Mom had a troubled look in her eyes, and her dad had his lips pursed like he was stressed.
She gave them big hugs and introduced them to the Cold Foot Crew, worried that they were upset that they hadn’t met her friends yet.
Her parents were polite and cordial, and shook all of their hands, but the tension stayed in them both.
Her dad kept scanning the clearing where all the graduates were hanging out with their families and friends, as if he was looking for someone.
Aaron perhaps?
“Aaron isn’t invited,” she said softly. “We’re really through.”
“Aaron is in the hospital, honey,” Mom said quietly.
“What?” she asked, certain she’d misheard her.
“He messaged us this morning. Said your boyfriend put him in the hospital.”
Well knock her over with a feather. Her boyfriend? Tammy raised her eyebrows and shook her head, baffled. “Can you repeat all of that?”
Her mom pulled her phone from her purse and opened up a text thread with Aaron. He’d sent a picture of himself in a hospital bed. His face was completely swollen and all shades of blue. His lip was split badly, and his eyes were swollen nearly shut. She could see a cast on his arm from this angle of the picture.
Holy crap,” she murmured as she read up. Aaron had texted her mom,Be careful of Tammy’s new boyfriend. He put me in the hospital last night. He’s dangerous. Please talk to Tammy and make sure she understands he’s bad news.
She cleared her throat and pulled her phone from her back pocket and turned it on.
“What are you doing?” her mom asked.
“I’m figuring this all out,” she told her as the lock screen glowed to life. The graduating students had all been required to turn off their phones for the ceremony.
A text from Tawk popped up.No one is allowed to mess with you, Tammy. He admitted he busted your headlights. He won’t do that again. If you ever need anything, I’m a call away. Don’t let anyone fuck with you. Not ever. Congrats on your big day. You are a woman who is going to figure everything out. Tawk.
“Why are you smiling,” her dad asked low. “None of this is funny.”
Tammy wiped the smile from her face and pursed her lips against another one. “Look, your golden boy, Aaron, busted out the headlights of my truck last night because I told him no to getting back together.” She shrugged. “I bet he won’t do that again.”
“Aaron did what?” her dad barked, looking like he wanted to throttle her ex himself. There he was. There was the man who raised her to take no shit from anyone.
With the realization of what Tawk had done, it felt so damn good to have someone be protective of her. Tawk must’ve read her text last night from before the mess with Jess and the Sister’s Edge members, and he must’ve gone and fixed it after he’d left.
Yeah, it was unfortunate that Aaron had ended up hurt and in the hospital, but it was also super messed up that he’d busted her headlights on the thing he knew she loved most in the world—her 4Runner. He was used to getting away with everything. Literally, no one had ever reprimanded him, and there were people in this world that you just knew needed a punch to theface to correct behavior. He finally got what was coming, and Tawk had been the one to stand up.
No one is allowed to mess with you.
Yeah. Hell yeah. That felt right. It meant the world that he’d left but was still telling her if she needed anything, just ask and he would fix it.
Tawk might be a monster, but he used that to defend her, and she appreciated it more than she could ever put into words.
The vision of his wings going around her and taking the bulk of that heat last night washed across her mind. He did that instinctively. He would take pain to keep her safe, and it matched how she already felt about him.
“Everything is okay,” she promised her parents. “I know that looks extreme, but Aaron has had that coming for a while.”
Dad nodded. He still looked a little troubled, but he did say, “I didn’t know Aaron had followed you here.”
“He’s been a lot. I guess he got bored and is wanting me back. It’s not because he really cares though. It’s just because I told him no. No one tells Aaron no.”
Mom pursed her lips. “Well, it seems your boyfriend told him no.”
“He’s just a friend,” she corrected her.
