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“Lennox is a given. Anyway, yep, Rhett punched him. I ran from Alex’s apartment to the beach after I ended things, a blubbering, sobbing mess. Of course Rhett was there and saw me. He tried to comfort me, and here I am again acting like a fool. I kissed him.”
Ev’s eyebrows fly up, and it’s so hard not to laugh while telling my story. Her reactions are priceless.
“The kiss was amazing, Ev. Better than any kiss I’ve ever had. But Rhett pulled away and said some shit about messing up our friendship. That’s when I realized I fucked up big time. I took off and bumped into… you guessed it, Alex. He saw the kiss. He saw everything. When he started mouthing off, Rhett was behind me in a split second. Alex didn’t care, though. He continued with his hurtful words, and Rhett socked him one. Pretty damn good.”
“Yes! Go, Rhett!” Ev cheers, and we both chuckle.
“It was confusing, Ev.” I sigh. “Feeling slightly bad Alex got hurt, I mean, his nose bled so much. But he had it coming. He is such an asshole.”
She nods. “I never liked him much. Besides, don’t feel bad. The nose bleeds a lot. He’ll be fine.”
“You sound just like Rhett.”
“That’s because he knows what he’s talking about.”
I take the last sip of coffee in my mug. I’ll need to make another pot. “Ha. Maybe so. We’re all good now. He’s helping me volunteer this week.”
“Wow, Rhett is full of surprises, huh?”
“You could say that.”
“Remind me to thank him next time I see him,” Ev says.
“What for?”
“For socking Alex one, what else?”
I chuckle. “Now it’s your turn to spill the juicy deets. What’s this fake dating with Landon I’ve heard about?”
* * *
Rhett’s waiting for me outside our apartment building on Wednesday morning. He holds out a coffee. “Hope Lennox can be trusted. She told me how you take it.”
I smile as I take the warm drink from him. “She’s a good one. I trust she got it right. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. You ready?” His cheerful smile so early in the morning is nice to see.
“Yes. Let’s go.” I lead us down the street toward the orphanage. I sip my coffee. Mmm, perfection. “Delicious.”
“Lennox passes. So what’s on the agenda for today?”
“Lots of prep work. Peeling and cutting vegetables. How’s your hand, by the way?”
“It’s better.” He holds it out to me, and I notice the bruising along his knuckles, deep, dark spots that look sore as hell. How is that better?
“It is?”
“As far as the swelling goes, yeah. It was a lot bigger. I kept ice on it. I also went down to the college’s clinic for an X-ray on Monday. Nothing broken or sprained. Some pretty deep bruising, though.”
“I can see that. I’m sorry.”
“Maia, what are you apologizing for? I punched the guy.”
“Yeah, because of me,” I mutter before sipping my coffee.
“No, it was his actions. Have you heard how he’s doing?”
I’m a little surprised at Rhett asking me, but then again, he’s a nice guy. “No. I blocked him.”
