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“Thanks for my bike. Sorry about my sister the other day.”
Belle. The woman was an enigma. She’d gotten under his skin.
“No problem. Happy I could help . . . Is she always so . . .” Uptight? Rigid? Angry?
TJ laughed. “Protective?”
That was a safer answer. “Yeah.”
“She has good reason,” TJ said seriously, as his eyes grew dark. “She’s like my mom more than my sister.”
“Where are your parents?”
TJ shifted his gaze to the ball in his hands. “Not in the picture.”
“Mine either,” he confessed.
TJ looked up at him. “Why are you hanging out with me?”
Bently shrugged. “I came here to play ball.”
TJ nodded, seemingly accepting his answer.
“You made any friends yet?”
The kid hesitated. “One.”
Bently pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Give me your phone number and I’ll send you the link to a pretty cool place my friend Aaron runs. A lot of teens in the area hang out at his facility. They have basketball courts, game rooms, people your age.”
TJ took his phone and typed in his information before handing it back. Bently sent him the link to Hope’s website.
“You really got it bad for Belle, don’t ya?” TJ asked.
Bently cringed. “What do you mean?”
“You’re not the first to try and fail to get with my sister. Besides, you left a puddle of drool in our driveway.” TJ laughed.
Bently pushed his shoulder playfully. “I did not.”
“You sure seemed speechless.” TJ smirked.
“Well, she’s made it clear she doesn’t want anything to do with me. I can respect when a woman tells me no.” He wasn’t a total asshole.
“You’re not really her type.”
A pang of disappointment rippled through him. “She prefers doctors?”
TJ laughed again. “Something like that.”
Bently stood and stretched his tired limbs. “You want a ride back home?”
“My sister’s at work.”
“What’s that got to do with my question?” Bently asked, confused.
“So, if you’re using me to get to her, it won’t work.” TJ eyed him warily, though he still had a smile on his face.
“That’s not the kind of guy I am,” Bently assured him.
