“How many times do I have to say it?” Callie’s brimming with confidence with me here. I love to see it. “I’m not interested. I’m not going back with you.”
“You belong to me, I’m jus?—”
That line tips me over. Any restraint I had disappears. Without thinking, I grab Travis around the neck and drive his face forward into the table. I pin him to it, too angry to speak, but knowing I should if I don’t want to spend the rest of my night in the county jail.
I lean in close, growling low in his ear, “What the fuck did you just say?”
He squirms and squeaks from my weight pressing down on him. In a vain attempt to escape, he slams both palms onto the table and pushes up, but my muscles aren’t for show. They’ve been crafted from years of hard labor.
“So, you’re the big man, huh?” I grin, getting more satisfaction out of this than I thought I would. “How does it feel being pushed around by someone bigger?”
“What the hell are you doing?” he barks. “Let go of me.”
I press my weight into him until he wheezes breathlessly from all the air escaping his lungs. Satisfied with the result, I hoist him up to his feet and release him. He grumbles, clutching his chest as he sucks in long, deep breaths.
“I’ll say this once, so you better listen.” I shove my finger in his face. His beady eyes squint, trying to follow it. “You’re not gonnasay another word, not to me, not to Callie, not to anyone. You’re gonna start walking, hell, start running, and with every step, you better thank the angel sitting on your shoulder that stopped me from breaking your fucking neck.”
His brow furrows, but he doesn’t interrupt me. Smart boy. He’s learning.
“But if I ever see you in my neck of the woods again, you won’t get off so lucky.” I drop my hand at my side, balling it in a fist in case Travis gets too brave.
He tilts his head, locking eyes with me. But instead of heeding my warning, he makes a big mistake.
He opens his mouth. “You don’t know who you’re screwing with, pal.”
My body reacts on instinct, launching the fist at my side toward Travis’s jaw. It collides with a thud that makes someone at the table over gasp.
For a brief second, it looks like he tanked the hit. He stays standing, staring at me with awestruck eyes. Then his weak knees give in, and he crumbles into a mess on the floor. I look down at him, making sure this isn’t some ruse to have me drop my guard, but a tap on my shoulder pulls me away from his limp body.
I spin around to see Callie there, her face beaming with joy. She doesn’t give me a chance to speak, jumping into my arms and pulling me into a kiss that both soothes my temper and rocks my world all at once.
She pulls away, giggling and giddy, her hands holding my cheeks. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
“I’ve gotta protect what’s mine, right?” I wink playfully, exhilarated by her reaction.
This prick coming to town is probably the best thing that could’ve happened for our relationship.
Speaking of him, a groan pulls my attention back to the floor. Travis rolls around on the floor, trying to sit up.
I’m about to grab him again and show him the door myself, but Callie stops me by resting her delicate hand on my rumbling chest. “He’s not worth it.”
She’s right. It’s already over. This is a lesson he’ll never forget, and anything else I do now won’t register.
I take Callie’s hand and head for the door. The tables and people around us stare as we walk away from the man I left in a puddle. We break out into the fresh night air, and Callie’s vibrating at my side.
I open her door when we get back to my truck, but she stops and faces me before getting in.
“So, about the list of things we could do if Travis didn’t show up.” Pressing a finger into my chest, she draws slow circles across it. “We drank, we danced, does that mean we get to…?”
I kiss her again, rougher this time, making my intentions clear.
“Wouldn’t be a night out if we didn’t end it right, would it?”
She screams, delighted and excited, jumping into her seat. And as I wrap around to the driver’s side, I look back at the building.
Sure, things didn’t go exactly to plan, but this nailed it home.
Callie’s mine now.
