“Yes, I do.” And she could guess his argument. “You were already under the microscope. Cannon didn’t want anyone to be able to pin more trouble to you.”
Armie nodded. “So I stood back while Cannon showed the video to Lea’s father. The man almost blew a gasket, threatening us both, lunging for Cannon, getting in his face.”
Merissa didn’t know Baley, but she’d still put her money on Cannon. At eighteen, her brother had been incredibly fast, strong and capable.
“I couldn’t stay apart from that. But Cannon was right—I didn’t want assault charges on my back, too. So I told Baley I was calling the cops.” Armie drew a breath. “That, and the fact that Cannon didn’t back down, that he didn’t even flinch, forced Baley to calm down.”
“I almost wish Cannon could have hit him a few times.”
Armie gave a rusty laugh. “Yeah, me, too. But Cannon kept his cool. He told Baley he could round up more evidence from cell phones, that he could find a dozen of our friends to explain how Lea had chased me. How she’d chased me even after the supposed rape. Put that way, Baley had no choice but to let it go.”
“To spare his precious daughter’s rep?”
“And his own, I assume. But he was still furious, claiming I’d somehow drawn in his baby girl, that I was the one who’d corrupted her. He gave me a choice—fade away so there’d never be any chance of Lea seeing or hearing my name again, or he’d destroy me. He made it clear that he had enough money to do it, that not only could he buy witnesses and judges alike, he’d drop enough cash on my own father to get him to testify to whatever he wanted. He said regardless of any truths, the entire world would believe what he wanted them to believe if I didn’t keep a very low profile.”
“The nerve!”
“At the time, I just wanted to let it go.”
“Why?”
Armie met her gaze. “Because he threatened Cannon, too. He said we’d both go down. And I couldn’t take that chance.”
Merissa already knew exactly how her brother would have reacted to that. “Cannon wanted you to fight back.”
Armie cut a hand through the air. “Cannon wants to defend everyone he cares about. But this wasn’t his fight! Hell, you guys had just lost your dad and he was trying to make things better for your mother, and for you.” He worked his neck, as if trying to ease the tightness. “Your brother didn’t need to take on my bullshit, too. Besides, I never thought it’d be an issue. Until Cannon got into the SBC, I figured I’d be a fry cook or something most of my life, just doing MMA for the fun of it. Nothing public about that.”
“No reason for Lea to ever encounter you again—unless she came looking.” But now he was in the SBC, already making headlines. There would be endorsements, interviews... Did Armie honestly think, after all this time, Mr. Baley was still willing to go after him? The man would have to be insane.
He crossed his arms. “Lea did try to get hold of me again.”
“That bitch!” Merissa gasped.
Armie’s smile twitched.
“What,” she demanded, “is funny about her trying to stir up more trouble?”
“Not a damn thing, and believe me, I wasn’t as nice when I told her to get lost.” He touched one fingertip to the corner of her lips, and his voice went deeper. “But curse words sound funny coming from this soft mouth.”
A rush of heat dipped into her belly and scattered her thoughts. “I...um...don’t curse often.”
“I know.” He dropped his hand and took a step away. “Don’t hate Lea. She was just a pampered kid who wanted to spread those wild oats you mentioned. Unfortunately, her dad is a ruthless prick and he’s never let it go. Over the years he’s sent me subtle reminders that he’s still aware of me, and still waiting for an excuse to shred me.”
“But you have proof!”
“You’ve seen the news, Stretch. Lead stories are all about sensational possibilities, not necessarily facts. Once rape is mentioned, it sticks in people’s minds. They think where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Even if I fought the lies, some would still believe them.”
“But...” He couldn’t be serious. “There’s no ‘if’ to it. You will fight them.”
Appearing curious over her reaction, he said softly, “I shouldn’t have to.”
Suspicions stirred, making her uneasy. “Armie?”
His gaze, suddenly heated, moved over her, head to toes and back again. “Hmm?”
“I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me all this, but...why now?” There had to be a reason that he’d brought it up now.
He smiled at her, his dark eyes scrutinizing her expression. “Because I expected you to be furious.”
The gentleness of his voice stirred the tension coiling inside her. “I am.”
“You misunderstand, Stretch. I expected you to be furious at me, not for me.”
She shook her head. She wanted to comfort him, to reassure him. She wanted to be with him.
His acute interest moved to her chest. “I thought you’d leave—”
“No.” The air between them thickened, and her knees trembled.
“—and be done...”
She snapped out of the daze. “Wanting you?” Suspicions confirmed! “That’s what you mean, isn’t it? You wanted to scare me off.”
He let his silence say it all.
And that made her furious. She got in his space, sharing her anger. “Is that what you want? For me to go?”
Both hands cupped her face, his thumbs brushing her cheeks. “No.” He stared at her mouth. “Not anymore.”
His ever-shifting moods kept her on a dizzying roller-coaster ride of emotion. But this mood, all dark and dreamy, she liked. She leaned in for a kiss.
And he said, “God, how you tempt me. But there’s one more thing we need to talk about first.”
“What?”
He brushed one very light kiss over her lips, then whispered, “The ink on my ass.”
Oh.
Demeanor stern, Armie said, “You want to explain about that?”
Merissa bit her lip and, despite the blush she felt flooding her face, fought a grin.
His brow went up. “You think it’s funny?”
Wow, he sounded so serious. “No?”
“I was in the locker room,” he said with emphasis. “So were Leese and Justice.”
More heat burst into her cheeks. “You didn’t wash it off before you went to the rec center?”
“No, because I left here unaware that you’d played word games on my ass.”
Was he really mad, or playing? She couldn’t tell, and now she was starting to feel guilty. “I thought you’d see it.”
“I don’t make a habit of checking out my own butt.” His touch, oh so tender, tucked back her hair. “Cannon called and I had to rush out of here. Imagine my surprise when I did finally see it—thanks to Leese holding a mirror for me in the shower.”
Picturing that caused a bubble of hilarity that she tried to suppress. This was a new mood for Armie and it left her very confused, too warm, and uncertain. Laughter, she was pretty sure, wouldn’t help the situation. “The, um, the guys pointed it out to you?”