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6
Viv wasbent over in the bathroom still drying her hair when the Ring security camera she’d helped install dinged on her phone alerting her that someone was here.
Shit. The pizza was here. Damn Goodfella’s and its quick delivery.
She knew she should have ordered it after her shower, but she was scared that if she did that Glenn might change his mind. He hadn’t looked too pleased about accepting her invitation for pizza tonight. In fact, he’d looked downright pained when he’d agreed.
“Coming!” Viv called out as she made her way to the door.
When she opened it, she saw fifteen-year-old Noah Barnes standing on the porch wearing a red Slice of Heaven ballcap and T-shirt holding an insulated bag. Viv had always liked Noah. He was a good kid. He was a star in athletics and academics. And he happened to be dating her niece, Blake. The two made an adorable couple.
“Hey, Miss Wells.”
“It’s Viv, Noah.” He also had impeccable manners, unfortunately they made her feel much older than her thirty plus years.
She noticed that as he took the pizza boxes out of the bag, he was looking past her like he was expecting to see someone. It was subtle but she noticed it. She noticed everything.
“I hate to disappoint you, but it’s just me here.”
A sheepish grin tilted on his mouth. “I just…I heard that Glenn Maguire lived here.”
The kid looked downright starstruck.
Several celebrities lived in Hope Falls. Karina Black who was an international pop star and her husband Ryan Perkins, who was also a musician. Then there was Kyle Austen Reed and Shayne Fox who were both Academy Award nominated actors.
Lucky Dorsey, who owned the gym across from the coffee shop had been a pretty big star in the MMA world. And Glenn’s brother Gabe Maguire had also gained notoriety in that department.
All of those “celebrities” frequented Brewed Awakenings so Viv had witnessed hundreds of people fan girling or fan guying over the people that she considered friends. She could recognize the signs of a fan girl, or fan guy a mile away and Noah was displaying all of them: flushed cheeks, wide eyes, nervous breaths.
But she had zero clue as to why Noah would be having that reaction to Glenn.
Did Glenn have some sort of TikTok following or something? He didn’t seem like a TikTok guy…
Viv felt her brow crease in the center. “Do you know him?”
“I mean…I’ve never met him…but he’s…you know…” He waved his hand as if she would know how to finish that sentence.
“Glenn Maguire?”
“Glenn “The Gladiator” Maguire!” Noah corrected her.
Glenn “The Gladiator” Maguire?
That was news to Viv. But the moniker fit him to a fucking T. Gladiator. Yep. That tracked.
“Did he do MMA?” She took a stab in the dark. That was Gabe’s claim-to-fame, so she figured maybe it ran in the family.
“No. He’s a boxer.”
A boxer. For some reason that was even hotter.
“Or he was. He hasn’t fought in a long time.”
“He’s not here. He’s staying in the back house. Did you want to go meet him?”
Noah’s face lit up as he nodded at the same time his phone vibrated. He pulled it out and looked at the message. “I can’t. I have another delivery.”
“You’re a good egg, Noah Barnes.”
