Poppy starts to cry, and I shove my father back into his chair before I beat the shit out of him.
“We’ll go wait in the car,” Gabby whispers, her cheeks red, her eyes bright with unshed tears.
God, what a fucking epic mistake this is. “It’s okay. We’re leaving.”
We never should’ve come in the first place.
47
GABBY
My hands trembleas I lock Poppy into her car seat. She’s still sniffling, but as soon as I cover her with a blanket and get her comfortable, she calms down.
It’s overcast and misty as we pull away from the trailer park. Rider’s silent for most of the drive, but when we pull into our neighborhood, he sighs. “I’m sorry I dragged you with me today. I’m sorry he was such an ass to you. I don’t know what I was thinking. Just… I wanted him to learn about Poppy from me.”
“Of course.” I grab his hand, but he pulls away and runs it through his hair. It stings, but I get it. He’s upset and doesn’t want to be touched.
Or call you his girlfriend.
That’s not entirely fair, I realize. Maybe it would be different if he was introducing me to friends, but his father obviously requires special handling.
Despite Rider’s warning that his father was a minefield, nothing prepared me for what actually happened.
“I should’ve gotten her out of there sooner. It all happened so fast.” I’d felt frozen, shocked by his father’s vehemence.
“You did your best. Thank you for coming with me.” Rider’s voice lacks emotion, like he’s just going through the motions. I can’t blame him for being shellshocked. Tonight was intense.
When he pulls up to my house, it’s obvious he has no intention of staying. I can see why he’d want some space to cool down, but I hope that’s all this is.
I unlock my door and turn to him. “Are we okay?”
He doesn’t say anything for a heartbeat, and in that span of time, I fill in the gaps.This is too much, too intense. I need to focus on football.
“Yeah. I’m sorry.” His brow furrows. “Arguments with my father take a lot out of me, but I’ll catch you later this weekend.”
Tomorrow’s Friday.He’s not blowing you off.“Sounds good.”
As I step out the rain starts to come down hard, and I run inside where I peek through the blinds and watch Rider cover Poppy with his jacket before he marches her into his house.
We don’t talk much over the next few days. An occasional text here and there and a quick tradeoff of Poppy when I babysit once, but all of our easygoing conversation seems to have come to a screeching halt when I met Hank Kingston.
All of the guys are desperate to use their bye weekend to get caught up on schoolwork, so I try not to let it bother me. It’s not as if Rider is being rude. He’s just preoccupied. I’m somewhat mollified when he suggests grabbing lunch this week.
I’m doing a shift at the Rise ’N Grind when a few of the football players enter. My heart races until I realize Rider’s not with them. Olly, Ben, and Knox order coffee and bagels.
For once, I don’t try to engage Ben. I know he said we’d meet up, but since he raced away without giving me a date or time, I figured that was his way of backing out. So I’m surprised to find him waiting for me at the end of the counter after the other guys leave.
“Is something wrong? Did I mess up your order?” I finish foaming milk for a latte and hand it off to another customer before I turn back to my brother.
He shifts uncomfortably. “Thought you wanted to meet up. You mentioned coffee.”
I… Wait. “Really?”
“Do you get a break soon? I have half an hour.”
Holding up one finger, I trot to the back where I ask Fanny if I can take a break. When she gives me the go-ahead, I pour myself a cappuccino, grab a scone, and lead Ben to a small two-top table in the back.
At first, he just stares out the window while I nibble on the snack, which I only grabbed so I’d have something to do with my hands.
