Reckless: A Bad Boy Sport Romance (20 page)

“I'd like that.” Daymond lowered his mug, stroking his stubble. “I didn't realize you'd just ended things with Xavier. I didn't even know you were seeing each other. Hell, according to Warner, he didn't find out about it himself until about a month ago. Was it supposed to be some kind of secret?”

“No, but that doesn't matter. It's over.”

“Well, no offense, but the dude's sort of a tool. Good riddance, am I right?”

“Right.” I smiled coyly, blowing ripples on my macchiato. “So, you and Ace seem pretty chummy. When did that happen?”

“Yeah, well, funny story, I've known the guy since high school, but I never really took the time to get to know him until...you know – the accident.” Daymond shrugged, taking a long sip of his coffee. “Figured he could use a friend, with everything that's been going down lately. Turns out he's an alright dude. A little rough around the edges, and you know, off, but he's alright.”

“Off?” I could feel the blood turning to ice in my veins. “What do you mean?”

“Don't worry about it.” Daymond lowered his eyes. “I'm not trying to freak you out, considering your history and all –”

“Yeah, but that's exactly what it is. History.” I gripped my elbows, hugging myself. “What is it?”

“I don't know. It's hard to explain – I don't really know the dude, so who am I to judge, right?” He rubbed a finger across his bottom lip thoughtfully. “But even with the few times we hung out, he's been acting a little...shady. He leaves my place or kicks me out from his at random times 'cause he's got 'somewhere to be', locks himself in a room with his phone. Working double-time to keep everything on the down low, know what I mean?”

“I – I see.” I swallowed hard, suppressing the quiver in my voice.

“Yeah, but then again, maybe it's nothing. Like I said, what do I know?” Daymond added hastily when he saw the torn look on my face. “You know the guy better than I do, that's for sure.”

Not quite. At one point in my life, I thought I knew Ace inside and out, more than anyone could ever know someone else. But lately, it was looking like that clearly wasn't the case. I said nothing and reached for my mug once more, filling the heavy silence with my fingers drumming on the table.

“So, how's Tabitha?”

“Good, I hope.” I set down my drink and licked the foam off my lips.

“You hope?”

“We're actually in the middle of a thing right now,” I admitted, my shoulders sagging. “We had this stupid fight that kind of got out of hand, and she hasn't been answering my calls.”

“Bummer. Sorry to hear that.”

“No worries. I'm sure we'll hash things out in no time,” I replied in my most casual voice, but I think he had trouble believing it as much as I did.

“I've been told I'm a pretty good listener,” said Daymond gently. “Wanna try me?”

“Thanks, but like I said, it was nothing. She'd been staying with me while she was in town. We both got a little carried away – she wasn't cleaning up after herself or her dates, and I got a little loud with her –”

“Her dates?” Daymond shook his head, laughing dryly. “Figures. That's why she hasn't called since that night at the club.”

I straightened up in my seat.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to –”

“No, don't worry about it,” Daymond brushed it off, grinning. “It's not like I've been waiting around for her to call – actually had to run down to Ann Arbor last week to see this chick. Was just worried about Tabitha, that's all.”

“Yeah...” I crossed and uncrossed my legs under the table, unable to sit still. “But enough about all that – why don't you tell me about work? How'd you get into the Jets?”

But Daymond wasn't interested in talking about work.

“You know, I think I finally get why Warner's so hung up on you, even after all these years.”

“Oh. Okay... What does that –”

He leaned forward with a dangerous glimmer in his green eyes, tickling circles on the back of my hand. A crawling sensation spread over my arms, the hairs perking on their ends. It was like my hand had been bolted to the table.

“I mean, I always thought you were pretty cute in high school, but seeing you as a full-grown woman...” He tilted his head, sucking his teeth loudly. “Damn. You sure did fill out the back of those jeans nicely –”

Feeling his hand on me, I finally reacted, slapping his hand away from my thigh.

“Yo, Brooklyn, relax –”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I scowled at him, grabbing my purse. “I don't know how to make this any clearer than I already have, but I'm not interested. Man, and I actually thought you'd grown out of being that pervy, low-life prick they all said you were in high school, but I guess some people just never change.”

And with that, I threw enough money to cover both our drinks on the table and left.

Chapter Six:
Daymond

1999

I was 11 years old now, and I knew that I was getting too old for the swing, but I loved it. When I was coming down on the swing, I pushed my body forward so I could get even higher. The cool wind blew the hair out of my face. My stomach felt like it was doing cartwheels, but I didn't mind. It almost felt like I was flying in the air.

I was still swinging way up in the air, but I opened my eyes. The playground looked like it was coming closer and farther away, closer and farther away. I was starting to get dizzy, but I held the chains real tight.

It was pretty dark out, so the park was empty. Most of the lampposts around the park were broken, and those that were working were flickering and making crackling noises. I used to get real scared about the scary lights and shadows in the park, but I'm not a kid anymore, so I'm used to it now.

On my right, there was a dirty woman sleeping on the bench. She had a broken cart full of things next to her. I've always seen the woman around here, but I didn't know her name. All I knew was that she always had that cart with her.

In the house on top of the slide, there was a raccoon fast asleep in the corner. Huge chunks were missing from the paint on the slides and the jungle gym. This place was a real dump!

The only other person with us was my big brother, Derrick. He was sitting inside the sandbox next to the slide. He looked like a giant inside the sandbox, but there was this big goofy smile on his face. There was nothing that made him happier than playing in the sandbox.

He could play with his bucket and shovel and make sandcastles all day and never get tired of it. I got too old for the sandbox when I was about 6, so it was kind of weird that Derrick liked to play there so much. He was already 14!

When I was 6 years old, I stole some money from Mom's purse when she was sleeping on the couch to buy him the bucket and shovel. I knew it was wrong and I was so scared Mom would find out for ages, but she never did. But now, I didn't feel so bad anymore. I knew it made Derrick happy, so it made me happy too.

All of a sudden, this big white moving van came down the street. It parked right outside of the Miller house. The Miller house used to be as big a dump as this playground was when the Millers moved out a few years ago. Now, it looked a little better. It was brown, 2 stories tall, and had a new gray roof.

A smaller red van followed and parked behind the moving van. And when I saw who came out of the truck, I started to slow down on the swing. A girl around my age hopped out of my car.

I kicked out my legs and stomped on the ground to stop the swing.

The girl was beautiful. She had curly, bright red hair, and she was wearing a pretty pink dress with polka dots on it. There was a big pink bow on her head that was the same color as her dress.

Then, this older woman came out of the driver's side of the car. The woman didn't look anything like her. She had a plain brown ponytail, and she was wearing thick square glasses, but she looked really friendly.

Suddenly, the girl gave the woman this big smile. Seeing that smile made my stomach do tumbles, and it was really weird. I wasn't even swinging anymore! But then I felt bad. She probably wouldn't like me, just like all the other girls in my class. They called me “Smelly-pants,” and they were right. I haven't changed my clothes in many weeks.

The girl skipped into her new house. 2 men came out of the moving van and followed her. They carried big cardboard boxes with marker writing on them. As I watched the house, I noticed that the girl didn't have a father, too. She was just like Derrick and me. Our dad left us when I was still in Mom's belly.

I saw the woman and the girl at the doorway one more time. They were holding hands and they had warm smiles on their faces as they gave instructions to the moving men. It made me feel jealous. I couldn't remember the last time Mom held my hand, or Derrick's. Or the last time she hugged us.

Mom never really talked to us at all, and it made me feel both angry and sad. Sometimes, the only time I heard her open her mouth was to yell prices at the TV when “The Price is Right” was on. She didn't like to go out of the house, but she never liked to sleep in her own bedroom, and I had to beg her to take showers sometimes. Mom liked to sleep on the sofa. She also liked to eat there, cry there, and watch TV all day long. The only time she left was to go downtown to a government office every week or to get herself more beer and other stinky drinks.

Sometimes, it made me feel like she wasn't a real mom at all. Sometimes, I wished for a new mom to come take us away. Sometimes, I wanted bad things to happen to her. I was tired of being hungry. Why did we always have to eat ramen and plain bread, and how come she gets to have all the beer she wants? I was tired of finding things to eat in the fridge for Derrick and me and cleaning up all the bottles and cans around her every morning. But then I feel really bad. At least I have a mom. Many kids out there don't even have a mom AND a dad!

“Hey, guys, look! It's that home-schooled freak!”

I opened my eyes real wide. 3 boys and a girl – all teenagers – started walking up to Derrick in the sandbox. The girl had long blonde hair, and she was wearing a shirt that showed her belly. All 3 guys had cool gold hoops around their ears and even on their spiky hair. They looked super cool.

“Look at him playing in that sandbox – what a douche,” said the guy in the green jacket.

“I wonder if the thing speaks.”

“Hi, guys! My name's Derrick.” Derrick grinned at them. He raised his shovel and bucket happily. “Wanna play?”

“Uh, no thanks, dweeb,” said the guy in the red pants. “I don't want any of your dweeb to rub off on me.”

“Good one, Paulie!” The blonde girl giggled.

I didn't really know what “douche” or “dweeb” meant, but I went along with it. These cool kids were using all sorts of cool words I'd never even heard of!

I tiptoed up to the teenagers from behind, watching them closely. I didn't want them to see me, think I was just some kid, and run off! Derrick was still smiling, but it was a confused smile. He didn't seem to know what they were saying, either.

“Yeah, dweeb,” I yelled out behind them.

“Huh. Check this kid out,” said the guy in the red pants. He laughed, but something about the angry look on his face told me it wasn't a kind laugh.

“Then do you wanna watch me play?” Derrick asked them.

“I said no,” said the guy in the green jacket angrily. “Or is your little retard brain not understand what 'no' means?”

When I heard the “R” word, my fingers became fists. The smile on my face was gone. I hated that word. I knew how much it hurt my brother, and I could see it on his face. Derrick looked down at his sandcastle sadly.

“I don't like that word –”

“So, what's wrong with you, retard?” the guy in the green jacket demanded. “Why don't you come to school with us? Is it true what they say? That you touched that little preschooler? Is that why we don't ever see you around –”

“Stop now,” said Derrick. His voice was starting to get shaky. He put his hands on his ears. “Please, just go away –”

“Hey, leave my brother alone!” I finally found my voice, but it sounded more like a squeak when it came out of me.

“Or what?”

The mean guy in the green jacket jumped into the sandbox and stomped all over the castle. Derrick screamed like he'd touched a hot frying pan and started crying. He closed his eyes, rocking back and forth.

The mean guy's friends clapped their hands, laughing loudly and slapping their knees. They were laughing so loudly that they woke up the woman on the bench. I looked at her for help, but she got up and pushed her cart out of the playground.

“Okay, guys, this is getting old.” The girl wasn't laughing anymore. She looked worried, and her eyes said that she was sorry. She pulled on her friend's green jacket. “Come on, let's get outta – oh my god!”

Derrick tried to get out of the sandbox, but he lost his balance. He fell backwards and knocked into the girl's legs lightly. The girl didn't even budge, but she shrieked like my brother was some kind of scary vampire.

“Did you just try to touch my girl, retard?”