Chapter One
Cole grinned at the punk in front of him. This guy thought he could intimidate or insult him because he sat in a wheelchair? He had no idea he was messing with someone who could kill him with his bare hands in twenty different ways.
“Dude, you don’t have a leg. You can’t swim with only one leg. You need to get out of here because you’re taking up too much space.”
“Have you ever seen me swim?” Cole asked.
“No. But I’ve seen cripples try before, and we end up saving their asses from drowning.”
Cole’s eyes widened when a small woman in a blue one-piece suit smoothly pulled herself from the water behind the kid and came at him with murder in her eyes.
This will be interesting.
The girl spun the guy around. “Yo, Bobby, that shit don’t fly with me. This is the last time you screw up, fucker.”
Then she proceeded to knee the guy in the balls, making Cole and all the other guys watching cringe. With her right fist, she punched him in the jaw, sending the kid into the pool.
Bobby surfaced and sputtered out the water in his mouth.“Jade, come on. I was just helping the cripple out.”
Jade took a step toward the pool. “You’re a fucking idiot. Get the fuck out of here, and I’m warning you, if you come back, I’ll kick your ass.”
Cole bit his lip to keep from laughing. The woman was maybe two or three inches over five feet and even wet, she barely made it to a hundred pounds, taking on a guy who was five-eleven and one hundred and sixty pounds.
“Fuck!” Bobby walked to the stairs and climbed out. The guy scowled at the girl. All she did was take a step toward him, and the guy turned and ran. Cole hadn’t seen the expression on her face because her back was turned to him, but it must have been terrifying to make the guy race out of there.
She turned back. “Sorry, dude. The guy is a prick.”
“How about we stop the cursing?”
Her mouth dropped open and then slammed shut before she nodded.
“Good girl. Thank you for coming, but people like him don’t bother me.”
“He bothers me,” she said. “Well, I gotta go. See ya.”
She hadn’t gotten two steps away.
“Stop,” he said, which she did immediately and then turned toward him. “Come here, please.”
She walked back and stood in front of him. As she watched him nervously, she picked at her fingernail with her teeth.
“Stop doing that.” He almost smiled when her hand dropped to her side. “What’s your name?”
“Jade.”
“My name is Cole. It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“How old are you?” he asked.
“Twenty-two.”
“Are you dating anyone right now?”
Her brows snapped together in confusion. “Dating?”
“Yeah, like when a man and woman are in a relationship.”