Finding Solace: A Small Town Second Chance Romance by S.L. Scott

Author:S.L. Scott [Scott, S.L.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781940071961
Publisher: S.L. Scott
Published: 2020-07-10T00:00:00+00:00

19

Delilah

Sitting in the kitchen eating lunch, we’ve not suffered from a lack of conversation. “Is that scar on your leg from when you were shot?”

“Yes.” He bends down and rubs over the spot. “It was just a graze that became a story to tell.”

“It’s still pink. You were shot recently?”

As I watch him shift in the chair, his discomfort is still noticeable. He doesn’t avoid any of my questions, though. I’ve made a few observations over the past two weeks that I’ve determined are fact as of today. Jason is not the carefree boy from my youth when his biggest worry was a game of football on a Friday night.

He’s now a man who has struggled and fought with many demons. And most likely alone. As much as I hate that he’s capable of killing someone, I’ve learned that sometimes things in life are not as black and white as we’ve grown up to believe. How many times had I wished Cole dead after he took out his “justified anger”—as he called it—on me?

After exhaling and sitting back, he says, “A couple of months ago.”

My throat tightens, and I grip the sides of my chair. “You came back because you were almost killed.” I’m not asking, but I can see I’ve stumbled onto the truth.

He nods. “Even though this is only a graze, there were times I didn’t think I would live to see daylight. Near-death experiences make you grateful for another opportunity to make things right in your life.”

I relate to this too well. “Your turn.”

“Tell me about the tattoo. You didn’t have that when we were together. What made you get it when we weren’t?”

It’s a fair question. I was just hoping for more time before addressing it. But how can I complain when he’s already opened up so much to me? I can’t. After the heaviness outside this morning, I’m just going to be straightforward and rip the Band-Aid off this sore subject. “Cole had been pressuring me to get his name tattooed somewhere on my body.”

Jason growls under his breath. “He was pressuring you?” His gaze lengthens over my head as he slowly exhales. I can see the way the muscles in his arms tighten and would be willing to wager that his hands are fisting under the table.

His reaction gives me pause to continue. Although his jobs had nothing to do with me, this has everything to do with him. “Back then, I didn’t understand how he was twisting things to make me his, but it makes so much sense to me now.”

“You used the word prize earlier. You were a prize to him. He used to tell me how lucky I was to have you, but he didn’t mean having a girlfriend. He meant you specifically.”

“He wasted no time, Jason. One moment, I only saw him when out with you, and the next, he was over every night offering a shoulder for me to cry on. That’s when the stories started about you and the other girls, although he’d already whispered a few before we broke up.

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