I rise up from the chair and he retreats like the plastic booth will suck him into a world where he’s safe. Anger boils in my veins turning my vision blood red. That guilt in his fearful eyes tells me he’s cheating—they haven’t broken up since I saw her last. Every instinct is telling me, kick his ass for Wren.
As I head over I realize…wait.
This isn’t my business.
But then I go ahead and kick the shit out of him any way.
The jerk actually squeaks as I lift him by his collar out of the booth. As the quarterback I’m not the biggest, strongest guy on the field. But I’m a Cocker, and we know how to fight. Especially when you hurt someone we care about.
I growl in his face, tossing him onto the floor.
He scrambles up as the girl cries out, “Peter!”
Pointing at her I snarl, “Shut up!” and grab the back of his shirt as he tries to escape.
Mott and Tony don’t know why I’m doing this. They don’t need the reason. They just know there’s a good one for me to blow up like this. They’ve formed a circle with cheater Peter in the eat-shit sandwich.
Nowhere to go, he cowers in front of me as I snarl, “You didn’t have to work that day I ran into you guys, did you?”
“Yeah, I did!”
I punch him. “Wanna try again?”
“Alright, no! I didn’t have to work!”
“Were you with her?” I jam a finger at the booth. He nods, and I shake my head in disgust. “You scumbag.” I hit him with my other fist, breaking his nose.
He grabs it, blood spurting. “My nose! Fuck! Stop it! I’m sorry!”
“You’re sorry you got caught!” I hit his jaw, then give him one powerful punch to the dick and ball sack. He doubles over. A whisper would knock him to the ground. With my foot I give him a good shove. He drops, groaning and clutching his jewels.
Coach walks in, freezes, sees the damage, my knuckles, the quiet of the restaurant. “Cocker, What the fuck is goin’ on here?!”
Throwing one last look at the mistress of the hour—or months, however long it’s been hot and heavy between these two—and I shake my head at myself almost as much as at her.
I’ve been there.
I told Wren that.
I’ve been with girls who were taken and never once thought about the person on the other side of the infidelity. Now that I know it’s Wren, and how much this will hurt her, I feel sick for having ever been a part of something this vile.
Stepping over the writhing piece of shit, I leave him in my wake. Mott and Tony walk up with me. Coach and I have had it out before. He wouldn’t let me skip a game when my Grandfather had a heart attack. I played. Won it, too. Then I punched his selfish ass before I raced to the hospital.
“I lost my appetite.”
He sees the look on my face. “Go.” As I walk out I hear him ask my buddies, “Who’s the weenie?”
“Don’t know. Cocker didn’t explain but I think he’s cheating on a friend of Eric’s. Punk was mackin’ on that girl…”
I explode out the door.
Need some air.
My chest is in knots.
I don’t know if I can tell Wren.
It’s not my place.
We’re not friends or anything.
Are we?
Does it matter?
As a human being, should I tell her?
Does she deserve to know?
Fuck yes she does.
And I can’t trust Peter to do it.
Nobody can trust him to do anything but lie.
CHAPTER 21
WREN
“I s that your phone ringing? I thought we don’t have service out here.”
Digging through my bag, I’m surprised, too. “Yeah, didn’t we check earlier?”
“Who is it?”
Staring at a number I don’t recognize I shrug one shoulder. “Don’t know…hello?”
“Wren?”
“Yes, who’s this?”
“Eric Cocker.”
I almost drop the phone, but manage not to as I repeat for her benefit, “Eric Cocker?”
She mouths, What the fuck?
“How did you get my number?”
Eric’s deep voice is quiet, even bleak as he explains, “Mike gave it to me.”
I mouth to her, Mike gave him my number. Eleanor nods and frantically waves for me to keep talking to him.
“Um, how have you been? I haven’t seen you since the park.”
A fact I’ve tried not to notice.
And failed miserably.
He doesn’t answer the question, asks instead, “Where are you right now?”
“At another park.” Appalled at my inability to talk like a normal person, I roll my eyes. “Guess I like them.”
“Which one?”
“Cascade Springs.”
He exhales, “God, I haven’t been there since I was a kid.” His volume rises. “Okay, it won’t take me long to get over there.”
“You’re coming here?”
Eleanor’s butt bounces on the boulder, her frantic hands hitting my knees.
I slap her away.
“Fifteen minutes probably without traffic if I’m lucky.”
“Why are you coming?”
“I have to talk to you. And it has to be in person.”
This is so bizarre all I can do is agree. “Um, okay, we’re by the stream. When you go left in the park, keep on that path. It’ll be a ways but there’s a small waterfall over a man-made cave.”
“The drainage pipe one?”
“Is that what this is?”
“Pretty much.”
“But it’s so lovely.”
“Yeah, nature took it over. I’ll see you there.” He hangs up.
I drop the phone onto my lap, dumbfounded and speechless.
Eleanor leans close. “What. The. Fuck.”
“Mom?!” Antoine calls over, distressed.
“Coming baby,” she tells him before leaning toward me. “I’ve been watching this go down, keeping my mouth shut but now that Eric-fucking-Cocker is driving all the way over here to see you when he probably has a million other things he could be doing, I’m glad I just broke the silence about Peter, because girl, don’t be a doormat anymore. You deserve more. Wake up and smell the quarterback.” She jumps off the boulder. “Antoine, what is it? Please tell me you didn’t kill that sweet turtle.”
“No, look! A snake!”
“Oh dear lord,
