Page 271 of Nobody's Girl

I sit up with a new realization that I’m completely incapable of defending myself. “Damn Eden, I can barely make it through his workouts. How can I add more to that?” I whine.

“You’re a lot tougher than you think you are. You’ll get through it,” he says as he lifts me up, placing me back on my feet. “As a matter of fact, you should ask Laura to take them with you. Might give her some incentive to join Kyle when he comes.”

“Did you forget where we are?” I ask him.

“This is a big house, Alyssa. I’m sure there’s at least one more bedroom available.”

“Um … I don’t even know if that would be appropriate. I mean, I have no idea if they’re, well, you know, still together like that.”

“Oh, I bet they are,” he says, with a smile.

Moving past him to go back outside, I look over my shoulder, and say, “He told me he didn’t know if he would stay with her or not. Our little situation has him confused and he’s not one to lead a girl on.”

I open the door to the patio to find dad pulling steaks off of the barbecue pit. “Ally, go tell Scotty to come eat dinner,” he calls out to me.

“Where is he?”

“His game room. Go back through the kitchen, then the living room. There’s a door under the staircase. That’s it,” he directs me.

I turn around to find Eden stopped right behind me. “Game room, huh?” he says as he raises his eyebrows. “I have to see it.”

We walk back through the house to find the door under the staircase, Eden opens it and says, “Wow, it’s like when the Wizard of Oz goes from black and white to full color.”

My eyes have to adjust to the complete darkness, only interrupted by the lights of scattered video games, television screens, and game consoles. The room is huge. I can hear Scotty before I see him. Then my eyes adjust and I finally see him. He has a headset on.

“Scotty,” I call out, but Eden stops me.

He puts his finger to his lips. “Shh, he’s online. Don’t embarrass him,” he whispers to me, then makes some hand signs at Scotty. Unbelievably, Scotty nods his head at Eden, then we leave.

“That cannot be healthy,” I state as Eden closes the door behind us. “Our kids won’t be doing any of that.”

He smiles. “Oh, our kids? So one day we will have kids? Like you’ll quit praying for no kids?”

“Someday, Eden. Not today though. Apparently I have to get buff and become a lethal weapon in order to stay alive,” I tease him.

CHAPTER 46

KYLE

After a whole month of not hearing a word or a thought from Ally, she called to tell me I need to get to her by the morning and she ruined my night.

I also have to do my best to get Laura to come with me, and that feat might prove to be a little hard.

When I left the mansion in New Orleans I was an emotional mess. Laura noticed how quiet I was on the jet ride home and tried to get me to open up to her.

Talking to her about my Phoenix problems is not a thing I’m allowed to do.

That burden is mine to bear. I’ve never felt more alone. I can’t talk to my Ally, the one person I’ve always been able to talk to about anything. It hurts us to be around one another. A deeper love for her, I’ve never had. Yet I can never have her the way I crave.

She’ll be in my life for a very long time. My vow to her gave me a long life—over a hundred years. Along with the gift of longevity, I also got a hell of a lot stronger, and now my plans to go play college football are over.

I’d probably seriously injur,e or maybe even kill, someone if I played.

My life is supposedly still mine to live where I want, how I want, and with who I want. As if that’s going to be so damn easy to do without being able to tell people who and what I really am.

How am I supposed to live a normal life now?

The Phoenix Foundation will pay everything for me since I’m Ally’s primary guardian and her top protector. I want more than to be a babysitter for my ex-girlfriend. But I’m stumped at just what it is I can do. I still have my scholarships to college and have no idea how I can get out of playing football if I use them.