My hackles rose. How dare he assume what type of person I was? He was the one that had been pushy, condescending, and overbearing every time we’d been around each other. He was right, though, I really had been trying to hit him where it hurt. My mind wouldn’t move fast enough to formulate a defense and throw back at him how inappropriately he’d treated me.
“At least now I know I’m not missing out on anything,” he muttered. He slid out of the booth and looked over at Kara and Abby. “Enjoy your night.”
He left, leaving his beer on the table and walked to the door without a backward glance.
“Well,” I huffed.
“Shit,” Jury said. “I’ll see you guys later.” His chair scraped as he jumped up from the table to follow Maddox out the door. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Abby’s forehead. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours to take you all home.”
She nodded, then Kara and Abby watched him run after Maddox before both of them turned their gaze to me.
“What?” I asked.
Abby arched an eyebrow. “Was that necessary?”
“Do you remember what he said to me?” I asked. “Or are you forgetting how awful he was? The date? At the trail?”
“No, Bethany, you’re in the wrong here. Maddox was trying to help. His heart was in the right place. Yours was not. You intentionally tried to hurt him.”
I looked at Kara for backup. She didn’t know Maddox and might have been more on my side.
Kara shrugged. “Sorry, Bethany. You were pretty harsh. He sounded like he was trying to apologize.”
Well, fuck. So much for my fun night out. Now I felt like absolute shit. This entire night was one big reminder about why I tended to stick to myself. Mom life was the only life I needed. Every time I tried to do anything outside of just focusing on my daughter and my business, it turned into a disaster as this night had been.
I pulled out my phone and arranged for a rideshare on their app. It dinged immediately that there was someone already outside. In our small town, ridesharing programs were popular for the drivers but weren’t all that used for the riders. The drivers liked to hang out at our only bar in hopes of picking up a rider. “I’m going to head home,” I said. “This was enough excitement for one night.”
“I’ll come with you,” Kara said. “You care if I crash at the office?”
“Sure,” I muttered. “That’s fine.”
I nodded toward Abby. I wasn’t mad at her, but she’d defended Maddox instead of me. Maybe I had been harsh, but after the things he’d said to me, I had a right to be. She was supposed to be my friend.
6
Maddox
Mondays were always dull at the station. It was nice when I was in school because I worked on homework during the boring times.
But I was between classes at the moment, so there was nothing but mundane Monday. I’d cleaned all the desks and had resorted to dusting all the legal volumes on the bookshelves. Again. I’d just dusted them the Monday before. And the Monday before that.
We didn’t have a lot of crime in Black Claw. Even humans had some sort of sixth sense about them that made them steer clear. But officers were still needed, around the clock. Wrecks, accidents, and the small bit of crime we did have.
When the shelves were dusted, I sat at my desk and tried to pretend I wasn’t thinking about my damn mate. I’d thought about her nonstop since Friday night when she’d basically told me I was an idiot with nothing more than a pretty face.
There was no way we were meant to be together. She was a total... well, she was a bitch! Our argument in the bar played in my head over and over, as it had all weekend. Like a movie that wouldn’t stop playing on repeat.
I should’ve done things better, different. Said the right thing this time instead of fumbling through chastising her. But still, what she did crossed the line. It was one thing to argue or chastise me for being too condescending, but it was another to imply that I wasn’t anything more than handsome.
Though, I had implied she was stupid for hiking in the woods alone. That had been bad. I probably shouldn’t have done that. I hadn’t meant to, but the damage was done.
In the middle of my hundredth replaying of the incident, the station phone rang. I snatched it up, fully expecting it to be something like a donation request or fender bender.
“Black Claw PD, this is Maddox,” I said.
“Hey. Maddox. This is Elaine at county dispatch. We’ve got a public disturbance call that just came through.”
That was definitely more than a fender bender. “Hit me with the details.”
She rattled off the description and address. “I’ll be right there.”
Per protocol, I called Grandpa and forwarded the station calls to his cell. As sheriff, that was part of his job description.
I hung up as I got into the cruiser and headed toward the address. It wasn’t far from the station, so it took me approximately three minutes to get to the scene. I radioed dispatch when I got there and turned toward the house. A neighbor stood in the yard across the street.
As soon as I stepped out of the cruiser, I knew where I was. I felt her, under my skin like a shiver down my spine. Biting back a groan, I walked toward the raised male voice I heard. The address was a well-kept home with a long driveway, and the sound of shouting came from the back yard. The neighbor hurried over. “Behind the house. I’m afraid he’s going to hurt her. She’s such a sweet girl.” The older woman wrung her hands.
“Don’t worry, ma’am. I’ll take care of it.” I took another moment to touch her shoulder reassuringly, then headed down the driveway.
Don’t act rashly.
Ignoring Artemis, I
