Chapter 16 - Bridgett #2
“Let me go!” I scream, but he doesn’t. Instead, he yanks me fully down the stairs, causing my head to hit the ground with a thud.
“Shut the fuck up!” he roars at Lola, then tries to kick her. Thankfully she’s nimble and quick, and he misses.
Seeing red, I sit, grab hold of his hands, and dig my nails into his skin. That does it. He lets one of my feet go, and I use the opportunity to kick him again. This time, I make direct contact with his crotch, and he releases me and falls to his knees, grabbing his junk.
“You kicked me in the balls!” he howls as I quickly get to my feet.
“You deserved it, you dick. You tried to kick my dog!” I step toward him with plans to kick him again but scream when arms wrap around me, and I’m lifted off the ground.
“It’s just me,” Noah says in my ear. My body goes limp against him. He drops me to my feet, then spins me around to face him and grasps my face. “Are you okay?”
“I think so,” I pant, only realizing then just how out of breath I am and how hard my heart is pounding.
“All right.” He touches his lips to my forehead, then says, “Go inside, call 911, then grab my duffle from the laundry room and bring it out to me.”
“Okay,” I agree, and he lets me go. I run toward the house, and as soon as I’m up the steps, I hear a scuffle and Conner shouting.
I turn to find Noah shoving him face-down in the yard and placing my ex’s hands behind his back.
Knowing Noah probably wants his handcuffs from the duffle, I run to the laundry room first, then grab my cell phone on my way back through the kitchen, dialing 911 as I head outside.
“You can’t arrest me!” Conner screams, fighting Noah to get loose, which is about as pointless as an ant fighting a lion.
I carry the bag across the yard to Noah while telling the dispatcher on the phone what happened and that we need an officer to come out. Before I disconnect, she tells me she has someone en route and less than ten minutes away.
“They’re on the way.” I watch Noah pull Conner off the ground once the cuffs are on.
“Good job, baby.”
“So you two are together now, huh?” Conner asks as Noah walks him toward the driveway.
“Shut up, you idiot,” I snap at him. “Seriously, I don’t even know why the hell you showed up here. You should be home with your pregnant girlfriend.”
“He’s having a baby with someone?” Noah asks me.
“Yes. She came into my office today, asking me to sign the divorce papers I’ve already signed.” I roll my eyes, and he grunts.
“I came to tell you that you and I can be together. That we can raise the baby.”
“Oh my God, you really are an idiot.” I laugh. “And your plan to get me back involved manhandling me and dragging me around?”
“You put your hands on her?” Noah asks, sounding so scary a chill slides down my spine.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” Conner says quickly, then adds, “She shoved me.”
“You grabbed me!” I yell at him, then watch in awe as Noah picks Conner up, his feet a good twelve inches off the ground, before slamming him down to sit on the tailgate of his truck with enough force the truck bounces.
“I’m going to take your badge for abuse!” Conner yells at him.
“You try to do any such thing, I’ll press charges,” I yell at him, and he snaps his mouth shut. “Sign the divorce papers, Conner, and leave me the hell alone, or I swear to God I will press charges and then tell anyone who will listen about what you did.”
“Babe, you’re pressing charges anyway,” Noah says, and I tip my head back to meet his gaze.
“What?” Conner asks, looking panicked.
“He showed up here and put his hands on you. You’re pressing charges, and he’s going to jail,” he continues without even acknowledging Conner, who’s started to wiggle and is trying to get down off the truck.
“I’ll sign the papers,” Conner says. I look at him. “I’ll do whatever you want. I can’t go to jail. My parents would kill me.”
“You’re going to jail, motherfucker.”
“Do you swear you’ll sign the papers?” I ask, hearing Noah growl.
“Yes, I’ll sign them right now. They’re in my car.”
“Is it unlocked?” I ask.
“Yes.” He nods frantically. “They’re on the back seat,” he says. I walk to his car parked in front of Noah’s truck and open the back door. When I see the papers along with a pen, I pick both of them up.
“Bridgett.” Noah steps in front of me, and I rest a hand against his abs.
“This is the one thing I want.”
“Fuck.” He groans, then glares at me. “At some point, I’m gonna get good at telling your ass no and sticking to that.”
“Okay,” I whisper, trying not to smile so I don’t make him angry. Taking the papers and pen from me, he walks them over to Conner, then pulls a key out of the pocket of the coat he has on.
“It looks like today is your lucky day,” he grumbles to Conner, dropping the papers onto the tailgate of the truck before uncuffing him.
“Sign them,” Noah bites out, and Conner hops down, flips open the folder, and starts to sign.
I let out a relieved breath when he finishes, then take the papers from him and hold them against my chest.
“Now, listen to me for once and go inside, babe,” Noah says. I don’t push my luck. Instead, I head across the yard, and just as I hit the front porch, two police cruisers pull up.
I stand just inside and watch three officers and Noah gather around Conner, and I can tell by the panicked movements Conner’s making they are scaring the crap out of him.
I probably shouldn’t be happy to know he’s so intimidated, but given what happened just a little bit ago, I am.
A few minutes pass before they let him get into his car, then Noah and the guys talk a bit before they shake hands, and the officers get into their cruisers.
As Conner and the officers turn around in the yard so they can head down the driveway, Noah gets in his truck and drives it toward the garage. I close the front door and walk through the house to meet him.
The second he steps inside the back door, I run toward him. He doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around me and pick me up. “He signed the papers.” I smile down at him.
“He did.” He carries me down the hall toward the kitchen. “I still wish he was going to jail.”
“Sorry.” I rest my hands on his chest as he plants my ass on the counter, placing himself between my thighs.
“I’ll find a way for you to make it up to me.”
“That might sound like a threat, but I have a feeling it’s not.” I smile, and he chuckles while cupping my face between his palms.
“You know, now that you’re divorced, I’m keeping you.”
“Are you?”
“Fuck, yes.” He kisses me, and I kiss him right back.
If someone had told me months ago that I would be living with a man and falling in love, I would have laughed and laughed.
But I guess things have a funny way of working out for the best, even when you think you’re at your lowest.