Chapter 7
Thorne I hung up the phone and looked for Lissa in the small apartment. My apartment was a studio, so the only place I wouldn’t see anyone was the bathroom. Here, she had several rooms to hide in. Once she was doing pushups behind the couch. I almost tripped over her when I went to the washroom.
“Lissa?” I called.
“Here.” Her voice came from the bedroom.
I was able to walk on the boot without my crutches for short distances. I’d be able to move without them next week. The doctor told me I could ditch the crutches earlier, but I wanted a smooth recovery.
I popped my head into the bedroom where she was folding her laundry. “Hey Lissa,” I smiled at her and widened my eyes.
She looked over, and she frowned. “What do you want?”
“Oh, why would I want anything?”
“You’re giving me a full puppy dog look.”
I grinned. “Can you play basketball?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Yes.”
“Will you sub in for me?” I waited for her answer, but she just stared. “It’s at the park two blocks over. I play with some guys in the neighborhood sometimes.”
“And you want me to play for you? Right now?”
“In an hour and yes.” I put on the puppy dog face again. “It’ll be fun. I’ll cheer for you.”
She put down what she was holding and pursed her lips. “I can play, but not well. You still want me to do this?”
I limped over and grabbed her arm, shaking her. “Yes. It’ll be fun.”
She rolled her eyes and sighed. Got her. “Sure, I’ll play. But you owe me.”
“I owe you everything. I might as well buy you a house so we’re even.”
“I want one with a balcony.” She shooed me away. “Let me get dressed.”
Forty-five minutes later, we walked over to the basketball courts. This neighborhood had a mix of old brick duplexes, townhomes, and industrial buildings turned into condos or apartments. Because of the neighborhood’s age, the trees were all full-grown, providing shade as we walked.
As we approached the park, I heard the sounds of children playing, basketballs bouncing on the court, and the pops of tennis balls hitting rackets.
Two basketball courts sat on the corner closest to our apartment.
Next to it was the playground, filled with kids playing in the afternoon, probably waiting for dinner.
Behind both were two tennis courts with a small garden behind those.
When we arrived several of the guys in the neighborhood came over, and I introduced them to Lissa.
“Thorne, man, I thought you died. Hadn’t seen you in a month,” Evan said. He was an engineer that lived nearby. He was almost as tall as Lissa and rarely missed a three-pointer.
“Awe, you broke your leg. Poor baby,” Mateo said, ruffling my hair. “Where did you find this fine specimen to replace you?”
Mateo scooped up Lissa’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Can you replace him altogether?” he asked. He was tall, dark, and handsome, like he was built to model fine Italian suits.
“Hey.” I slapped his hand away from Lissa’s. “I bet your wife would like that.”
“Jealous of my ability to pull women?” Mateo liked to talk trash. We had to stop all the fights he’d managed to start with his mouth while playing. If it really went too far, we’d call his wife, and she’d pull him away by his ears.
Lissa wiped the back of her hand on my shirt.
“Hey.” I looked at her.
“I don’t want his spit on me.” She grinned at Mateo and then winked at me.
“My heart,” Mateo said with his hands over his heart as he faked a fall.
“Idiots. Let’s play,” Evan said. “Three on three. Here comes the competition.”
The other pick-up team walked up. They were either high school or college aged. I couldn’t tell. I settled onto a bench and watched as they started the game.
Lissa played better than she claimed. She wasn’t as coordinated as the others, but I suspected she’d get better the more she played.
Every time she scored, she looked over at me, and I’d cheer louder.
The college kids were a bit hesitant playing with her at first, like they weren’t sure if they could go all out.
Within ten minutes, they realized she would walk all over them if they didn’t push back.
In the end, our team managed to squeak by with the win.
“Hey man.” Evan walked up after the game as I climbed to my feet. “Maybe we should permanently replace you with Lissa.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, punching Evan in the arm.
“Play nice.” Mateo popped us both in the head. “Lissa, good game.”
“Thanks.” She fist-bumped Mateo and Evan. “It was fun. Surprised we won though. Youse covered my ass.”
“We’re gonna get drinks,” Evan said. “You all in?”
“No. I try not to drink the night before a shift.” She looked at me. “You can go if you want. No judgement.”
“Why do I feel judged?” I asked Mateo.
Lissa rolled her eyes. “I just know how I feel the next day. Do what you want. You’re a grown man.”
“I’ll skip out this time, fellas.” I slapped hands and fist bumped my friends and turned to walk with Lissa.
“I had fun. Thanks for inviting me.” Lissa walked beside me and moved the basketball between her hands. “I hadn’t played in a while. I did better than expected.”
I smiled and hobbled along on the crutches. “You did good. The more you play, the faster you’ll catch up with our playing level.”
“I don’t think I’ll play that much.”
“Maybe. Will you come watch me play when I’m better?”
She laughed. “Maybe.”
We walked in silence for a block when she suddenly stopped.
I turned to look back at her. “What?”
She looked down at the ball in her hand, eyes wide. “We didn’t bring a ball.”
“That’s Evan’s,” I said at the realization.
“Wait here. I’ll see if he’s still there.”
I nodded and laughed as she ran down the block. I could have walked back with her, but she looked good when she ran. The way her hair waved back and forth from her pony tail was too cute.
“Hawthorne?” A voice behind me brought me back to reality. I knew that voice. It wasn’t one I wanted to hear anytime soon.
My smile dropped, and I looked over at him. “Milo,” I said in a flat voice.
He smirked. “I thought it was you. How have you been?”
“Good.” I blinked and looked around, hoping to find something, anything to distract him with.
“What happened to your leg? Is it broken?”
“Ankle’s broken.”
“Do you need someone to take care of you?” He stepped forward and put his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off.
“Nah. I’m good.”
“Well, you’re still handsome. Maybe we should hang out sometime soon.”
I heard the pounding of footsteps behind me. “I’m back. He was there.” Lissa slowed to a stop behind me. “Oh, hello.”
“Hello. I’m Milo.” He stuck his hand out, and Lissa shook it without looking at my pinched face.
“Lissa.” She looked at me, and her smile faltered, and she pulled her hand free from Milo’s.
“How do you know Hawthorne?” Milo asked.
“Hawthorne?” Lissa scoffed. “We work together. Partners on the same truck.”
“Oh. Is it hard working with someone so clumsy?” Milo’s smirk turned into the false concern he’d perfected long before we’d met.
“Clumsy? Thorne isn’t clumsy.”
“He broke his ankle.”
“A chimney fell on him. That’s not clumsy. That’s not running faster than gravity can pull down bricks.” Lissa stepped closer to me and looked Milo up and down with a slight sneer.
“Oh,” Milo said. “He was always a little clumsy when we were together.”
I rolled my eyes. I was never clumsy and the audacity of him to even suggest it boiled my blood.
Lissa looked at me. “Okay.”
“Well, we were leaving,” I cut in and motioned for Lissa to follow me.
Milo grabbed my arm. “Wait. Would you like to have dinner sometime?”
I stared him straight in the eyes. “No.”
My crutches couldn’t carry me fast enough away from that man. Lissa caught up easily and didn’t say anything until we were inside the apartment. I landed hard on the couch with a sigh as I leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
“So we hate him, right?” she asked.
“Yes.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
She leaned toward me. “He your ex-boyfriend?”
“Yes.” I could feel the pout form on my face, and I couldn’t stop it.
“I didn’t know you liked men.” She sat on her feet and waited.
“I’m bisexual.”
“We’ve been partners for almost two years, and I never knew this.”
“It doesn’t really come up in conversation. Plus, we’ve only just begun to talk about personal things in our lives over the last month. Not like you’ve told me you’re sexual preference.”
She nodded. “Hum. I’m straight. Since we’re sharing.”
“Are you okay with me being bi?”
Lissa raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I’m okay with it. Should I not be? Has anyone given you a hard time at the station? Let me know, and I’ll take care of it.”
I smiled. This might be the first time she’d ever been defensive over me. It made me feel warm inside. “No one’s said anything. Don’t think they care.”
“Good.” She sat back and crossed her arms as well. “So why do we hate Milo?”
I took a deep breath. “He treated me like a trophy, not like a person.”
“He wanted you to be pretty?”
“He wanted me to be pretty and stupid. I swear that man wants a himbo for a partner. He would get so angry and try to embarrass me when I knew anything he didn’t know.”
Memories started to flood my brain of him shushing me when we ate dinner with his friends or colleagues.
How I’d mention something from a book I was reading, and he’d pat my head and say, “That’s nice.
” In the end, no amount of good sex took away the emotional neglect he’d tried to convince me was normal.
“Is he why you don’t share the tidbits of knowledge?”
I nodded. “He told me I didn’t need to prove I was smart or that I didn’t have to share everything that I thought out loud. Eventually I stopped. I figured everyone felt that way.”
“No one feels that way but him. I like the random facts. Though I’d be careful. I think he’s still interested in you.”
I gagged. “I’m not interested. I dated him for too long the first time.”
Lissa rubbed my shoulder. “Let me know if you want me to run interference.”
“Thanks,” I said and let out a breath that seemed to get rid of all the tightness in my shoulders. Lately, just being close to her helped me relax. “I really mean it.”
“Anytime.”