“But Travis doesn’t talk about it. Your parents don’t talk about it. If you started as a freshman, you must have been better than good. I haven’t even seen any pictures at your house that might insinuate you were in sports.”
“I blew three of four major ligaments in my knee during the last game before the play-offs my senior year. I worked hard to come back, but when I began training for Eastern, the knee didn’t feel the same. It still hadn’t healed, so I was a redshirt freshman. I wasn’t sure how long the coaches would wait, but I knew that even if they gave me the year, I would be done.” He sat up straight. “So, I bowed out.”
“That explains why you always say a different reason for the scars. I thought you were just embarrassed.”
“I was.”
I frowned. “That’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I can see why you want to be a part of it again.”
He nodded, the smile on his face revealing that he was just now realizing that fact himself.
He had opened up. It was the perfect opportunity for me to start a conversation about why the air had been so tense in the car, but as soon as I opened my mouth, I chickened out. “Thanks for telling me.”
“I should have told you a long time ago, but …” He trailed off.
Finally, curiosity and impatience won over fear. “Why does it feel so weird between us?” I asked. “What’s on your mind?”
Shepley tensed even more than he already had been. “What? Nothing. Why do you ask?”
“You’re not thinking of anything?”
“What are you thinking?”
“Baby,” I said, my tone more chastising than I’d meant.
Shepley sighed, nodding when the bartender brought me a cold mug full of amber liquid and a thin line of froth.
“Chug it!” Rich said, grunting. “God, those lips are fucking fantastic. I bet she could suck a golf ball through a garden hose! Lick them after you take a drink, sexy. Do all men everywhere a favor.”
I merely snarled at him, pushing the mug farther away from me.
Rich stood up.
The friend tried to stop him. “For fuck’s sake! Sit down!”
Rich shook his head and wiped his mouth with his forearm, stumbling toward us.
“Shit,” I said under my breath. I kept my eyes forward.
Shepley squeezed my knee. “It’s okay. Don’t worry.”
“You can take those lips an—” Rich began.
“Sit. The Fuck. Down,” Shepley warned.
I’d only heard him talk so severely to Travis. My breath caught, and a mixture of nerves, surprise, and the distinct feeling of being turned on heated the blood in my cheeks.
“What did you say, motherfucker?” Rich asked, leaning against the bar on the other side of me.
Shepley bristled. “You have three seconds to get away from my girlfriend, or I’m going to knock you the fuck out.”
“Rich!” his friend called. “Get over here!”
Rich leaned in, and Shepley stood, taking a step around my stool, glowering straight into Rich’s eyes.
“Move out of the way, Mare.”
“Shepley …”
Rich snorted. “Mare? Shepley? Are you celebrity kids? What kind of fucking names are those?”
“Walk away,” Shepley said.
I stepped down off my stool and took a few steps back.
“This is your last warning,” Shepley added.
The bartender stood frozen in the kitchen doorway, holding our plates in his hands.
“Shep,” I said, reaching for his arm. I’d never seen him so hostile. “Let’s just go.”
With two of his fingers, Rich tapped Shepley’s shoulder. “What are you going to do, little man? How about I shove my dick in her mouth, and then you’ll have something to be angry about?”
Shepley’s jaw worked under the skin.
“Baby,” I said.
His shoulders relaxed. He pulled out a few bills from his pocket and tossed them onto the bar. He outstretched his arm behind him, reaching for me.