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Sandra was nice and pretty, but she wasn’t the one he wanted to be with, damn it. Surely Riley knew that.
His eyes scanned the crowd gathered in front of the big conifer tree. There she was. Aiden was standing next to her with Dylan in his arms. With long strides, Mitch made his way toward them.
Riley was smiling at something Annie was saying to her, but when she saw him approaching, her smile slipped. With another step, he reached her.
“I was looking for you,” he said as he took her hand.
She tried to pull her hand out of his, but he laced their fingers.
“So where’s Sandra, Mitch?” Vivian chuckled. “She seems to be a very… uh… tactile person.”
“Not sure,” Mitch said, ignoring his sister’s gaze on his hand around Riley’s.
“The way she was touching you, I thought she’s your date,” Annie added.
“No, she’s not. I don’t know—”
A commotion to the side drew his attention. Damn it, not again.
“Excuse me.” Dropping Riley’s hand, Mitch hurried over to where Patrick Thomas was staggering around, swearing at everyone around him.
“Mr. Thomas,” he greeted the drunken man. “How are you doing? Where’s Matthew?”
Patrick glared at him through bloodshot eyes, swaying from side to side. “That useless son of mine? I whipped his ass, I did. You’re the one who put ideas into his head. It’s on you if he’s hurt!” The next moment, he crashed down, beer bottle still in his hand.
Gnashing his teeth together, Mitch bent down to help Patrick up, but he was out cold.
“It’s okay, Mitch, I’ve got it from here.” One of the deputy sheriffs of Marietta stepped closer.
“I’ll go and check up on Matthew,” Mitch said.
“That poor boy. He’s got another year of school, but Patrick isn’t making it easy on him. When his wife died, he just fell apart,” the deputy sheriff said.
“No excuse to use his son for a punching bag,” Mitch growled, his hands in fists.
“While Matthew keeps denying it, there’s nothing we can do. Let me know how he’s doing, please.”
Mitch turned away, seeing red. He was so angry, but being angry at a drunk was a useless exercise, he knew. Matthew Thomas was in one of his classes. He didn’t have to be a psychologist to know the boy was always looking for trouble because he was having a hard time at home.
Mitch hated bullies, maybe because he’d been a target while at school. At least he’d had his parents who’d always had his back. Once they’d realized what had been going on, they’d made an appointment to see his teachers. Matthew didn’t have anyone looking out for him. The person who was responsible for his safety was the one who was hurting him.
“Mitch? Everything okay?”
He looked up to see Riley had followed him. Taking her hand, he drew her away from the scene. She would’ve seen what had happened; he didn’t have to explain. “It’s the dad of one of my students. I have to go and see if Matthew is okay.”
“Of course, you don’t have to explain.” She began to pull her hand from his but held on for a moment longer.
“I’m only here tonight because I knew you’d be here.”
“Mitch…”
“Still want to forget about what’s going on between us?”
“It’s the best thing to do. We should go back to just being friends.”
Nodding, he dropped her hand. “If that’s what you want. I’ll see you, friend.” Turning on his heel, he jogged to his car.
She was right. The whole thing was ridiculous. So why the hell was there a hole where his heart was supposed to be?
