Page 101 of Redeeming Heart
“Haven’t your girls done enough partying for one night?” He asked with a smile in his voice.
“We are just going to order in, maybe have a bonfire and have Megan make us cocktails.” She replied with a shrug.
“So, are we seeing you there?” Tammy pressed again.
“I’ll call the boys up—they would probably enjoy the bonfire and Jake can help up with the drinks.”
“Deal,” Tammy didn’t even blink when she agreed to his offer.
She went over to inform Megan about the change in plans while I shook my head in bemusement at them.
“One of these days there is going to be a Gladiator/ Rebel baby if our teams go on like this.” I joked.
He laughed at my playfulness and sobered it up with a light chuckle. “I’ll talk with them and make sure they behave themselves.”
“I’m pretty sure the girls are quite willing to stand up for themselves, but I approve of the offer even though I should probably have a chat with Megan.” I was aware that she wasn’t a shy girl and loved being around guys.
“Don’t let her find out that I told you, but I’m convinced that she’s seeing Jared.” That was news to me and I wasn’t surprised.
“Like a fling?” I hated that I knew what that word meant. Thanks to Camille who snuck it into my vocabulary.
He shrugged. “Just caught them making out the other day which was pretty awkward.”
I couldn’t fight the laughter from slipping out. At least I never had to deal with that with my friends so far. They acted at least decent around me.
“Uh, yeah. She’s the wild one where I always thought I was the wild one storming on eggshells that everyone else tiptoed on.” I broke the law, got locked up, and was even banned from entering premises.
“What happened to that case of you punching the guy who touched you inappropriately?” He asked. Tilting his head to the side trying to mask the fury swiveling around in his eyes.
“He wanted to open charges against me, but the gym’s cameras caught the whole and it was dismissed and he got charged. Both he and I aren’t allowed back there.” I explained.
“That’s pretty insane. He should be locked up. He is only going to find his next victim and it could’ve been avoided.” I agreed with him without a doubt, but the law doesn’t protect us from monsters like that. It never did and it will never will. An apology can’t fix a broken soul or fix your mind from reminding you of that awful moment.
“I stopped believing in the system since my friend got hurt.” Thinking of what Camille went through and how she had to change her name to escape the monster. She had to be the one who ended up killing him because the law was screwed up.
We looked at Jonah in unison when he made his way over to us.
“What happened?” I queried.
“I was approached by a coach who is willing to give me a chance and I won’t be on the bench anymore.”
“That’s great!” I exclaimed and gave him a high-five.
He nodded unable to hide his excitement. “He has been looking at my skills since I started and was a bit upset with the coach who didn’t let me share my full potential with the team.”
Brandon clenched his hand into a fist and held it out to Jonah. “I told you that you’re awesome, didn’t I?”
Jonah chuckled and bumped his fist with Brandon’s. “Thank you,”
I was aware he was thinking of Brandon but he surprised me when he hugged me.
I caught Brandon’s smile when I raised my head.
“You did most of the work and someone finally noticed.” I clarified. I haven’t done anything but watch him play and have Brandon teach him some tricks and refine his skills.
Jonah pulled out of my arms. “You still offered to help me out,”
“That’s what family does.” We weren’t blood-related, but it didn’t matter to me anymore because Jonah became my little brother and I took pride in being his big sister.