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This girl.
My girl.
She was always bringing shakes and food over.
Joey motioned for her to come over before leaning close to me. “I like this one for you.”
“Yeah? Me, too.”
“Hey,” she said, as she moved under the roped-off area that Joey had put up for me to use. “I made a bunch of chickenand salmon and thought you might want some post-workout protein.”
I didn’t give a shit about the protein. I was worried about her.
“That’s exactly what he needs,” Butch said as he winked at Demi. “This one’s a keeper, Romeo. I think I heard Pinky call you Beans. Is that your handle?”
She chuckled, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I mean, only the people here call me that, but it works for me.”
I took the bag from her hand and linked our fingers with my free hand. I wasn’t hiding a damn thing anymore, and I wanted everyone to know that she was mine.
That we were together.
A flash went off, and Joey whipped around to see someone taking pictures again. “Get the hell out of here and give the man some privacy!” he shouted.
“We need to find somewhere else to train, Romeo. This isn’t working, and I know it’s a business and it’s money in the bank to have all these people paying to be here. But we need another location for when we don’t want people watching you.”
“I’ll call around and see what I can find,” I said, anxious to end this conversation and get Demi to my office so I could find out what happened.
“I have the space next to the coffee shop that’s empty. There’s paper over the front window because it’s vacant until I can figure out what to do with it. It’s not fancy, and it’s pretty bare-bones, but it could work if you want privacy.”
“Like I said… I like this girl. We’ll take it, Beans.” Joey laughed and clapped her on the shoulder. “You just might be the Golden Boy’s lucky charm.”
I rolled my eyes, even though I thought he was right. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, all right? I’m going to go eat some protein.”
“Sure, you are,” Butch said with a chuckle. “Good job today. You’re on track, and we’ll just keep pushing until the fight.”
I nodded, did that half-bro hug, handshake thing, and then led Demi to my office. She wasn’t working out with Pinky tonight, and we’d planned for her to meet me here after work. I shut the door, set the bag on the table, and dropped to sit on the couch, pulling her onto my lap.
“Sorry, I’m all sweaty,” I said as I wrapped my arms around her. “Tell me what happened.”
She took a minute as she ran her fingers along the palm of my hand. “He admitted it. All of it.”
I just held her there, knowing that it had to hurt like hell to learn that someone you loved wasn’t who you thought they were. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She turned on my lap so she was facing me. “The other kid that was with Slade that day was Ronny Waterstone.”
“The same guy who attacked you? Looks like he’s always been a piece of shit.”
She nodded. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Obviously, a leopard doesn’t change its spots. My father said that he originally thought you and River were involved, and he was just doing his part to keep Slade and Ronny out of it. Apparently, Slade was riddled with guilt and went to my dad and told him that you weren’t involved. My dad said he hired an attorney to get you and River out of there sooner. As if that makes everything better.”
I nodded. “That could be true. My mom was trying also, but your dad would have had a lot more pull than she did. Listen, Demi, I don’t want to come between you and your family. I didn’t tell you about this because I wanted you to fix it. I told you because I’m crazy about you, and I needed you to know why I had an issue with your brother and your father. But we can’t turn back the clock. It is what it is. It happened. It sucked. But wesurvived, and we’re stronger for it. And you’re sitting on my lap now, making sure I eat right, so, at the end of the day, I won.” I smirked, and she smiled a real smile for the first time since she’d gotten here.
“I think we both won,” she said. “And my mom and grandfather were really upset. They didn’t know anything about it. My father packed his bags and left for the city to give my mom some time to process. I’ve never seen her so angry.”
Shit. I hadn’t expected that. I figured they were either all involved, or they’d all supported him for doing what he could to protect his own kid.
“I’m sorry about that. I’m sure this has to be upsetting for you.”
She shook her head. “What’s upsetting for me is what he did to you. I won’t speak to him until he apologizes to you and River.”
