The Bully (Calamity Montana #4)(59)

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Nellie





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN





CAL





The script on the diary entry was harsh and thick, the words scratched into the paper rather than scribbled.

Yeah, I’d lied. And I’d do it again.

It had been five days since Nellie’s visit to the Winnebago, and as I had all summer, I’d spent those days rereading her diary. This particular entry was one I’d revisited often. Each time I read it, I wanted to shake her. To scream in her face that I’d lied for a good reason.

The book was open in front of me on the RV’s dining table, resting beside a glass of water. My hands were balled into fists as I scanned the entry about the day Dad had fired Darius. Her words took up three full pages.

A different man might have felt sorry for the hardship he’d caused. Not me.

Sure, I’d apologized to Darius, but not because I’d lied. My apology had been for the harm it had caused his family. The financial stress I’d put on a man’s shoulders.

Each time I replayed that day, I couldn’t see another option. Put in that situation again, at that age, a lie had been the only choice.

Though maybe I should have expected my father’s overreaction. He’d taken it upon himself to ruin Darius by calling a handful of friends, asking them to fire Darius. Word had spread like the plague and my lie had snowballed.

All I’d wanted was to get Nellie away from my house. Away from my puke of a father.

He’d picked me up from school that day. The entire drive home he’d bitched about having to chauffeur me around. Normally, it was Mom’s responsibility but she’d had a conflicting dentist appointment. He’d promised that the day I had my license, he’d get me a car so he’d never have to shuttle me again.

Fine by me. I’d wanted a car to have some independence. What teenager didn’t want freedom?

We’d just pulled into the driveway when he’d spotted Nellie mowing the lawn. He leered at her, long enough that I’d felt sick. Then he’d made a comment that had made my skin crawl. Something like she’s gonna be a hot one. I couldn’t remember his exact words.

He’d nudged his elbow to mine like I hadn’t noticed Nellie before. Like he’d be proud if his son scored a hot girlfriend. Like had she been twenty-four, not fourteen, he would have chased her himself.

What the actual fuck was wrong with him?

In a way, I’d overcompensated for his views on women. While he was in multiple relationships, I’d avoided them almost entirely. I’d preferred hookups through college and my early years in the league. And I’d always made sure the women knew the score. I’d double wrapped with the condoms. Once I’d been drafted, unless a woman could show me her ID that proved she was over twenty-one, I’d steered clear.

Then had come that night in Charlotte.

The only woman who’d stirred my blood since had been Nellie.

Then again, she’d stirred it for years. Even when I hadn’t been willing to admit that she was special.

That maybe I’d fallen for her.

That maybe I was in love with her.

Was that the reason I’d gone to extreme measures to keep her away? Getting Darius fired had definitely been severe.

After Dad’s nasty comment, we’d gone inside. He’d walked to the window to stare at Nellie again, and I’d lost my mind. I’d spewed a load of bullshit about Nellie stalking me and stealing things from my bedroom.

Dad had flown off the handle and stalked outside. Then I’d listened from an open window as he’d confronted Darius.

Darius had instantly defended Nellie. No question. He’d stood up for his daughter automatically. What would it have been like to have that type of man as a father?

The reason Dad had taken the matter so far was because Darius hadn’t backed down. He hadn’t bowed down and kissed the great Colter Stark’s ass.

I respected the hell out of Darius for that.

Because had Nellie’s and my positions been reversed, no way my dad would have gone to bat for me without a lengthy interrogation first.

No, I wasn’t sorry for my lies.

But I hadn’t forgiven myself for them either.

What had happened with Darius’s business? Had he found new clients? Or a new job? I hadn’t had the guts to ask Pierce. I sure as fuck hadn’t dared ask Nellie.

I thumbed to the next page, starting one more entry before I made myself some dinner.

“That’s mine.”

My eyes flew from the diary to the voice outside the Winnebago. These hot July afternoons meant I had to leave the windows and door open to keep the RV from becoming too warm and stuffy. I should have closed the goddamn door.

Nellie stood at the base of the stairs, her eyes glued to the journal on the table.

“I can explain.”

“Go to hell.” She stormed up the stairs as I slid from my seat. She reached for the book, but I picked it up before her fingertips could brush the leather cover. “That’s my diary. Why do you have that?”

“Because I took it.”

“So you can add thief to your résumé?” She grabbed for it again, but I yanked it away. “Give it back. Now.”

“No.”