AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Good. Really good, actually.” Benny looks at Skyla and then back to the door before he trains his eyes on me. “Miss Haven, can I ask you a question?”
I lean forward so I’m eye to eye with him. “Yeah, of course.”
“You’ll tell me the truth?” He raises his eyebrows.
I nod and wait for whatever it is he wants to ask me. “Did I get Reese in trouble?”
“What!? No. Why would you think that?” To say I wasn’t expecting him to ask that is an understatement.
“It’s just that since all that mess happened with my father, I haven’t seen him around much. My dad hasn’t even bothered to come back to the house, so I don’t think he’ll be back here anytime soon. I just wanted to thank Reese for standing up for me the way he did. No one’s ever done anything like that to my dad. I don’t want him to be mad at me.” He shrugs.
I stand back to my full height and look over his head at Christina and Skyla, who are both smirking at me.
“Benny, Reese is not mad at you. I don’t know when he’ll be back here, but I’ll make sure to let him know what you said, okay? Does that work for you?”
Benny smiles. “Yeah, that’s cool. I gotta get home. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He waves bye to the three of us as he hurries away.
Looking between Christina and Skyla, I know they want to say something, and I’m pretty sure I know what it’s regarding. “Don’t say one word.”
“That’s a smart kid,” Skyla says.
“It’s just a little hero worship, that’s all,” I say with a wave of my hand.
Christina huffs out a tight breath. “He should have some hero worship. From what I heard, both you and Reese are that little boy’s hero.”
“Christina, you know I don’t subscribe to all that violence. Benny’s father is an asshole, but I still don’t know if Reese beating him up was the best idea.”
“Apparently, Benny does. From what I know about Brian McGee, the jerk off is a real piece of work. A straight-up bully,” Christina says.
“He is.”
“Sometimes bullies only respond to bigger, badder bullies. If the boy and his mom are safe now, and there’s no lasting damage, I’d take this as a win.” Skyla adds her two cents.
Yet another testament to Reese’s choice. Maybe I really am looking at this the wrong way.
“So . . . tell me, is that the reason you’ve got that man over there in the gym looking like someone shit in his coffee cup?” Skyla asks.
My head pops up, and I can’t stop the laughter from bubbling out. “Oh no, is he moping?”
“Like a damn country singer.” Christina shakes her head.
I feel the sting of tears again behind my eyes. He’s hurting.
“No, it’s not just that. It’s the press and the women, it’s his whole life,” I admit.
“Mm hmm.” Christina crosses her arms over her chest and moves closer to me. “I heard about that, and I’ve seen the pictures too. It’s messed up for sure, but you know that man only wants you, right?”
A budding seedling of hope forms in the pit of my stomach. “Does he?”
“Girl, yes.” Christina reaches out and squeezes my arm lightly. “The media will take anything they can and make it a story. They want to see the spectacular and extraordinary everywhere, no matter who they hurt doing it.”
“When I saw the article, it threw me for a loop too. I’d be super pissed if the man I was dating had some floozy touching all over him, but are you really going to throw away what you and he have over some fangirls who he’ll probably never see again? Set your boundaries, yeah. Get some flowers and candy out of this, absolutely. But giving up a chance at something real?” Skyla scrunches up her face and shakes her head.
I hear everything that they’re saying. Hell, it’s what everyone has been saying, and I’m woman enough to know I’m just being too stubborn. “Who knows, guys. I mean, it’s not like he’s been battering down the door trying to talk to me. Maybe this is what he wants.”
Christina chuckles at that. “Are you kidding me? That man is a mess. He won his latest prelim fight, and there was no celebration, no excitement, nothing. He’s just going through the motions. He looks so lost without you, Haven.”
“Lost?” I repeat, and the both of them nod earnestly.
