The Tempest by A.J. Scudiere (best books to read in your 20s .txt) 📕

Joule frowned hard, trying to get his attention. When that didn’t work, she moved into his path, blocking him from coming fully inside. He had to mean Sarah, but she wasn’t going to volunteer her roommate’s name. And maybe he had the wrong house? “I'm sorry. I don't know who you're talking about.”

He looked at her as though she must be stupid or deliberately holding back on him. Well, he had the second part right.

Still, he wasn't the first person Joule had faced down. For a moment, her mind raced to the fact that she had her bow and arrows stashed in her closet. If she could just make it to her room, she could defend herself, if need be. The thought solidified as the asshole on her porch growled and shoved her aside and stormed into the house.

“Hey!” Joule shoved back at him but he was already past her. Also, he was so physically dense that her move had little effect. He yelled out, “Sarah! Sarah, get out here!”

Luckily, his harsh tone brought not only Sarah, but Cage and Deveron, too.

The man seemed a bit surprised by the small army that had formed in response to his entrance. Sarah had been in their room. Deveron had been in his as well, and Cage had been out of sight, around the corner at the dining room table working on some collection of data he'd gathered during the day. None of them were taking shit from the intruder.

But then Sarah surprised her, stepping up and getting in his face. “What is it that you want, Jerry?”

She knew him well enough to do that?

“I saw you in that car,” he accused.

“Of course, you did.” Sarah crossed her arms over yet another pair of her ever-present overalls. “I work there. You’ll see me going there five days a week.”

He stared hard for a moment as though to make her back down; Joule was glad that her roommate wasn’t taking any of it. Sarah was hard to read sometimes, but tonight that was probably a good thing.

When Jerry didn’t say anything else, Sarah added, “I saw you on private property, staging a protest.”

“Of course, I'm protesting.” He was moving ever closer, his finger pointed and jabbing at her chest.

Joule walked forward. She'd faced worse creatures in her life and knew when an animal was about to pounce. With a lightning-quick move, she smacked his hand away like he was a toddler, but harder.

Clearly, she’d surprised the shit out of him. It seemed he’d not expected the now-quiet blonde observer to actually strike out.

But Joule wasn’t done. Responding in kind tended to make things escalate. Animals on the hunt had to be forced to concede Fueled by her anger at having her home invaded and hearing a threat issued in her own living room, she issued one of her own in return. “Get the fuck back!”

She stepped into his personal space now, next to Sarah, and hoped that the fire in her eyes looked like she was willing to rip his face off with her teeth if she had to. As long as she kept moving forward, as long as she kept up the threat, she would have an advantage.

He stared at her hard for a moment, finally ignoring Sarah. But though his voice was harsh and aimed at her, his words were those of an offhand dismissal. “This is between me and her.”

Not willing to be dismissed, Joule crossed her own arms and planted her feet, now standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Sarah. Or close, as Sarah was a little shorter.

“No, it's not,” she countered him with confidence. “And don't treat me like I'm stupid. I'm not. None of us are. You barged into our home and threatened someone I live with. Don't act like it's not between you and me. I’ve already had enough of your shit. You can be decent, or you can take your monkey ballsack of a face and get the hell out of my house.”

Beside her, though Sarah's lips stayed pressed in a straight line, Joule could feel her shoulder moving. Sarah was trying desperately not to laugh. Joule had a feeling Cage and Deveron were doing the same behind her, but she was keeping her own face straight, as though “monkey ballsack of a face” was merely so apt a description that it wasn’t even humorous.

Jerry's mouth dropped open with the insult, but Joule was still riding her forward momentum. Ignoring the man for a moment, hoping he caught the insult that he wasn’t even worth her attention now, she asked, “Do you want to talk to him, Sarah?”

Sarah tipped her head one way as if shrugging, as if saying maybe she had time for this, maybe not. But she addressed the man in front of her. “Only if you're decent about it, Jerry.”

“You shouldn't be doing this!” he accused again, his eyes once more focused on Sarah, who apparently wasn't going to call him out—at least not quite as harshly as Joule did. But Sarah wasn't taking any of his shit either.

“Nope. You’ll have to do better than that. Last chance. You can sit at the dining room table and have a reasonable conversation with me, or you can leave. Those are your only two options. Because as Joule said, this is our house, not yours.”

“This isn’t over!” He once again jabbed his finger toward Sarah’s chest and, once again, Joule smacked it downward, this time harder and with her fingers curled so he felt the sting of fingernails. She did not take threats in her own home. She’d seen harsher shit than him.

“Don't you fucking touch her, you flaming piece of shit!” she now shouted in Jerry’s face.

Jerry’s eyes betrayed him, flaring at the harsh string of swears. She didn’t care, and her “don’t screw with me” stance earned her a glare before he turned and headed out the door. He slammed the front screen door behind him as he left. It was a sound Joule