29. “Exactly what I said. Exactly what you think it means.”

TWENTY-NINE

“EXACTLY WHAT I SAID. EXACTLY WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS.”

SHEP

Willing myself not to explode on the spot, I casually walk up to Beckett and Harlow. I’ll be damned if he isn’t about to lay hands on her right now.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Harlow turns and looks at me and I want nothing more than to pull her into my arms right now. Knowing the truth. Knowing what happened to my girl. It’s overwhelming to think about the secret she’s been carrying from that night.

I exchange a few words with her, ignoring Beckett completely and when she finally gives in and heads to meet Wes and Lennon, I turn and look Beckett right in the eyes.

“You’re a real piece of shit you know that?”

“Excuse me?” He says, cocking his head to the side.

“You heard what I said. Thinking the way you treat Harlow is even remotely okay. Where do you get off laying your hands on her?”

“I’d keep your mouth shut if I were you. Talking about things you have no idea about,” he sneers.

“Oh I think I know exactly what’s going on. I just wish it didn’t take me this long to figure it out.”

“And what exactly is going on?” Beckett says, stepping towards me while trying to press his chest out in my direction.

“You’re the reason Harlow got hurt,” I say it boldly, maintaining eye contact with him.

Beckett stumbles back some before speaking again. “Oh yeah? Is that what she’s saying? She’s got a mouth on her.”

I cut him off. “No, she actually hasn’t said anything to anyone. It’s what I saw .”

Beckett stalls and I can tell he’s trying to understand what I’m saying. “What do you mean you saw?”

“Exactly what I said. Exactly what you think it means. I saw. Now, if you know what’s best for you, you’ll leave Harlow alone and you’ll take responsibility for this situation, because I can guarantee it’s not going to stay under the radar.” I start my walk back towards the house, leaving Beckett to stand there and mull over everything I’ve just said.

As I make my way through the door into the main hall, I hear Beckett catching up with me and I tell myself to not act on emotion.

“Do you think you can just make threats like that and walk away?” Beckett calls out after me. The people around us stop what they’re doing and now everyone is facing our direction.

I keep walking, knowing I just need to make it to the front, leave with my people, and then deal with this later. A small twinge of regret creeps in that I probably shouldn’t have confronted him tonight, but after seeing the video footage and then walking out to him almost laying hands on Harlow again, I couldn’t help myself.

I turn around and am met with Beckett’s fist swinging towards my face. I move out of the way, and put some distance between us. “Beckett, I think you really need to consider what you’re about to do.” But I can tell at this moment that he doesn’t see anything other than red. His eyes are narrowed into dark slits, his pupils blown out with rage.

He comes for me again and thankfully, with the training I have, I’m able to out maneuver him and put him into a headlock. I lower my voice before speaking to him again. “I’m not gonna do this with you, Beckett. Unlike you, I don’t feel the need to use violence to get my point across. If you want to talk about this, then we can, but I’m not going to fight you.”

I keep him in the headlock for a few minutes until his body starts to go limp and I hear the word “fine” mumble from his mouth.

My first mistake is believing him, my second is letting go. The instant he’s out of my hold, he grabs my waist and tackles me to the floor, knocking over the tables that are around us. I try to pick myself up before this gets any worse, but Beckett’s fist comes down hard across my jaw, causing me to sink to the floor.

The taste of iron overwhelms me, and I see blood leaking down onto my hands, from I assume my mouth. “Seriously man, we don’t need to do this.” I lift my head and am met with Beckett’s fist once again, this time coming across the side of my forehead. A searing pain rips through me, and I collapse to the ground again. I hear people yelling in the background, and I know this isn’t going to end well. Trying to pick myself up one more time, I see Wes out of the corner of my eye running into the room and then everything goes black when Beckett delivers one more blow to the side of my head.