Falling for Trouble

“Abe?” The surprise in Hunter’s voice to see Abe here at this hour was obvious.

Anger washed through him fast and strong, and all he felt was the white-hot rage adding fuel to the fire. All Abe could think about was if Hunter touched Sophia, if he touched what was his.

Abe threw his fist out and felt immense satisfaction when he connected with Hunter’s jaw, the other man letting go of the edge of the door to stumble back. The violence had overcome Abe like a derailed train.

“What the fuck, Abe?” Hunter took a step back, his hand rubbing his jaw. He turned his head and spit out a mouthful of blood right there on his bar floor. Then again, it wasn’t like that floor hadn’t seen its fair share of nasty fucking shit over the years. “Are you fucking crazy?” He eyed Abe then muttered, “Never mind. Don’t answer that, but you can tell me why you took a shot at me.”

Abe took a minute to get himself under control. He didn’t want to start an all-out brawl with Hunter, but the rage was taking over. Grinding his teeth right before he spoke, he finally said, “If you think real good and hard, I’m sure the reason will come to you.”

For a solid minute, Hunter rubbed his jaw and stared at Abe, and then he said, “This have anything to do with Sophia and the fact that she’s pregnant?”

Hunter acted so nonchalant about it, and it further pissed Abe off. He growled low in his throat, and Hunter’s eyes widened slightly. At least the fucker knew to be afraid. The longer he stared at Hunter, the more pissed off he got. He took a step forward, and he had to give the man credit for not retreating like a pussy. He took another step toward Hunter until they were toe-to-toe. Before Abe could land another solid hit, Hunter held his hands up and took a step back.

“What the fuck, Abe?” His brows knitted. Abe was taking this shit out on Hunter, whether he deserved it or not. “She said she was going to tell you.” Hunter rubbed his jaw again. “Man, if anyone should be beating your ass, it’s me kicking your teeth in. How the fuck you gonna leave Sophia high and dry while she’s pregnant with your kid?”

He wanted to beat Hunter’s ass for the sole purpose he’d been around Sophia, touched her, maybe kissed her, hell, gone further. Before Abe could say anything, how yeah, he’d talked to Sophia about this, but everything was so fucking muddled, Hunter was speaking again.

“The night she broke it off with me, she told me she was pregnant, told me the whole story. She never told me who the guy was, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out it was you.” Hunter narrowed his eyes at Abe. “I knew how she felt about you, could see it written all over her face every time she looked at you. Hell, the way you look at her when you think no one is watching tells me you’ve been too much of a fucking pussy to tell her you’re in love with her.”

Yeah, did that and look how it ended… with me being a motherfucker to her.

“I’m just surprised your dumbass never saw it. She said she had only slept with one guy and only once. Said he was drunk and didn’t remember being with her the next morning.”

Hunter standing in front of him faded away as Abe closed his eyes, and the memory of standing in the kitchen with her played through his mind. Something cleared, his thoughts pushing forward before retreating. He went backward in his mind, from when he stood in the kitchen with Sophia making him breakfast, the memory of how weird she acted, to waking up in bed… to smelling her everywhere, that sweet scent that drove him mad. The hurt look on her face before she left had been because he hadn’t remembered being with her.

He thought harder, had been doing this so many times since talking to her that he’d come up against a brick wall. It was as if the more he tried to remember, the further away it got from him.

But now, with Hunter throwing it back in his face, it was like it was a catalyst to his memories opening up like a floodgate.

Oh God. What in the hell have I done?

Images of his mystery woman flashed through his head. He closed his eyes and stumbled back, feeling the wall stop his retreat. And then he let his body sink to the floor, the wall the only thing keeping him upright.

She had asked him to trust her, and he had pushed her away.

Long, tan legs, smooth skin, tight breasts topped with dusky nipples, and a pussy that tasted sweeter than anything he’d ever had flashed through his mind. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he remembered asking her when he realized she’d just given him her virginity. How could he have forgotten that? All the memories of that night slammed into his head over and over again, painful and real, that floodgate drowning him now. He grew dizzy, sick from it all.