Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
RONAN
The sun has been swallowed by a thick stretch of rain clouds by the time I pull into the parking lot near Wilson’s. The air is damp, heavy with the kind of stillness that comes before a storm.
Build something instead of breaking it.
The thought stayed with me as I drove away from Feldman’s, and my mind latched onto it.
I can start with something small. An easy repair.
A simple fix. Something I can put my hands on and make right quickly.
Something that won’t take me days, unlike the wiring.
I should have started that way, instead of going straight for the complex things.
I have a list of supplies on the passenger seat. I don’t need everything on it, not yet. But it’s a small step forward, instead of the giant leaps I’ve been trying to take since moving into the house.
The automatic doors slide open with a quiet hiss when I step close.
The store smells like sawdust and paint thinner, the scent clinging to my nose as I move through the aisles.
A couple near the paint section glances my way, then quickly looks away.
The woman whispers something to her companion, her eyes moving over the tattoos covering my arms.
I ignore them, grabbing what I came for. Screws, a roll of sandpaper, a can of paint. An older man in a Wilson’s vest watches me from the end of the aisle, pretending to reorganize stock, but keeping me in his peripheral vision.
Probably checking I’m not stealing anything. Instead of the usual feeling of anger, it’s amusement that fills me.
I pay at the counter. The cashier, a kid who can’t be more than eighteen, rings me up without making eye contact. Once I’ve paid, I bag everything up and walk outside.
Dan is leaning against the side of the delivery van, coffee in one hand, phone in the other. His eyes flick up the second I step out, and a smirk covers his face.
“Well,” he drawls, pushing off the side of the van. “If it isn’t the talk of the town.”
I grip the bag in my hand tighter. At first I think he’s about to start the same old shit, but the way he’s looking at me, the smugness carved into every line of his face, suggests this isn’t about our school years.
I keep walking, intent on passing him by without engaging, but his voice follows me, needling its way under my skin.
“Heard you had quite the night, last night. Though I guess old habits die hard, right? Still taking things that don’t belong to you.”
I don’t rise to the very obvious bait he’s trying to set.
“What’s wrong?” He pushes away from the van and follows me toward the car. “Don’t want to talk about how you had Lily pinned against the wall outside The Flamingo like some back alley—”
I stop walking and turn to face him, pulse kicking up and adrenaline flooding through me. “Finish that sentence. I fucking dare you.”
Dan’s smirk widens. “Would you prefer to talk about the bites you covered her in, or the part where she—”
My laugh cuts him off. “Still jealous she preferred me over you, Dan?” I tilt my head, watching the flicker of irritation that crosses his face. “Guess some things never change.”
His grin falters for a second before he steps closer.
Every muscle coils, instincts screaming at me to strike first, and put him down before he gets the chance.
Prison taught me how to read a threat and see violence coming before it lands.
And Dan is broadcasting his intentions in every rigid line of his body.
“You think you’re different now, because you did some time?” His voice turns sharper. “You’re still the same piece of shit you always were.”
I let the words roll off me, studying him. “Yeah, you definitely sound jealous.”
He snorts. “Of what?”
“Of the fact that I don’t have to look in the mirror every morning and see your face staring back.”
His face twists, anger bleeding through.
“You really think you’ve got the higher ground here?
Like anyone gives a shit about what happens to you.
” He leans in, breath smelling of stale coffee.
“You’re still nothing, Oliver. Always have been.
The only reason Lily gave you any time at all is because she pitied you, and she always was a fucking bleeding heart for a good sob story. ”
A familiar fire ignites inside me. “Better to be nothing than to be you.”
Dan’s hand twitches at his side. “Big words for someone who spent five years being someone’s prison bitch. Did you learn to take it well? Or did you suck dick every night to stop them beating you up?”
The air between us turns thick with tension. Thunder rumbles in the distance. Rain hits the asphalt around us. The parking lot narrows down to just the two of us, reminding me of how it used to be back in high school. Only now, I’m not the scrawny kid whose ribs he broke.
I don’t move, but I do smile. “That the best you got?”
“No,” he sneers. “But this is.”
Before I can react, he shoves me. Hard. His palms slam into my chest. I rock on my heels, but I don’t stagger, and I don’t break eye contact. My body screams to retaliate, but I force myself to stay still.
Dan steps forward again, close enough that I can see the veins popping in his neck. He’s daring me to make a move.
“What now?” My voice is calm, despite the adrenaline coursing through me. “You think I’m going to hit you? Or do you think if you hit me first, I won’t hit back?”
His mouth twitches. “You’re not worth the effort.”
“Then walk away.”
“I don’t take orders from prison scum.”
I shake my head, rain dripping from my hair down my face. “Is that why you’re still standing there trying to prove something?”
His nostrils flare. “You never did know when to shut the fuck up.”
“And you’ve always been all bark and no bite.” I step toward him this time, letting my words dig their way under his skin. “What’s the matter, Dan? Afraid you’ll lose without your linesmen there to back you up?”
His expression hardens. “You think I’m bluffing?”
“We both know that the last time you came at me, you made sure I wouldn’t be able to fight back.”
He lunges, but I’m waiting for it. I step back, staying just out of reach, and keep my hands at my side. I can’t counter. If I make the wrong move, I’m the one they’ll call the aggressor, not him. And he knows it.
Anger twists his features, frustration flashing in his eyes. This fight is inevitable, but I can’t be the one to start it. I need him to cross the line first, so I can defend myself.
A car door slams somewhere behind us. Footsteps pound against wet asphalt.
“Stop it!”
Lily’s voice cuts through the haze of tension. I turn my head to see her running toward us, face pale, eyes wide with fear.
Dan looks at her, then back at me. And I know what’s coming before he even moves. His fist swings up, wild and reckless, aimed for my jaw. I shift on my heels rolling back and his fist passes harmlessly in front of my face … and keeps going until it connects with Lily instead.
The sound is sickening. A wet crack of knuckles meeting flesh and bone.
Lily’s head snaps to the side, the force of the blow whipping her around. A sharp, pained gasp cuts through the air. She stumbles backward, hand flying to her face. Blood streams from her nose, dripping over her lips and chin.
Time fractures.
My vision tunnels until all I can see is Lily, swaying on her feet, blood running between her fingers. My head turns to Dan, standing there, mouth hanging open, horror dawning across his face as he realizes what he’s just done.
The world turns white-hot.
Every ounce of control I’ve been holding onto shatters. My body moves before my mind catches up, surging forward. The bag in my hand drops, supplies scattering across wet ground.
All I can see is the blood on her face.
All I can hear is that gasp of pain.
And all I know is that Dan just made the biggest fucking mistake of his life.