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7
Viv pulledup to the library and saw that she was actually early for once in her life. She’d come here straight from the coffee shop. She’d almost gone home to change but decided that if she did that, she might not make it on time. She was trying to make a real effort to turn over a new leaf. Her days of being perpetually late to everything were behind her.
Plus, she was doing this for Audrey. Audrey was always early. She didn’t want to let the library or her sister down.
But the thought of going in early and dealing with what she was sure was going to be disappointed faces of both parents and children alike didn’t necessarily appeal to her. Audrey was Hope Falls’ sweetheart. She was beloved.
Viv was, well, she was an acquired taste. People tended to love her or hate her. There really wasn’t any in-between. She was bold, in both her appearance and her speech. That didn’t always sit well with people. It didn’t bother her that she wasn’t everyone’s cup o’ tea, or coffee, for that matter. She’d rather be disliked for being herself than be liked for being a watered-down version of herself.
Still, the thought of small talk with people that would be disappointed to see her really didn’t appeal to her.
As she sat in her cherry red Jeep, she grabbed her phone and went back to what she’d been doing with every free second that she’d had for the past three days.
Google Glenn “The Gladiator” Maguire.
The hours she’d spent deep diving into his internet history had uncovered some very tasty treats. Mainly the shirtless pictures of him. There were pages and pages of his chiseled to perfection torso. She’d drooled, literally, over his muscular chest and arms. And the man was a beast in the ring.
She’d never been a boxing fan, but watching him destroy his opponents was seriously hot.
The Glenn “The Gladiator” Maguire rabbit hole she’d fallen into might be bordering on stalker level, but she had no shame in her game. It’s not as if she was spying on him. Well, that wasn’t strictly true. She may have peeked out of her back window once, or several times an evening to see if she could catch a glimpse of the man, the myth, the legend, which was how he was introduced in interviews. But who could blame her? He lived in her backyard.
She clicked on an interview he’d done after his final fight, or at least that’s what the title on the YouTube channel claimed.
“Gladiator, how did it feel getting back in the ring after such devastating months with the loss of both of your parents?”
Fuck.
That was new information. Before he could respond to the interviewer’s question, Viv clicked out of the video and searched Glenn “The Gladiator” Maguire’s parents.
A page of articles populated and she clicked on the one at the top.
Glenn “The Gladiator” Maguire has never been knocked out in the ring, but life is throwing KO punches at him. After tragically losing his father in a freak accident a mere four months ago, it has been reported that his mother has just succumbed to complications from diabetes.
With a title fight around the corner, will Maguire still step into the ring, or will he postpone the match?
Viv checked the date of the article and then googled his fight record. The article was two weeks before his fight.
Holy shit.
His mother passed away weeks before his final fight. And he’d lost his father just four months before that.
Other articles came up about his brother Gabe, who had lived in Hope Falls for about four years now battling cancer. Gabe had been an MMA fighter who was now a firefighter. She knew that he’d had health issues but hadn’t known specifics. She pulled up an article on Gabe and saw that he’d been diagnosed a year after they lost their parents.
Viv sat in her car with tears in her eyes as she read article after article. It wasn’t until her alarm went off signaling that she was supposed to be inside reading for the kids that she realized she was late.
Crap.She’d shown up early and still managed to be late. She truly had a special gift.
She put her phone in her purse, got out of her Jeep, and rushed up the steps of the library.
When she got inside she saw Belinda Morgan seated behind the desk. The brunette beauty was wearing a neon yellow sweater with a face of a cat in the center and the words Don’t Stress Meowt circled around it.
Viv had always appreciated Belinda as a kindred spirit in that she was bold and in your face about her fashion and love of felines. Belinda was Hope Falls’ resident hipster cat lady. She was in her late twenties and ran an off-the-books kitty rescue and at any given time she had ten to twenty cats she cared for.
Viv had known she’d like the woman before she’d ever said one word to her. She’d noticed her at JT’s because Belinda was wearing a sweater with faces of cats scattered on it and teeny tiny cursive writing across the chest that said Passion for Pussy, which Viv found hilarious. She’d struck up a conversation with her and Belinda had asked Viv out on a date. Once that happened, Viv understood the confusion since she’d complimented her shirt. Viv explained to Belinda that if she was into girls, she would love to hang out and that if things didn’t work out for her in the next, oh ten years or so in the dating dicks department, she might just take her up on her offer.
The two had been friends ever since.
Belinda glanced up as Viv walked through the doors. “I was just texting you to see if you were coming.”
