Chapter 34 Hayden
HAYDEN
I drove.
It didn’t matter that I had to yank myself free from Carter and Sawyer, or that I had to pry my car keys free from Bodie’s clenched hand. In the end I’d screamed, and my scream was all that was needed. Their shoulders slumped. They stepped back, and relented.
And now here I was, driving eighty miles an hour, tears streaking down both sides of my face. Cole was right, I was foolish to think this whole thing was over. Stupid to think he’d just step back and walk away, after the hellish obsession I’d gone through the first time we’d done this.
As furious as I was at Cole, I was angry at the others, too, for underestimating him. I’d warned them, but they’d brushed it off. They didn’t know. They didn’t have a clue as to the full scope of things to come.
Most of all though, I was angry at myself for getting them into this.
My tired chirped as I slid into the parking lot and threw my car into park. The training center was alive with light, and heat, and noise — not to mention the living, breathing smell of fifty or so men, all sweating at once. I ignored all of it as I stomped in and grabbed the first guy I saw.
“Where’s Cole?” I growled.
The guy looked me up and down before answering. “Who?”
“Cole Kane.”
“You mean The Hammer?”
God, I hated that fucking name. He took a step back, as my eyes blazed with disdain.
“Yes,” I eventually seethed. “The Hammer.”
The guy jerked a thumb. “He’s up there. Kenny’s working him out.”
My eyes scanned left, past two other mats that were occupied with men actively pummeling each other.
Beyond the second mat I saw the object of my search.
Cole was on the floor, doing ground work.
Even as I watched, he spun over his opponent and arched his tremendous body, throwing the unfortunate man into a deep arm bar.
The guy was in the process of tapping out when I got there.
“COLE!”
He looked up immediately at the sound of my voice. When his eyes found mine, they showed no shock or surprise. His mouth however, curled into the beginnings of an evil smile.
“Stop! Stop! Stop!”
One of the trainers was rushing over. Still staring at me, Cole hadn't let go of the man’s arm yet.
“COLE STOP!” the man yelled again. “That’s it!”
He finally let go, and Cole’s opponent slumped to the mat. The man immediately jerked his arm inward, wincing in pain.
“I’m taking five,” Cole grunted, without apology.
He stormed to the edge of the mat, peeling his glove straps off with his teeth. His very presence was revolting. I couldn’t believe I’d actually gone out with him.
“What do you need?” he snarled at me.
I was absolutely incredulous. His assertion was so angry, so vulgar, so—
“Do you want an autograph or something?” he growled loudly, purely for the benefit of those nearby. “A picture with me? What is it?”
“You know damned well what I want, asshole.”
Cole’s lip twitched. He glanced over his shoulder and lowered his voice by several decibel levels.
“Walk with me,” he pointed with his nose. “Outside.”
“No,” I shot back. “But I’ll walk with you inside.”
After another long moment, he begrudgingly agreed. Together we walked the perimeter of the massive building, down along the far wall where the training area gave way to a full-blown gym. The clang of weights being dropped grew louder as we progressed.
“You need to leave me alone,” I started off, before he could even speak. “And you need to the leave the others alone, too. All three of them.”
Cole sighed as if he were carrying the whole weight of the world on his massive shoulders, and I was an annoying fly that had landed on his nose.
“What others?”
“The guys,” I spat acidly. “The ones you forced me to move in with, because you’re such a fucking psycho.”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“Yes you do,” I shot back. “And you’ll do it too. You’ll leave us alone, or I’ll go to the police.”
He threw his big head back and laughed merrily. “And tell them what, exactly?”
My nostrils flared. He was getting off on this.
“What will you tell them, Hayden?” he repeated. “That I moved all new furniture into your apartment?”
“No, but—”
“Or maybe you’ll tell them how you got a whole bar full of guys to attack me, on Halloween night?” he smirked. “They’d probably be interested in that.”
Though he was walking beside me, the heat coming off him was almost unbearable. Cole wasn’t just covered in sweat, he was bathed in it. His blond hair looked so dark you could ring it out.
“What is it that you want, Cole?” I asked him point blank.
“I thought that was obvious,” he replied glibly. “I want you.”
I stopped walking. Cole went on a few more paces, then stopped too.
“You can’t have me,” I told him. “In fact, you never had me. You and I aren’t a thing.”
Cole stood there, staring back at me like I had thirteen heads. The expression on his face was unsettling.
“You really want me to leave those assholes alone?” he asked, pointing in no particular direction.
“Yes.”
“Then walk away from them,” he said simply. “All you have to do is leave.”
A knot had formed in my stomach, standing over the skeletal remains of Carter’s truck, earlier. Now that knot tightened, considerably.
“I’m serious,” he reiterated. “Go back to your place, and I’ll never go near them.”
I wanted to tell him that I no longer had a place. That he’d ruined it for me. That I’d never feel safe there again.
But I also knew Cole would be utterly relentless. He’d never stop fucking with Carter, or Sawyer, or Bodie, for as long as I continued to associate with them. He’d ruin their lives, just as he’d ruined mine, if I didn’t agree to his demands.
Then again, I was sick and fucking tired of placating this child in a giant’s body.
FUCK!
The knot felt like a bowling ball now, sitting in the pit of my stomach.
Still, a hard choice had to be made. I could continue down the endless road of submitting to this asshole’s demands, or I could put my trust in three men who seemed to genuinely care about me.
No, scratch that — men who did care about me.
Men who asked me to entrust them with my safety and well-being, even at the detriment of themselves.
They’d shown sacrifice. Selflessness. Love. Even if they didn’t fully understand what they were getting themselves into. Even if, by helping me, their lives would be turned upside-down.
But shit, I had to take a stand.
“Know what, Cole?”
The big ogre I couldn’t believe I’d dated wiped sweat from his brow with an even sweatier arm.
“What?”
“Go fuck yourself.”
Cole’s stupid mouth dropped all the way open. I could’ve hit him over the head with a cinder block, and he would’ve looked less surprised.
Whatever expression crossed his face next was lost on me, as I headed straight for the door.