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“Nothing’s going on,” I say a little too fast.
“I call bullshit. Something’s wrong. I can see it in your eyes,” she states, calling me out on my lie.
Sighing, I pull into the parking lot of the restaurant and park. I turn slightly to her and rest my arm on the steering wheel. “I’ve got some stuff going on. I’m not ready to talk about it with anyone yet.”
Haven seems to take my admission in and stares at me for a long moment before nodding. “When you’re ready, I’m a good listener, and I’m here.”
“Appreciate it, baby.” I mean it when I say it, knowing that she’ll listen to me and not hold judgment. I’m just not ready to disclose to anyone that I’ve lost everything.
* * *
After our talk in the car earlier, the rest of the evening has been going smoothly.
Haven and I joke around and laugh throughout dinner. I’ve just ordered us a dessert when we’re bombarded by trouble. I’ve never had a problem with groupies before, but I can tell it’s bothering Haven. I know this when she gets up from the table and starts walking away. Instead of appeasing fans, I follow suit and catch up with her just outside. It took me a moment to join her since I stopped at the hostess station, pulled out two hundred-dollar bills, and told her that should be more than enough to cover our bill.
I grab Haven’s upper arm, pulling her to a halt. “Hey, what was that about?”
“Nothing,” she says, shaking her head, not looking at me. “Just take me home.”
“Haven.” I grip her chin between my thumb and forefinger and urge her to look at me. “We were having a good time. I’m sorry for the interruption.”
“Look, Reese.” Haven licks her bottom lip before continuing. “I get you’re famous and all that and get that you come with crazed fans, but I’m not big on sharing. I don’t want this to come across as clingy or that I’m rushing what we’re doing here. But I need to know that I’m a priority and not going to come second or third to fans coming up and approaching you all the time. I need—”
“Baby, if I didn’t want to be with you, I wouldn’t have started this with you. It might be the beginning, but you can trust me when I say you are a priority,” I interrupt her.
Haven stares at me for a long moment before the tension all but leaves her body and she slumps against me. “Okay. But can you promise me that we will always be honest with each other?”
“I promise, Haven.” The words are out before I can stop them, and I know I'm lying to her. I need to tell her the truth, but what will she think when she finds out? I’m sure without a doubt she’ll leave me knowing I’m a fraud.
CHAPTER TEN
HAVEN
“Good morning, beautiful.”
A bright smile breaks across my face before I even have a chance to wake up completely. Reese seems to have taken our talk about keeping me a priority seriously. Since that talk, I’ve woken up to good morning texts every day. He calls just to check up on me, and he makes sure we go places that are private to stay away from all of his adoring fans.
At first, I was a bit upset that he’d have to miss out on his way of life, but he doesn’t seem too broken up about it.
All in all, I would say that everything is going absolutely perfect between us. Well, almost perfect. There is one measly little red flag that keeps popping up, but I refuse to let myself believe that Reese is cheating on me.
Every so often, he’ll get a call on his phone or a text, and instead of answering it while he’s sitting next to me or texting with me next to him, he gets up and either leaves the room or turns his back to me. I don’t know what he’s hiding from me, but each time I ask him about it, he tells me that it’s nothing important.
I do my best not to dig too much into it because I do trust Reese. Unfortunately, the little nagging suspicion in my brain is only getting worse, simply because every time he goes off to answer the phone, he’s in a closed-off mood when he comes back to me. I was being honest with him when I told him that I didn’t like to share. Whatever it is he’s hiding from me, I’m going to need him to hurry up and tell me about it, so I can stop stressing out about it.
Quickly, I send Reese a good morning text back before I hop out of bed and get into the shower. I don’t have any major plans today for the kids, but ever since we had the trip to the gym, I’ve had at least one kid ask me when we were going back. I have already set up another trip to Bright’s Boxing Gym next week.
It’s time to get the day started.
After showering and getting dressed, I make my way to the community center. None of the kids are expected to be there for another twenty minutes or so, but when I get in, I see the door to my office is slightly open. I look around, thinking maybe it was Luke that had gone into my office, but I don’t see him around either.
I gently nudge open my door and am surprised when I see Benny sitting on my couch, his head leaning on his hand and his eyes closed.
“Benny?” I call out for him, but he doesn’t answer. Moving a little closer, I call him a little louder. “Benny!”
“Hmm, oh crap.” He jumps up and wipes at his eyes, as if he’s trying to convince me that he wasn’t just knocked out on my couch.
“How long have you been in here sleeping?” I ask as I drop my purse on my desk.
