AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m good,” I grunt and decide to be done for the day. I’ve got other shit to deal with. Like getting a new damn phone and going to check in with my mom. Other than the night of Rhett’s match, I haven’t seen her, which I’m sure is pissing her off because she’s not one to be avoided. Being a single parent of three kids isn’t easy, and she made sure we all knew better than to cross her. The woman is hell on wheels, but also the best mom in the world.
“Whatever you say, man.” Travis gives me a chin lift and steps back.
“I’m gonna go shower and change. I'll see you tomorrow.”
“Aren’t you coming to the club tonight?” he asks, cocking a brow.
“What club?”
“Aura. It opened a while back and it’s pretty awesome.”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on, Reese, come out and be my wingman. Your brother’s always with my sister nowadays, and I need someone to help me out.” He smirks and wags his brows. “Who knows, you might meet a woman to help work out the shit in your head for the night.”
I give that a thought and the image of Haven pops in my head. Yeah, I wouldn’t mind sinking into her for a night, maybe two, but that’s not about to happen. Hell, I probably won’t see her again. I glance around the gym, confirming what I already knew. She was gone, and so were all the kids.
Travis is right, though, I should find a woman to help work out the tension built up in a different way that’s more pleasurable than slamming my fist in the punching bag. “I’m in,” I agree and find out the time to meet up with him before heading to the locker room.
CHAPTER SIX
HAVEN
“Come on. Please? Can we trade? I thought blue was your favorite color?”
I stand to the side as my group of kids dig through the goodie bags they’ve gotten from the gym, pulling out the various items Christine packed up for them. Mirrah, one of the few girls in the group, is trying to trade with Elliott since he has red hand wraps, and hers are blue.
The only reason I’m so interested in their little interaction is that Mirrah is here because she’d been caught stealing on multiple occasions. The fact that she’s willing to ask and trade instead of just taking something is a step up for her.
“Fine, here.” Elliott reaches into his bag and trades with Mirrah.
I pull my focus from the two of them and look over the group of kids. Thankfully, no one has come back with any new scrapes or bruises. Instead, they’re all flush with excitement and new goals. Christina and some of the other members of the gym explained to the kids some great perks they could get if they managed to stay out of trouble and join the gym. At the end of the tour, Corey Bright himself, along with a man named Travis, came out to show the kids some basic self-defense moves.
I’m grateful that it was the two instructing the kids, but I would have been more than okay if Mr. Dyer had been the one to do some teaching. That man is fine with a capital F.
Even though I knew they were safe, seeing the kids throw each other around and swing punches at each other had me on edge. It was impressive to see how quickly the kids were open to learning to release their anger in constructive ways. That gym can be a godsend for some of them.
My eyes drop to my watch, and I see it’s past closing time. “All right, that’s all for today. Everyone get home safe,” I call out, and the kids wave as they walk off in small groups back to their homes.
The town is safe, but I like to make sure everyone leaves the community center campus without incident. As I keep watch, something nags at the back of my mind. Subtly, I do a count and realize one of the kids is missing. I don’t see Benny.
Panic surges through me, and I rush into the community center to call his mom just to make sure he made it home safely. It’s not unlike him to walk off, but I usually see him before he leaves. I was so distracted with my thoughts about Reese, I wasn’t paying attention.
At this time of day, none of the other programs are running in the community center, so it’s eerily silent in the building. My sneakers squeak on the floor as I speed walk toward my office.
“Oh!” I stop short when I see Benny in his signature black hoodie sitting on the floor in front of my office door. “Benny? Are you okay?”
Taking a deep breath, I walk to where he is. When he stands up, he pulls the hood off his head, but he doesn’t look up at me.
Benny is a quiet kid, keeps mostly to himself unless he’s fighting someone. Unfortunately, that’s the only time I really have much interaction with him. He’s never come to see me on his own before.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” He shoves his hands into his pockets and shifts his weight. “I really liked the stuff I learned at the gym today.”
It’s nice that he’d tell me he appreciated the field trip, but I can’t see why he needed to wait for everyone to leave to do it. “That’s great. I’m glad you had a good time.”
When he doesn’t leave or say anything else, I pry a little deeper. “Is there something you want to talk to me about? You want to go in the office?”
“No. Nothing like that. I just had a question.” Finally, he raises his eyes to mine, and I nod for him to continue. “Well, when we were there, it seemed like you knew the lady working there. Like you guys were friends. I was wondering if you knew if they trained kids for more than just the group stuff. Like, would they train me how to fight?”
