In Jack's Arms (Fighting Connollys) by Roxie Rivera

fury fueled my steps.
    Bee rushed after me, following me to the women's locker room. "I'm so sorry, Abby. Let me take you to the emergency room. You probably need to have that checked out."
    "I'm fine." I didn't want to tell her that my mother had hit me way harder than that as a child. Not wanting her to be wracked with guilt, I stopped packing my bag and gave her a hug. "I really am okay, Bee.
    It was an accident. I'll probably bruise, but it's okay."
    "It's not okay." She looked like she was about to cry. "You're the second person I've hurt in this class.
    That's it." She slashed her hand through the air. "I'm done with this self-defense crap."
    "Bee, this one was my fault. I wasn't paying attention. I was distracted."
    "By that skank rubbing her ass all over Jack?" She easily guessed the cause. Knowing it had been that obvious hurt me even more. If Bee had seen the way that went down, everyone else had too. No one would
    ever believe that I had a thing going with Jack.
    Well. That I used to have a thing with Jack.
    "It doesn't matter. Obviously, I was wrong about us. I thought…well…it doesn't really matter what I
    thought." Because he's just like all the rest of them.
    "If he does you dirty like this, he's a rotten bastard."
    I smiled sadly. "Now you owe ten bucks."
    She snorted softly and rubbed my arm. "I'll pay a thousand times that if meant that you wouldn't get
    hurt."
    "Too late," I murmured. "I already am."
    Bee blinked rapidly, her eyes shimmering for me. God, but she was the sweetest soul I had ever met.
    Was her empathy heightened because she had recently gone through something similar with Kelly? Did she
    remember only too vividly how awful it felt to realize the man you were head-over-heels for wasn’t as
    perfect as you had imagined?
    "Let me take you home. You shouldn't drive after I nearly knocked you out."
    "I'm driving to the shop to finish up the inventory audit." I made that last minute decision because I didn't think I could handle being alone in the house where Jack had made me feel so good only a short time ago. "It's a few blocks. I can handle it."
    "If you're sure…"
    "I'm sure."
    "Okay." She gave me a quick hug. "Call me when you have a chance. We'll find a time to get together."
    "Will do." Grabbing my backpack, I left the locker room and headed for the exit. The self-defense class still had twenty minutes or so left in it. Did Jack even care that I had been hit? Would he even realize I was gone?
    Loud, heavy footsteps echoed in the empty gym behind me. I didn't have to turn around to know it was
    Jack. The prosthesis Finn wore around the gym had a different sound to it when he ran, with one step
    slightly lighter than the other. These were heavy, racing footfalls, and there was only one other man in the gym at this time of night.
    "Where the hell are you going?"
    "Home." I kept moving forward, my teary-eyed gaze obscuring my vision. "Away from you."
    "What does that mean? Why?"
    Aghast at his cluelessness, I spun around to face him. "Are you serious? You just treated me like I was nobody. You didn't even acknowledge my presence in there. You acted like I didn't matter. Are you
    embarrassed to be with me? Am I your dirty little secret?"
    "What? Don't be ridiculous, Abby. I tried to help you after you got hit—"
    " After I got hit," I repeated. "It took an elbow to the freaking face for you to even acknowledge my presence!"
    "That's not—"
    "You know what, Jack?" I held up my hand to stop whatever lame ass excuse he was about to lay on me. "I'm tired. I'm hurting. I'm leaving."
    "No, you're not. I'm not letting you walk out of here when—"
    "Excuse me?" I had had just about enough for one night. "I don't need your permission to do what I want. I'm a grown woman."
    "You aren't acting like one."
    Pushed over my limit, I snarled, "Fuck. You."
    "Fuck me?" he repeated tightly. "Okay. Fine."
    I gasped when Jack swept me up off the ground and tossed me over his shoulder like a damn caveman.
    My