Rebound (Seattle Steelheads #1)(63)

I relaxed a little more. “You think he’ll actually go to jail?”

Geoff smiled. “The DA has no patience for domestic violence or assault and battery. Neither does the judge assigned to the case. He won’t get a long sentence, but he’ll see the inside of a cell. If he’s smart, he’ll keep his nose clean going forward. Otherwise he’ll just be adding to his sentence.”

Nodding, I released another breath. “Well, that’s good. I just want all this to be over.”

“I know you do. And it’s almost over.”

“Do I need to testify?”

“You might, but I think the DA is going to focus her energy on what Nathan did to me. Judges and juries don’t take kindly to people attacking cops.”

I sort of wanted to be annoyed that Nathan would go down harder for hitting Geoff than for everything he’d done to me, but at this point, I was game for whatever meant the least amount of testifying on my part and the most jailtime on Nathan’s, so I didn’t complain. “Okay. Hopefully my testimony won’t be during an away game.”

Geoff squeezed my arm. “Don’t worry. Laura gave the judge a copy of the Steelheads’ schedule, and they’re going to try to work around it as best they can.”

“Oh, perfect.”

“It’ll be fine. It’s almost over.” He picked up a plate and handed it to me. “Let’s go eat.”

I took the plate and followed him into the living room where the kids were already diving in. While we ate, I tried to stay focused on conversation, but my mind was stuck on everything Geoff had told me. I was weirdly both relieved and extra anxious. Like this was a huge step in the right direction, but shit could still go wrong.

Over and over, I reminded myself that Nathan was, for all intents and purposes, out of my life. I’d be cautious and not take for granted that it was over, but more than I’d been able to for the last four years, I had hope that it was. I could breathe. He wasn’t going to show up at a game or at my door. When my phone chimed or vibrated, it wouldn’t be him. Hopefully.

I wanted to believe all that. God, I did. I’d also believed Nathan a few times when he’d said he’d never touch me like that again, or when he’d sworn he hadn’t meant for things to go that far. I couldn’t trust the man any farther than I could throw him. How the hell could I trust that he was gone?

Great. Nathan was facing jailtime, and I still couldn’t breathe easily. No wonder it had taken me so long to finally boot his ass out—I’d known breaking up would be harder than staying with him. Worth it, though.

I glanced to my left and caught Geoff’s eye, and we exchanged smiles. My heart fluttered. So did my stomach, because I was still a nervous wreck over everything. At least Geoff was, for the most part, proving to be a very effective and enthusiastic distraction from my asshole ex-boyfriend.

I just hoped like hell that didn’t stop any time soon.





Chapter 17


Geoff



“Sorry I can’t promise much tonight,” I said as Asher let me into the house a week after the incident at the stadium. “My head’s still…” I made a face.

“It’s all right.” He shut the door behind me. “Taking it easy sounds pretty good, actually.”

“Yeah I bet. Last night’s game looked a bit intense.”

“Uh-huh.” He gestured at the bruise on his cheekbone. “You could say that.”

We both chuckled and headed into the kitchen. Neither of us was in the mood to cook, so while I was on my way over, Asher had declared tonight his cheat night, and he’d ordered pizza from that place up the street. I still maintained it wasn’t as good as the place I used in Lake City, but it was some damn good pizza. Not that I was going to be overly picky right now as long as someone else was making the food.

While we waited for the pizza to show up, Asher pulled an icepack from the freezer, wrapped it in a dishtowel, and gingerly touched it to his cheekbone. He hissed but kept it there.

“How bad is it?” I asked.

“Eh.” He scowled. “It’ll be tender for a few days. Nothing serious, though.” He looked at me through his lashes. “We’re almost a matched pair, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, we kind of are.” At least his face wasn’t as colorful as mine was after Nathan had clocked me, but there would definitely be a mark for a few days. Mine was finally starting to fade, so I had this nice deep purple circle around my eye, fringed with green and yellow. Back in my young Marine days, it would have been a badge of honor, probably from a barfight I wouldn’t remember anyway. These days it was something to wake me up when I forgot it was there and tried to sleep on that side.

Our pizza arrived, and I took care of it while Asher pulled down some plates and poured us a couple of sodas. The driver gave me an odd look, probably because of the shiner, and I tried not to think about whether he’d been here before and seen Asher with some similar marks.

Move along, kid. Nothing to see here.

After the driver had gone, Asher and I settled on to his couch with the pizza and a couple of drinks. He kept the icepack handy, and I didn’t blame him. I’d had to ice the hell out of my face for the first few days after the incident with Nathan. That and the back of my head. At least Asher had only been hit in the front.