“We’re gonna fuck.”

Tabitha stiffened, turning to look at Terry with wide eyes.

“Yeah, well, then you can get your own ride back,” Hal barked before Tabitha could find her voice.

“I would,” Terry said, his voice as tense as Hal’s, “but I lost my car. Whose fault is that?”

“Oh!” Tabitha gasped, understanding the hostility now. She looked to Hal in surprise, because no one would’ve guessed that in a million years. With Terry, yes, but Hal Parker. “No way. It was him?”

Hal’s gaze darted back to Terry’s, wild and crazed. “You told her?”

“She’s an artist,” Terry said as if it explained everything.

Hal gaped. “That was your basis for telling her?”

“Yes, no, it just sort of slipped out. Wyatt was being difficult and—”

“Wyatt Conner.” Hal’s face paled. “You’re joking. You have to be fucking joking.” He backed away and leaned against the wall. He placed both hands over his face and mumbled against his fingers, “Please tell me this is a joke, Ter.”

“She’s sorta dating him and—”

“I play on the football team with him.” Hal was still speaking into his hand. “You knew that, right? That he’s on varsity this year.”

“Yeah, I knew.”

“You did not tell Wyatt Conner’s girlfriend about us. This can’t be happening.” Hal dropped his hands, looking completely horrified. “You ain’t that stupid. It’s not physically possible. He is, hands down, the worst person in the world to know.”

“He doesn’t know about us. Just me,” Terry said defensively. “And Tabitha won’t tell him if you ask her not to. She’s my friend.”

Hal gave Terry a look of disbelief. “Since when? In case you ain’t noticed, I hang out with you. I’ve never seen you with this girl before. Now you’re ditching class to take her back to your house. What the fuck is going on?”

“I don’t have to ditch class,” Tabitha said quickly, because she didn’t want to cause Terry any problems. “Really, I’ll be fine. This isn’t the first time I’ve had a bad night. I’ll just try to avoid Brett’s friends until I get myself together. I don’t think Vaughn is in school today and—”

“What?” Hal interrupted her.

“He attacked her. She’s shaken up.” Terry’s voice was pleading for understanding. “She needs a nap.”

“Who attacked her?”

Terry took a deep breath and gave Hal the very abbreviated version of what happened. He glazed over some of the nastier aspects, but Tabitha’s cheeks still heated in embarrassment.

“Does Wyatt know all this?” Hal asked, studying Tabitha in concern. His gaze stopped on her forehead.

“He knows something’s wrong, but I ain’t told him yet. I think it’ll upset him,” Tabitha whispered, finding that she liked Hal once she got past his abrasive attitude, and if Terry cared for him, he had to be a nice person. “But then he showed up at the bus drop-off, and he got irritated ’bout me hugging Terry.”

“Yeah, I know how he feels.” Hal’s gaze dropped to Terry’s arm still over her shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” Tabitha found herself fighting tears again. The exhaustion wasn’t helping her problem at all. “Maybe I should go to class.”

The first bell rang in warning.

“Let’s just go,” Hal said before Tabitha could voice another complaint. “But I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything to Wyatt ’bout me.”

“I would never,” Tabitha said quickly. “I don’t care if you’re—”

“Don’t say it.” Hal pushed past them and walked to the door. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “Besides, you got bigger problems than me or Terry’s issues.”

“What’s that?” Tabitha asked as she and Terry followed after him. “I mean, besides the obvious.”

“There’s a reason Wyatt is a starting linebacker as a freshman. I ain’t never seen anything like him, and I’ve been playing ball since I was five. He’s meaner than the devil himself when he’s protecting someone,” Hal said grimly and looked down at her as he pushed open the door for both of them. “I think he’s gonna kill that motherfucker when he finds out what happened…and your brother too.”

* * *

The list of things Wyatt was having a hard time coming to terms with this morning was extensive, but he dealt with them silently as he sat next to Hal Parker in a beaten-up brown station wagon that had likely once belonged to Hal’s mother.

He should probably be worried about his sister, who was going to lose her shit when she found out he cut class. Or his father, who was going to be equally freaked out when Jules told him. Or his space on the football team that was being put in definite jeopardy for this outing.

Instead, he kept turning around to look into the backseat, because Terry and Tabitha were talking in low, hushed whispers, their heads bowed close together in a way that was more than a little intimate. It set him on edge, and he might be inclined to think Terry was a better liar than Jules, if Wyatt didn’t notice Hal was having issues too.

Hal wasn’t saying much, which in itself wasn’t out of the ordinary. He was never a big talker, but he had adjusted the rearview mirror four times and counting. Wyatt scooted down on the seat and tilted his head to see where the mirror was reflecting only to spy Terry and Tabitha’s faces glaring back at him.

Wyatt let his eyes roll to the side and studied Hal, whose broad shoulders were stiff in defensiveness. There were creases in his forehead from the permanent frown that had been on his face since they’d gotten into the car.

Hal tilted the mirror again and then grunted.

Wyatt looked at the reflection, seeing that Terry was touching Tabitha’s hair. He grunted too when the spark of jealously hit him in the chest.

“So, Parker,” Wyatt started, because he was in desperate need of a distraction to keep him from leaning into the backseat and punching Terry. “You dating someone?”

“No.”

Wyatt raised his eyebrows at the curt one-word answer. “You got your eye on anyone?”

“Why the fuck are you asking?” Hal barked back, finally looking away from the road to glare at Wyatt.

“Do you have a problem with me asking?” he asked curiously.

“Yeah, I have a problem with it. Mind your own damn business.”

Wyatt had seen one too many defensive criminals dragged into the sheriff’s office not to have red flags going up everywhere. This was turning out to be a highly educational trip into juvenile delinquency. Wyatt needed to cut school more often.

A grin quirked at the corner of his mouth, even if he was having a very hard time wrapping his brain around the idea that was forming. He was a little too nosy not to press the issue, especially when the silence had Hal messing with the mirror again.

Wyatt made a point to lean over, now being blatant about it rather than subtle. He looked at the mirror pointedly. “Wanna tell me what you’re looking at back there?”

Hal shoved him with a low growl of frustration, which said something about him. Not many people shoved Wyatt these days. Hal didn’t bother to straighten the mirror, but his eyes were back on the road, his shoulders even more tense, and there was a pulse of noticeable fear throbbing off him.

“I’m just asking ’cause my girl’s back there. You don’t like redheads, do you, Parker? I’d hate to think me and you have a problem.”

“Wyatt,” Tabitha said in warning.

Wyatt threw up his hands defensively. “Some guys have a thing for redheads, Tab. That’s a fact. I know ’cause I’m one of them, but then again maybe he has different tastes.”

They pulled into the driveway, and Hal was on him before he’d put the car into park. He wrapped his large hand around Wyatt’s neck and leaned in with a low growl of fury. “You listen to me, you little shit. I don’t give a fuck how badass you think you are on the football field or how invincible you think your daddy’s badge makes you. If you say one word ’bout Terry to anyone, I will fucking bury you.”

Wyatt smiled broadly when he saw how flushed Hal’s face was. “Defending his honor?”

“Motherfucker.” Hal shoved him, forcing Wyatt’s head to crack against the window. “I ain’t kidding.”

Wyatt laughed. “I can tell.”

Hal shoved him again and then sat back up. He put the car into park with hard, jerky motions. “Terry, I’m gonna kill you instead of him. You don’t know him like I do. He is not gonna let this shit go. I have no idea how Powers tolerates his mouth living in that house like he does. He is a fucking force unto himself.”

“I just wanna know one thing,” Wyatt said before Hal could get out of the car. “Do you check me out in the shower?”

Hal turned around to give Terry a dark, angry look.

Wyatt glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Terry wince in response as he said, “I didn’t think ’bout that.”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t. You don’t think ’bout anything.” Hal turned back to glare at Wyatt once more. “No, I do not check you out. You ain’t my type, Conner. So don’t flatter yourself.”

“It seems to me like I’m kinda your type.” Wyatt arched an eyebrow and gestured to himself. “Oh, come on, you looked. You can admit it. I ain’t gonna hold it against you.”

“Fuck you.”

“Hey, I don’t care if you did. I ain’t shy.” Wyatt laughed again. “You can look if you want.”

“Un-fucking-believable.” Hal got out of the car. “I’m staying here today. I got to figure out what I’m gonna do. Short of murder, there’s no muzzling this prick.”

He slammed the door hard enough to make the station wagon shake, then leaned back against it and put both his hands to his face as his shoulders slumped.

“Why did you have to do that?” Tabitha asked, the disappointment sounding in her voice. “That was mean.”

“Yeah, you’re an asshole,” Terry agreed. “Dunno why I wanted to help you. Come on, Tabitha, we’ll figure your shit out. You can walk back to school, Conner. You ain’t welcome in my house anymore.”

“Shit.” Wyatt winced, feeling guilty almost instantly. He ran a hand over his face, wishing he had gotten more sleep last night. “I’m sorry. It’s just, I’m freaked out ’bout what happened last night, and you’re brushing me off and crawling all over him.” Wyatt turned around and gave Tabitha a look of hurt he couldn’t hide. “And I don’t understand why. Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” Tabitha said softly and imitated Hal outside when she covered her face with her hands. “All of this is my fault. Now Hal’s upset when he was nice enough to drive us and—”

“Look, I’ll fix it,” Wyatt said quickly and then opened the door and got out. He walked around the front of the car and came to stand next to Hal. He reached out to touch Hal’s shoulder. “Parker.”

Hal knocked Wyatt’s hand away without looking at him. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

Terry and Tabitha got out of the backseat. They cast him disappointed glares as they walked to the house. Wyatt got the distinct impression if he didn’t somehow make things right with Hal, he was going to end up sitting outside, and that wasn’t an option. He wanted to know what the hell had her crying and bruised up this morning. Every defense mechanism he had was going off.

It was little wonder he started something to ease the anxiety that had him wound up so tightly it felt like it was squeezing the air out of his chest.

“I ain’t gonna say anything,” Wyatt told Hal earnestly once Terry and Tabitha went inside. “You want it private, and I get it. The secret’s safe. You’re a good guy. I wouldn’t ’cause you problems for nothing. I know most the guys on the team are assholes.”

“And why the hell should we believe you?”

“I guess you shouldn’t. I’m an asshole too. Probably the biggest one of the lot.” Wyatt leaned back against the car and shrugged. “I swear, Parker, that girl gets under my skin, and I end up doing the stupidest shit. Ask Clay ’bout it sometime if you don’t believe me. I get jealous, and I stop thinking, but that ain’t your fault, and I’m sorry I used you as a distraction. Not my place to give you hell over your preference. Tits are awesome, but whatever. This is America, and it’s your choice who you wanna spend your spare time with.”

Hal let out a choked, broken laugh that made him sound like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “Jesus, Conner. Is there a filter for that mouth of yours?”

“Probably not.” Wyatt sighed. “But really, maybe you ought to start looking harder at the other side. God, Tabitha always smells so good, and she feels amazing pressed up against me, all curvy and soft. I just wanna spend every minute next to her. I can’t imagine wanting a fella over something like that.”