Page 50 of The Score We Never Settled

So, sorry, Hunter. He’s an ex who won’t give me the decency to move on with my life. He has psychotic energy, obviously, he’s here.

And he should be playing.

The Tornadoes have a game tonight.

“Fine.” Briggs moves toward my side of the booth and slides in, forcing me to edge closer to the wall to keep some modesty and distance between us. “We’ll all talk together then.”

“You’ve got to be kiddin’ me right now?” I leer through a tick in my jaw. “How are you evenhere?”

“Magnolia Ridge isn’t a stompin’ ground for secrets.” Briggs turns his head my way, and I instantly feel two inches tall. “You shouldn’t be tellin’ them to anyone but me.”

I scoff mindlessly. “I shouldn’t do anythin’ with anyone else that isn’t you, you mean. You won’t let me.”

“Now, you’re finally getting it, Layla Jean.” He casually props his arm along the top of the bench, but his body is tense, andI can feel it radiating off him from inches away. “Now, are you gonna tell him or should I?”

I immediately feel defeated by this man. He won’t give me what I want, but he won’t let me get it elsewhere.

He will literally hunt me down and any prospects of happiness until I only accept him.

“You wouldn’t,” I dare him even though I know better. I am fully aware of who Briggs Kerrigan is and everything he does.

“So youareBriggs Kerrigan?” Hunter presses, obviously not reading the damn room, the conversation, the simple fact that another man just crashed our date.

Nothing.

Briggs steals a glance at Hunter, clearly not impressed with his question again, because his expression is blank and on the edge of stabbing him with a steak knife if he asks it again.

“Who?”

Hunter looks to me for help because unmasking the man at my side’s identity is more important than the date.

Got it.

Great.

“No,” I lie because who cares at this point? “His name is Digs. Nickname.”

Hunter frowns, but he doesn’t look fully convinced. “But he’s wearing a Tennessee Tornadoes jersey and hat.”

Good job, Briggs.

You dumbass.

“I’d be happy to punch you in the fuckin’ face, and you can compare it to Briggs Kerrigan, if you want.”

I shove at Briggs’s shoulder to get him to vacate before he acts on that threat. “Out.”

He doesn’t move an inch, patiently waiting for Hunter’s answer, but he doesn’t get one.

So, in all Briggs’s fashion to toss the final nail in the coffin, he reminds me, him, and makes sure mydateis fully aware of the circumstances here.

Slowly, he leans over the table, and my first thought is that he’s going to flip it over on Hunter and cause a scene.

It’s all he’s been doing in the MLB since…I called everything off.

“Just so we’re clear,” he says monotonously. “You won’t be going on another date with my girl.”

“Your girl?” Hunter sends a not-so-surprising, confused look my way. “What’s going on?”