The worst part was she truly didn’t see it. She couldn’t see the broken lens with which she viewed men. She was so used to the scratches and cracks; she couldn’t remember what it was like to have clear vision.
The thought only made me angrier, and I lashed out, spearing her with verbal arrows because I wanted to fix it. Not fix her but fix everything that had ever been done to her, and I couldn’t.
“This is a little more than fixing my dishwasher or cleaning my fence, Garrett. You have a body in the back of your car, and you’re obviously upset with me. You won’t even look at me.”
Jesus, I was going to throttle this woman. I shoved off my vehicle and moved to her, pressing my body firmly against hers. I tangled my fingers into her hair, forcing her head back and ignoring how the act called to my baser instincts. How it made me want to pummel the waste of a man in my car, and then take Maddie home and fuck her until she forgot he ever existed.
I ripped more of my heart out for her, telling her exactly where I stood and what would happen if I looked at her a moment longer. I nearly convulsed when she responded by placing her hands on my chest, but I didn’t give in.
“As long as that piece of shit is within arm’s reach of me, I can’t keep fucking looking at you, or tonight’s story is going to have a completely different fucking ending.”
I pulled away, swallowing a growl when her first words after that were to ask about her ex.
“He’s not your concern,” I snapped. And with that, I walked away, leaving her standing in the driveway. I knew exactly what I was going to do, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to do it naked.
It was almost pitch black out, the surplus of trees around the park keeping most of the natural moonlight from seeping through. I parked as close to my goal as possible, the dirt path illuminated by a single, dull light pole.
Grabbing a half-empty water bottle from my cup holder, I stepped out, tucking it into my back pocket and pushing my seat forward. I stared down at the prone form sprawled across my backseat, thankful he at least hadn’t vomited during the drive.
Just the sight of him had me raging again, and I wished I had a fucking cigarette. I’d quit smoking when I realized Jamie lived next door, and I didn’t regret the choice, but moments like this sure as hell made quitting harder.
I leaned down, digging through his pockets until I found his phone and pocketed that as well. Then I yanked him out, not at all gently.
He grunted when his body dropped to the asphalt but didn’t start to wake until I’d already hauled him several feet over onto the path.
“You know,” I said, speaking calmly as I stopped next to the structure and stripped him of his pants. “I didn’t get it. When Maddie told me about the shit you put her through. I didn’t understand how any man could enjoy humiliating and hurting someone.”
I gripped the hem of his shirt, ripping it up and over his head. His arms twisted violently, and one of his shoulders popped from the sudden movement. He cursed, his words slurred as he kicked out and nailed me in the shin, but I didn’t care.
I welcomed the pain, welcomed even the smallest bite of agony from this piece of shit because Maddie had taken worse. Survived worse. Grown from worse.
I clutched a fistful of his thick hair, yanking him up to my level and staring at him through empty eyes. “I didn’t understand it then, but I get it now,” I said before whacking the side of his head against the dirt-spattered blue wall next to us.
He cried out, dropping to the ground and vomiting liquid bile all over his naked legs and hands. I stepped away, flinging open the door and propping it with a stone. Then I snatched his ankles, avoiding the spots where puke-drenched leg hair stuck to his skin.
At this point, he was barely conscious again. I heaved and maneuvered his limp body inside the porta-john, smacking my elbows against the plastic walls and biting back my urge to gag when something squelched as I dropped the douchebag’s feet into the hole. I leaned the upper section of his body to the side, his head lolling against the back wall.