That punch finally woke Ryan up. You could see the clarity return to his eyes.
"I..."
But Heather was completely done with Ryan and started wiping away tears.
"I don't want to hear his apology, and I don't want to see him again!"
Roy gave Ryan a threatening look.
"Did you hear that? Now get out of Heather's property!"
"Heather, you can't do this to me! We're good friends! I was just worried about you!"
The thought of being kicked off the property with no money sent Ryan into a panic.
Being a foreigner with no money in Texas, he'd be in serious trouble.
He might even freeze to death in this winter weather!
But Heather turned her face away, refusing to look at Ryan or listen to him anymore.
"Hey buddy, you want another taste of my fist? How about I knock out the rest of your teeth on the other side? Make your face a little more symmetrical!"
Roy raised his fist at Ryan, and Ryan immediately shut up.
Having been punched by Roy three times already and lost several teeth, the guy looked at Roy with genuine fear in his eyes.
This made Roy's day. He hadn't expected such an easy win – earning fear like this.
So, Roy cracked his knuckles and walked towards Ryan.
"I'm counting to three! One, two..."
"Can I at least take my luggage?"
Ryan tried one last time to plead, but Roy wasn't having it.
"Your luggage? I'll throw it out later, along with that vomit-stained shirt of yours! Three!"
Roy made a move towards Ryan, who, terrified, turned and ran out of the property.
Turning back, Roy saw that Heather was still crying.
"It's okay, Heather. I've already chased him off."
Heather hugged Roy tightly, resting her head on his shoulder. Her impressive chest pressed against him – a very pleasant sensation.
"I never thought he was this kind of person!"
"Well, at least you see him for who he really is now, right?"
Roy gently patted Heather's back to comfort her, taking the opportunity to appreciate her figure.
Heather was quite tall, ranking second among the girls Roy knew.
The tallest was definitely Ms. Elizabeth, the teacher. That mysterious woman in heels had to be over six feet, only a little shorter than Roy, with the proportions of a supermodel.
Next was Heather, who was probably around five foot nine even in flats.
Then there was Jennifer. Roy was pretty sure Jennifer was under five foot seven, but not by much, maybe just a few centimeters.
The shortest was Niddy, who was probably around five foot three. That might be just right in the East, but it was considered a bit short in America.
After crying for a while, Heather calmed down, but she didn't let go of Roy, still enjoying the comfort of his broad chest.
That is, until Heather's friends, Nikki and Kenny, found them at the cemetery.
"Heather, it's getting late. Shouldn't we go buy some groceries? I'm worried the supermarket in town might close soon."
Hearing her friend's voice, Heather quickly stepped away from Roy, smoothed her clothes and hair, and pretended nothing had happened.
"What are you guys doing? Where's Ryan?"
"I kicked Ryan out."
Nikki looked completely surprised.
"Huh? Why?"
Heather clearly didn't want to talk about Ryan anymore and quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, he's not my friend anymore! Roy, do you know if there's a supermarket around here? We probably need to buy a lot of groceries."
"Of course, I can take you."
At this point, the blond man who hadn't said much spoke up.
"I think I'll pass. My stomach isn't feeling too good. I'll stay here and keep an eye on the house for you guys."
Roy guessed that the thief was getting ready to make his move.
Heather showed some concern for the blond man.
"Are you okay, Dale? Should we bring back some medicine for you?"
"Nah, I'm good! It was probably something I ate for lunch. Probably just need to use the bathroom."
Heather nodded, not thinking much of it.
Even though this girl was from a big city, she had a naive simplicity about her, like she hadn't seen much of the world.
She trusted people way too easily. For example, Roy had only spent an hour or two with her and had already gained her trust.
When they went out to buy groceries, Heather rode in Roy's car, while her two other friends followed behind in a van.
"Heather, is that Dale guy a good friend of yours too?"
"No, we just met him on the road. He wanted a ride. Why?"
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Even though he already knew this part of the story, hearing Heather say it herself still felt a bit unbelievable.
She brought a complete stranger she met on the road back to her place and even asked him to watch the house. How big is her heart?!
Roy put on a hesitant expression.
"Heather, I don't mean to say anything bad about him, but I'm getting a weird vibe from him."
"Weird? What do you mean?"
"I heard from the police in town that there's a thief going around Texas lately. This thief specifically targets people who give him rides and then steals from their homes. The police description of the thief sounds a lot like Dale!"
Of course, Roy made this up. His goal was to make Heather suspicious.
Heather was taken aback.
"Really?"
"Why don't we turn back and check? We haven't driven too far yet anyway."
Heather clearly wasn't wealthy, and the belongings in the house were very important to her, so she quickly made up her mind.
"Let's go back now!"
Seeing Roy suddenly make a U-turn, Kenny, who was following in the van, was confused.
"Hey, why are we turning around?"
"Sorry, I left something at the house! You guys wait here for a bit, we'll be right back!"
Kenny muttered something under his breath. This guy, dressed like a hippie, was probably good friends with Ryan, so he wasn't too happy with Roy for kicking him out.
Inside the house, Dale had already started his work. His first target was the silver cutlery in the dining room.
"Woohoo! Jackpot!"
This silver cutlery was exquisite and looked antique. It might even be worth something as a collectible.
Some nouveau riche types loved buying this kind of furniture with a bit of history to show off.
Soon, Dale had neatly packed up the cutlery.
Just as he was about to continue searching the house for other valuables, Dale suddenly heard Heather's voice.
"Dale, what are you doing!"
Roy and Heather had just returned to the house and saw the messy dining table. Heather immediately realized that what Roy had said was true.
"Damn it!"
Dale grabbed the bag of cutlery and ran towards the back door, with Roy hot on his heels.
As a professional thief, Dale was very fast and knew to knock over chairs and furniture to slow Roy down.
However, Roy was an athlete with an agility score of 16. There was no way Dale could outrun him while carrying a bag.
Especially once they were out of the house and on flat ground, there was even less chance.
With no other option, Dale had to drop the bag and dive into the woods.
(End of this chapter)