabs a finger in the direction of his face. “I let him get a couple of good tries in then decided I’d had it.” He rubs his left hand over the back of his right. “I think he looks worse than I do. I’m pretty sure I broke his nose.”
I cringe. “Oh, man. Well, did he deserve it?”
He looks me in the eye. “You know he did. Had, the things he said … I wanted to remove his head from his body. It was bad.”
I grimace as my stomach starts to churn. “I’m scared to ask.” But knowing Ed, I can easily imagine the filth he spewed at Sawyer.
Sawyer runs his hand over his sore cheek, causing him to wince in pain. “Let’s just say he used some colorful language to describe you, asked if I was fucking my teacher—which I didn’t comment on—then he said I could have you, but it was clear he still wants you back. He’s psycho.”
I put my fingers under his chin, turning his face carefully to each side, inspecting the damage. “I’m going to get you some ice.” With a pat to his knee, I get up and hurry to the kitchen.
After a quick look in their freezer, I find a bag of peas and a bag of mixed veggies, which will be easier to manage than baggies of ice cubes. I grab the two dish towels I see in the kitchen and bring it all back out to the living room with me. I wrap each bag in a dish towel, and hold one to his chin and lip while handing him the other to put on his cheek. “Maybe you can somehow press your knuckles against it while you hold it there.” I feel terrible that it came to this. My jaw clenches in frustration as I try to work through this mess in my head. “Do you think there will be repercussions? I mean, do you think he’ll say anything? It sounds like he’s going to look busted up on Monday, but so will you. He could blab about us, but the honest truth is we’re two adults in a relationship, outside of school hours. Mostly.” My cheeks heat.
He shrugs, nonchalantly. “Exactly. And the nerd, as he keeps calling me, rattled off some information for him about criminal harassment charges in the state of Massachusetts. That seemed to get his attention.”
My eyes widen, and I try to hide the smile forming. “You didn’t.”
Sawyer rears back with a chortle. “Hell yes, I did.”
Chapter 32
Sawyer
She grins as she sits on her knees before me. As if I hadn’t been hit enough today, one close look at her feels like a swift punch to the gut strong enough to knock the wind out of me. She’s all wind-whipped, wavy hair, pink cheeks, and tight jeans. She is so fucking gorgeous my heart skips a beat.
It slays me how lucky I am to have her here with me, and wonder what it would be like if we lived together. I want to be the man she comes home to, the man who will love her like no other. I want to peel her jeans right off, pull her into my arms, and kiss her until she warms up under my touch.
She releases a shuddered breath as she watches me cautiously. “He was being a jerk about the photos before—and I feel dumb for not telling you about them—but this thing between us? He sees it, and it’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull. I’ve never seen him so mad.”
I clear my throat and look deeply into her eyes before I ask, “Would this be the wrong time for the fun fact that bulls are red/green color-blind? It’s actually the waving that gets them riled up, not the color.”
“Sawyer …” She gives a delighted laugh, scooting between my legs. Her hands reach out to grip my hips and she leans in, resting her forehead against my chest for a second before tipping her head up to look at me again.
“I’m glad to put a smile on your face—” I hesitate, gathering my thoughts. I want to get this right for her so she understands the depths of my feelings. “I need to make something very clear. I understand why you’d be concerned about what I think but know that I’m only worried about the effect this is having on you. I knew there was something going on.” I run my free hand through my hair as I think. With a bit of regret, I say, “I should have done something more, something sooner. I didn’t know if you wanted me butting in because I didn’t know if you feel for me the same way I feel for you.
