July 28

Minett, Muskoka

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I curse myself for leaving the shopping to the last minute, just like I do every time.

I only have two days until Elle's sixteenth birthday, and I still haven't decided on what to get her. I'm screwed.

I thought about getting her a digital camera, but seeing how much she loves that old Polaroid camera, I don't want her to believe it isn't good enough, or that she should stop taking them. I've already stolen some from her stash, keeping some for myself. I could look at them over and over, never tiring of them.

Now, I'm leaning towards a necklace, something she can always wear to keep me close.

Tess, bless her, called last night, and I'd broken down, admitting I hadn't planned anything. God love nosy, bossy sisters. She's definitely saved my bacon. Again. She does it every year for Mom's birthday too.

I now have a post-it note with a local jewelry designer's name on it stuffed into my boat's glove compartment. Apparently, the designer is a bit of a recluse but someone who makes relatively high-end pieces and sells them in a few independent boutiques in Toronto. Tess is sure the designs are exactly Elle's style; delicate, original, classy.

I plan to drag Ry with me tomorrow to pick something out since there's no way I can take Hud or Theo. They'd tear me to shreds if they saw the state I was in over her. I should have gone in on their gift, but I wanted to do something special, something on my own.

Glancing over at the girl in question, I watch her tip-toeing to try to reach the remaining oil in the mechanic bay. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Dan, one of the young-ish mechanics watching her, waiting to see if she'll manage. When Elle only nudges the bottle with a fingertip, he wanders over, looking her up and down as he walks up behind her. For a moment, I can't see her, his larger body blocking her from my sight.

When he passes the bottle down to her, she slides under his arm and hurries away, into the shop, glancing back at him as she walks. I frown, wondering what's got her in such a hurry.

When she and Hunter walk back out, they're laughing, and I relax. Hunter taps Elle under her chin and walks around the back of the building, leaving her to sort the water toys. I turn my attention back to Dan as I untangle the pump hoses.

I just don't like the guy, he's too interested in Elle. Every time she goes for a swim, I watch him watch her. Considering he's in his early twenties, it's just weird. He's made suggestive comments too, hidden behind innocent innuendo. She's too young for him to be looking at her like that. Talking to her like that.

The mechanics we work with can be a rough bunch, but Dan can be downright aggressive and doesn't really appear to have a filter. He's been known to throw down at the local bar over the smallest things. He's completely obsessed with this mixed martial arts shit in his spare time, burning off his taste for fighting there, mostly. Or, so I've heard from my older cousins, Hunter's brothers. I've never actually seen him fight.

I can't help but notice Dan spends more time here than the other mechanics, especially lately. Usually, our mechanics rotate through, and we don't see any of them more than once or twice a week each generally speaking. But Dan's been rotating through here pretty regularly recently.

Elle's rarely in the mechanic bay unless someone comes in for oil, and it's not on the shelf in the store. I've been trying to keep the shelves stocked, so she doesn't need to spend much time in the bay. I don't like her working too closely with Dan.

When a boat pulls in, I tie them off and wait until everyone steps off the boat before turning the pumps on.

"I'll meet you all inside to take your payment. Do you want me to fill her up?"

"Just put in a hundred and fifty for now, man. Thanks."

I finish filling the tank as he requested, then walk into the store to take payment.

A few moments later, I hear a high-pitched yelp and a loud crash from outside, watching as Hunter walks out of the store to check it out. I finish the transaction as quickly as possible and head out to see what's going on.

Dan has Elle cornered in the mechanic bay where she's knocked over a stack of boxes, the plastic jugs of oil are rolling around on the ground.

"Let me by, Dan. It's not funny."

"Relax, Elle. I told you, I'm harmless, just a teddy bear."

Elle hops over a box, darting to the side, but she's not quick enough to make it past him. He grabs her, tossing her over his shoulder. "How 'bout a swim, Ellie-bean? Or even better, a ride on my bike?"

He's laughing, but she isn't. I can see the stress on her face, and I don't care how many times we've teased Elle the same way. She knows us; we don't scare her. Dan clearly does, and so does being mishandled against her will.

Dan turns, taking a large stride towards the side entrance, but Elle grabs the side of the boathouse, preventing him from leaving. She's asking to be put down, repeatedly. Hunter is also telling him to put Elle down.

I walk towards them, watching Elle squirm on Dan's beefy shoulder.

I grit my teeth. I hate that he's using his size against her. I breathe deeply, slowly, trying to stay calm, to let Hunter deal with it professionally.

The guys and I tease her all the time, roughhousing a bit, but if she says no, it means no, and we usually cut it out immediately. Never takes more than that single 'no' or 'stop' from our girl to stop any roughhousing. But Dan just won't cut it out.

Hunter's voice is clear, firm. "Dan, I won't ask again. Put her down. Listen to her, let her go."

When he changes direction, heading towards the water, he pretends to get ready to throw her in; she squirms again, gripping the doorframe even harder in her desperation to get away from him. My rage boils over, and I snap roughly, "Put her down, now. Stop fucking around, Dan. You can hear her plain and clear; she wants you to let go."

Dan looks over his shoulder at me, grinning mischievously and clamping his hand down across the back of her thigh, right up against her ass. Elle jerks in his arms, a surprised shriek catching as he hitches her up higher on his shoulder and the air rushes out of her lungs. Hunter grabs my arm, stopping me when I step forward.

"Let's just cut the shit. Put Elle down, Dan. Grey, go back inside and cool off. Dan, we talked about this, I told you last time, you'd only get one warning."

Last time? What the fuck is Hunter talking about? I can practically hear Dan's thoughts as he looks around, evaluating. His annoyance, anger and embarrassment cloud his judgement.

"Dan, this isn't funny. Put me down right now. I don't want to go into the water, I don't have any fresh clothes. I don't want to go on your bike. Put me down. Please, stop it." Her voice is a little shrill from stress, and I grit my teeth, shaking Hunter off and stepping towards them.

I don't have the same need to keep shit professional that Hunter does, so I step forward. Enough is enough. "Let go of her, now."

I reach for Elle, but Dan yanks away suddenly, causing her grip on the ledge to slip. She immediately struggles harder trying to get down before he gets to the edge of the dock. I see red when his fingers dig into her skin as she squirms, leaving bright red marks behind.

I lunge, grabbing his arm, pulling him around hard, using my foot to pull the back of his knee forward immediately after he turns. It causes him to stumble and fall to one knee, letting me grab Elle around the waist and lift her from his shoulder. After setting her down behind me, nudging her back towards Hunter, I turn back to Dan.

"Don't touch her again. That's the only fucking warning you'll get."

"You think you can tell me what to do, kid?"

I turn, ignoring him, starting to walk away, trying to breathe deeply, counting my breaths to stay calm.

"Don't walk away, you little shit," Dan, embarrassed and angry, seems to have other ideas, and he grabs my arm swinging me back around, a solid fist plowing into my jaw. The punch has serious power behind it, snapping my head around to the side. It hurts like a bitch and catches me by surprise. He sneers at me, "Not so quick now, golden boy" he laughs meanly. He gives me a hard, heavy lidded look, that sneer growing wider.

Regaining my balance, I shake my head, clearing my vision. I spit blood onto the dock, rotating my jaw to make sure it isn't broken. The metallic, coppery taste of blood fuels the adrenaline coursing through me, and it's addictive.

My fists curl, and I know I need to walk away. I don't want Elle to see me lose it. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my raging anger.

I shouldn't react. I should put this aside. I can't lose it in front of her, she'll never look at me the same way again if I do.

Hunter barks in. "Cool it, guys. Walk away, separate corners. I won't ask again." Neither of us are listening as he edges his way towards us, between us.

"What's your problem anyway, man? We were just having a little fun, no harm, no foul. She lets you and Hunter put your hands on her all the time." Dan spits this out at me, his face a mask of anger.

Anger courses through me, and I lose it, just a little, shouting back at him. "What's my fucking problem? You are. She said stop, you didn't stop. She said, put her down, you didn't put her down. Keep your goddamn hands off my girlfriend, or we're going to have an even bigger problem."

"Girlfriend, eh? Thought you were all about keeping it casual. What's a guy like you do to get a lay like that?" He sneers at me, eyeing Elle up and down again. "Pretty tight package. Can't blame a guy for wanting to get his hands on that."

My vision blurs with anger, and I struggle to maintain control over my actions, my thoughts, the rage coursing through me.

Dan smirks. "It's not like its anything serious, I see all you entitled pricks coming up for the summer, with your fancy boats, your fancy girls. You all just rotate through them, the local girls too, then leave for school in September. Why is this any different? Local boys can get in on the action too. I can give it to her better than some dumb high school jock, after all."

Hunter and I freeze. At this point, I don't know which of us want to punch this smug son of a bitch first. If Hunter doesn't step aside, he's just as likely to get hit.

I shove Dan hard and Hunter steps closer to me, holding me back as I shout at Dan from over his shoulder. "She's fucking fifteen, you creep. You could face charges for doing the shit you're thinking about, talking about." Rage consumes me. I feel like someone blindsided me with an anchor.

"Greyson, stop. Please stop. Come with me."

Elle's voice rings in my ears, asking me to walk away, walk to her, and leave it all behind, but the blood pounding in my head drowns her out.

But when Dan looks over at her, speaking low, under his breath so only I can hear him, "She'll be sixteen soon enough through, right? Just a couple more days." He side eyes me, licking his lips crudely, adjusting his shorts in a lewd gesture, I lose it. No fucking way, I'm not walking away. I shove Hunter aside and pump my fist once into Dan's cheek, feeling the satisfying crunch of my knuckles.

Before I can manage another swing, Hunter's back between us and Elle is grabbing my arm, pulling me towards her as Hunter shoves an angry Dan back a few steps.

I feel Elle's small hands sliding up my back, around my arm, tugging at me. All I have to do is look down into her eyes and I know I'll feel that sense of calm wash over me. I'm just not sure I want to. The blood boiling under my skin is itching for me to fight this asshole, to teach him some fucking respect.

I vaguely hear Hunter continue to try to reason with us. I try to calm down, push myself to breathe slowly, regulate my heartbeat.

When Dan charges toward me once more, Hunter shoves him hard, off the end of the dock and I hear the splash, along with his surprised shout.

"Stop. For me, please. I need your help with my hands." Her whisper is soft, quiet but she might as well be screaming.

I look down at her immediately, grabbing both her wrists in one hand and turning them palms up. Her skin and fingertips are red, with smears of blood on them. When I shift to have a closer look in the sun, I see her palms are covered in wood splinters, probably a dozen, maybe more in each hand—anger bubbles inside me, my blood boiling.

"Just help me clean up in the office, please. Leave Hunter to deal with Dan."

Nothing except her needs could pull me away from this fight. My guts clench as I see she understands this, uses this. "Alright." I choke the word out, it tastes like acid on my tongue and goes against every instinct I have, every instinct that screams at me that this guy needs to be taught a lesson. But Elle comes first.

"Hunter you get him off this fucking property, I don't want him on another shift with Elle. Not ever."

"I'll take care of it, you take care of her."

- - - 

I ended up splitting this chapter into 2 parts! Stay tuned for part 2 in the next chapter, then!

Hope you like the chapter, (part 1 & 2) - it's one of my longer ones, but there was so much to pack in! 

So looking forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments, or by private message. What do you think of all the drama unfolding at work?

As usual, if you like the chapter, please consider voting. It means the world to me <3.

Xx Toria