The thought hits me that maybe she’s sick, and I sit on the edge of the mattress, turning on the lamp on Luke’s nightstand.
Bex has her arms around the fishbowl with the little goldfish she won at the county fair the night she arrived in Star Cove. Her face is streaked with tears and I can’t help but worry. Did she run into Connor or Keene? They both weren’t pleased with me and Luke for making that deal with the Dean. But Keene was especially furious, and I wonder if he took out his frustration on Bex.
“Baby?” I whisper, moving a lock of silky blonde hair away from her forehead. Her skin feels hot and clammy at the same time. “Bex?”
Her long eyelashes flutter a couple of times as she stirs. The green depths of her eyes are darkened by sleep when she finally looks at me.
“Jamie?”
“Hey.” I murmur. “I was waiting for you in the living room. We’re supposed to go to dinner. Remember?”
She sits up with a gasp. The abrupt movement causes a little bit of water to slosh out of the fishbowl.
I grab it from her and set Lady Marmalade’s new home safely on the nightstand. “Are you ok?”
Her eyes drift away, her gaze lowered to the comforter. “Yeah, sorry.” She lies.
This is uncharted territory for me. This emotional stuff. Usually, I keep things with women as superficial as possible. I’m their guy if all they want is a night of fun in bed, but my involvement ends the second the condom hits the trash can.
Bex is my girlfriend. It doesn’t matter that we aren’t really dating and we aren’t madly in love like we need everyone to believe.
If she isn’t happy, it’ll show when she’s out with me and everyone will believe that I’m a shitty boyfriend. At least, that’s what I tell myself when I trap her chin between my fingers and coax her eyes back up, forcing her to meet my gaze.
“You’ve been crying.” I keep my voice as low and as gentle as I can muster. Had she been one of my teammates, this would have been easy. A slap on the back and a crude joke would have conveyed the message that I’m there for them. But I doubt that would work with the soft, delicate creature who’s looking at me with a sadness so deep that it makes me want to go after whoever caused it and make them pay.
“I—you don’t have to worry about that, Jamie.”
That’s where she’s wrong. “Hey, of course I worry about you. This dating thing might not be what we want everyone to think it is, but we can be friends. Right? And I care about my friends.”
She closes her eyes for one moment. When she looks at me again, I see new tears welling up in them. “I would love to be friends. God knows I don’t have any.”
“Why do you say that? I’m sure that isn’t true.” I attempt to console her, letting go of her chin and tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear.
Her eyes drift to the nightstand, where her phone is lying face down, next to the fishbowl.
“What happened? Did Priestly bother you?” I can’t stop thinking about what Luke told me. That piece of shit she almost married had better watch out next time we play against Bridgeport.
The story comes out bit by bit. Bex is hesitant at first, but in the end she shows me the posts and comments that upset her to the point that she cried herself to sleep.
I’m livid. I knew that their dad wasn’t father of the year material from Luke’s story. Who kicks their child, a minor, out of the house because their sexuality isn’t what you wanted it to be? But if that’s despicable, what he’s doing to Bex is criminal. Literally.
“Cyber bullying is a crime in California.” I tell her. “You should report all of them. Including your dad.”
She exhales a shuddering breath. “Dad would just say that he has nothing to do with those posts and that he can’t control what other people say online.”
I disagree. “Those are his clients. He should be able to control them at least online. You should report them to the platform they posted on, and to the police.”
She begins shaking her head, her eyes wide with fear. “I can’t. If I ignore them, they’ll eventually stop. But if I go after them, who knows what my dad will do? He could take me to court for breach of contract. He could try to hurt Luke’s career if he knew he took me in. He has so many connections everywhere. His text message says he doesn’t care where I am. I’m fine with that. If I can help it, I never want to see him again.”
I pull her closer to me. She nestles into my arms, with her head resting on my shoulder. I’m not used to being this close to someone unless we’re fucking, of course. Somehow, this feels even more intimate than sex. “Ok. I understand.”
Bex lifts her head to look at me. “Do you?”
“Yeah.” I say softly. I don’t tell her that I’ve been bullied before. I don’t want to make this about me. But I understand.
A loud noise surprises both of us. It comes from Bex’s stomach.
“Shit. I’m sorry.” She blushes.
