Teeny walked over, grabbed Scar’s hand and dragged her away without acknowledging Trip at all. His eyes on her the whole time, I nudged him and asked, “What the fucks that all about?”

He snapped his attention back to me and rubbed the back of his neck. “Dunno what you’re talkin’ about.”

“You ain’t fooling anyone, little brother.”

“She’s just bitchin me out. I don’t even know what the fuck I did to piss her off.” Trip looked so confused it was almost funny.

“Ma really outdid herself with the party crap, huh?” I wasn’t in the mood to wade in on his shit, so instead of listing the hundred things he probably did wrong, I changed the subject. Looking around at balloon-tree things placed all over the room, streamers hanging from the ceiling and confetti strewn across every surface, I shook my head in silent laughter. There was even a giant Harley Davidson shaped cake on a table in the middle of the room. Ma was renowned for forgetting we were grown men not little boys anymore.

“She gave me a party hat when I walked in; you know those ones she had when we were five?” I nodded laughing outright at the image of Trip wearing a pointy birthday hat with elastic under his chin.

Scarlett walked up at that point and handed me a cold beer. “Nice party, Trip.” She smiled as she leaned in close as my arm wrapped around her. I dropped a kiss on the top of her head. In true Trip style, he poked his pierced tongue out, turned and stomped off. Scarlett turned fully into me, raised up on her toes and kissed the side of my neck still laughing at Trip’s child-like display.

My body jarred, startling us back to reality with the force of two small bodies colliding into my legs. “Uncle Mace, you’re here!” Jordan my godson and one of Jude’s twin boys yelled.

“Hey buddy, where’s dad?” I asked, letting go of Scarlett and bending a little to talk with the boys. Jaxson I noticed was eyeing Scarlett up.

“Right here. I can’t keep up with these two. Hey, Scarlett. You gotten smart yet and left this asshole?” Jude said as he walked up looking flustered, no doubt from running around after two full-of-energy eight-year-old boys. Jude was a single father after the twins’ mother had taken off when they were just two years old. He’d been my best friend since grade school when we had a fight over a girl—that was our first and last argument. He was genuinely a great dude, and I hated that he and the boys were alone. He did the best he could, but he had to be lonely.

“Very funny, laugh it up,” I replied.

Jaxson the quieter of the two boys leaned in close still watching Scarlett, who was now embracing Jude in a hug, and whispered, “She’s pretty, Uncle Mace. I like her.”

This made me smile. Jaxson was usually reserved when it came to new people, unlike Jordan who right then didn’t bother whispering, just walked right up to Scarlett, pulled on her hand, looked her up and down smiling big and loudly said, “You’re hot, and you have big ones. My Uncle Mace likes big boobs. Don’t you, Uncle Mace?”

Scarlett and I both burst out laughing while Jude went a whole new shade of embarrassed red and chastised Jordan. “You can’t say that shit, kiddo”

“Why not? You said she was hot I heard you. You told Uncle Trip she was hot, and Uncle Mace was a lucky B word,” he asked, genuinely confused.

“Shit, sorry Scar. They hear every word you utter when you don’t want them to, but ask them to take out the trash, they suddenly become deaf.” He clamped his hand over Jordan’s mouth and apologized looking at Scarlett.

“Don’t worry about it, Jude, really. You have two of the most handsome little guys.”

Jordan looked up, pulled his father’s hand and smiled, making his dimples pop out. “Hear that, Dad? She wants me.” This started another round of laughter and Jude shooing Jordan off towards the party food. Jaxson followed quietly behind him still watching Scarlett with a look of wonder on his face.

“Think someone has a crush on you, babe.” I laughed, watching Jude try to wrangle the boys without any injuries or more embarrassment.

“They’re cute kids. Jordan’s clearly not shy. Jaxson has beautiful eyes though.” He did, big bright green eyes that took in the world. He paid attention to everything from the moment he was born.

“You wanna help me watch them next week? I promised Jude I’d take ‘em for a night.”

“Sure, how much trouble can two little boys be?”

“Famous last words, babe,” I chuckled. She had no idea just what she was in for. Jaxson might be quiet at first, but that quickly changed once he let you in.

We had spent the better part of the night attached to each other. It didn’t matter where we were or what was happening; I felt calmer when she was in my grasp. Hearing her laughing and joking was just a bonus. Scarlett grounded me, took away all my worries with just the touch of her skin to mine.

We said our goodbyes and headed for the parking lot. Scarlett snuck her hand into my pocket and retrieved her car keys. As we approached, she stopped dead in her tracks.

“What the fuck!” she yelled and stormed over to where I had parked the car. My great mood vanished the instant I took in the sight before me.

Fuck!

Chapter Twenty

My car!

It had been vandalized. All four of the tires had been slashed, my windows smashed out and scratch marks all down the sides, deep enough that you could see the silver underneath. My stomach dropped the second I saw it; the tears that threatened to fall, now slid down my face. My baby! Who the hell would do this? I didn’t have any enemies.

Mace’s strong warm arms wrapped around me as he stepped up behind me and took the keys from my shaking hands. He kissed the top of my head and passed me off to Trip. Apparently, my yell had drawn a crowd from the party. I watched as Mace took out his cell and called somebody; he moved a distance from me so I couldn’t make out his words, but it was clear that they weren’t nice; the scowl on his face told me he wasn’t happy with whoever he was speaking to. After a few more moments, he hung up the phone, came back over to us and Teeny took over holding me up while Trip and Mace inspected the car.

“It’ll be okay, Scar. We can fix this,” Teeny told me, handing me a tissue from her oversized bag. “You do need to call the police though and a tow truck.”

“Tow truck is on its way, so are the police” Mace took me back into his arms and held me tight to his chest.

A little while later, the police arrived and took statements. Luckily, the restaurant had surveillance. The police would look over it to see if they caught the asshole that vandalized my poor car. The entire time through the questioning, Mace had been quietly standing with me. Once finished, he walked off with an officer. They had a quick conversation; immediately, I felt like something was off. He was mad as hell but there was something else.

He made his way back to me and asked, “You need anything outta the car before they tow it, babe?” I shook my head in the negative before he turned and handed the driver the keys to my car with specific instructions to deliver it to a body shop I’d never heard of.

Teeny waited around while everything was taken care of waiting to drive us home. I hadn’t gotten close enough to get a really good look at all the damage, but my baby would be off the road for a while—at least a few weeks. Fuck it! I couldn’t believe somebody would do something so low. I had stopped crying and shaking, but then I was just mad and a little sad. The car could be fixed, yes, but all that ran through my head was the hours of hard work I had put in with my father.

Leaning against Teeny’s car waiting for Mace to finish up with the tow truck, she asked, “You okay, sweetie?”

“No, they went after the one thing that means the most to me, Teen. My car was the last thing I had left of my dad. It was ours,” I told her. Turning to get in the car as I slid into the back seat, I noticed Mace had been standing behind me, a hardened look on his face.

Outside my house, I waved Teeny off as Mace opened the front door and dumped my handbag on the front table. I walked inside, spun around and asked, “Why have you been so quiet? Talk to me.”

He shook his head. “I’m damn sure it was Janelle who fucked your car up, babe.”

“Why would she even do that? What did I do to her?”

“It’s the kind of bitch she is, babe. This is about me, not you; I told you I wouldn’t let my shit affect you. This is my shit, not yours.” His voice was so low I almost missed it.

“Don’t let her do that to you. It’s just a car, Mace. It can be fixed” I felt the need to make light of the destruction, even though it broke my heart and cut me deeply. I searched his face. Dread filled me. Something was wrong. Really wrong.

He grabbed me and kissed me gently, holding me close in his arms. There was a sadness in his eyes I didn’t quite understand, almost as if—no, he wouldn’t. I opened my mouth to speak when he cut me off.

“I’m a walking tragedy. Everything I touch turns to shit. I don’t want that for you, Scar.” He swallowed hard, turned and walked out the front door, leaving me speechless, watching after him and hoping this was some bad joke.

Mace just left me.

I felt the tears trickle down my face. The lump in my throat making it hard to swallow, I crumpled to my knees.

Chapter Twenty-One

“Get your stupid good for nothing ass off that fuckin couch right now, asshole!” My head snapped up from the cell in my hand.

“Fuck you! What the hell’s your problem?” Trip stormed in the house and slammed the front door, the only warning I got before he started yelling. Trip moved in close and put his face in mine. “You did this to yourself. You had a good thing with her, but you fucked it all up the ass. Now, you’ve either gotta live with it or fix it.”

One of the hardest things I’d done was walk away from Scarlett. Leaving her was like sticking a knife in my own heart. Trying to stick to my decision was almost as hard it was tearing me apart. The days she was angry were easier. Seeing her stomping around slamming doors, blasting angry music, I could deal with that. The days she came and went looking as broken as I felt, were hard to watch.

“I can’t fix it; she’s better off without me and my shit.”

“So find Janelle and get it sorted out. She’s made your life hell for too many years. She’s the reason you’re messed up, blaming yourself for Belle, taking your money, which by the way, is total fucking bullshit. Now, you’re just going to let her take from you again?”

“It is my fucking fault Janelle went after Scar!” My temper flared. I was gripping the beer in my hand tight enough that it might explode at any moment.

“Your fault? How the hell is any of this your damn fault, you moron?” he hissed, his finger pointing into my face.

“It fucking is! It’s my fault because I cut Janelle off. I stopped the cash flow and told her I was done. I wasn’t supporting her anymore. I wanted her out of my life for good. She threatened to make my life hell and she has. I can’t find her to put a stop to it, and she isn’t answering her cell. The safest thing to do is stay away from Scarlett, for her own good.” I knew Janelle would retaliate; it was the kind of bitch she was, but I never thought she’d take it out on Scarlett. All I wanted was to start a life with Scar, make her happy. I wanted that happily ever after. With her.