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"Is he going to do that?" Grace asked. "Have a rocket made?"
I shrugged. "Who knows? I'm sure someone wants the title of first AGL team owner to go into space."
Grace muttered something about people having too much money.
I found I couldn't disagree. "Maybe they need something better to spend their money on," I said.
"Like charity galas," she said dryly.
I pointed a finger toward her. "For the record, I ponied up a tidy sum for the homeless people. Probably helped more than me standing up and me talking about this and that." I looked down toward the table.
"What?" Grace asked. "I'm sure you had something interesting to say, even if you didn't stick to the speech we spent two hours writing."
Yeah, sticking to that was never on the cards.
I shrugged one shoulder. "I spent a few weeks living in the back of a car with my mum and Chantel. Back when I was a kid." Shit, it still hurt to think about, much less talk about. The feeling of going to sleep scared and waking up cold and scared, still gave me nightmares and shivers.
"Dad used to beat up on Mum. She took us kids and ran. Had nowhere to go, so we just drove around, lookin' for somewhere safe."
I looked up when Grace curled her hand around mine. She looked about ready to cry.
"I'm sorry," she said just loud enough to be heard by the band who started playing now the replay was over. "I had no idea."
"Yeah. It's another thing I don't talk about. When you mentioned the gala was for the homeless, my brain kinda switched off. If I told you I didn't want to go, you would have asked why."
She didn't deny it.
"I honest to God thought we were gonna die," I admitted. "People walking the streets at night— After that, I decided I wouldn't let anyone hurt any member of my family, or me. I started working out, getting stronger. Took up football when we settled long enough to get back to school. Turns out I'm good at it. Now Chantel and Mum don't want for anything. They're livin' the high life, like they should."
"Everyone deserves to live their best life." Grace glanced down at our entwined hands and drew hers back.
"That's why I visit the kids." I immediately missed the feel of her skin. "I want to help them live their best lives, as much as I can. They don't deserve what's happened to them."
"Neither did you," Grace said. "No one does."
"Yeah. Sometimes I wonder about that," I admitted. "I used to think I pissed off God somehow." Kid Bam was a confused, troubled kid, that was for sure. If it wasn't for football, I'd probably be a cell somewhere.
"Now look at you," she said.
I grinned. "Yeah. Turns out he likes me after all."
"You worked hard." She turned her empty glass between her fingertips.
"I couldn't have done it alone though." I scratched the back of my ear. "You know what, that gives me an idea."
"Oh?" She at least looked curious.
Over the sound of Ice Blue Roses rocking out, I told her my plan.
CHAPTER 12
GRACE
At first, I thought he was joking. The intense expression on his face convinced me otherwise. By the time he finished talking, I decided he'd proposed a good idea.
"Do you realise how big an undertaking this would be?" I asked.
He sat back and gave me one of those slow smiles of his.
