Chapter 4
Lila
My alarm blared at the side of my bed. I let out a groan and rolled to the side, hitting the button to silence it.
I sighed, then grabbed my phone.
I already had messages waiting.
Mom – I’m sorry it didn’t work out with Henry. But I did invite Joseph.
Me – Sorry, Mom. Can’t. Got plans with Madalyn and Cole tonight.
Mom – Oh, well, okay then.
And I knew she wasn’t bummed at all.
She had met Cole and Madalyn, and like everyone who had met them, fell head over heels in love with them.
And speaking of Madalyn.
I switched out of my thread with my mom and to the one I had with Madalyn.
Madz – Ready when you are.
Me – Lemme get up, food, then I’ll head your way.
Madz – Sweet.
Then I switched over to my thread with Cole.
Me – You ready for tonight?
Cole – Oh yeah.
Me – Good. And no matter what happens, everyone who loves you is already proud of you. K?
Cole – K.
I placed my phone on my nightstand, got up, made my bed, and then went to the bathroom to do my morning business.
Before I dressed, I checked the weather app.
Perfect weather for football.
I put on a pair of jeans, knee-high boots, and grabbed the long-sleeve white tee I had made.
On the front left breast area in navy blue, it held the number seventy-nine. And on the back of it, again in navy blue, it said, ‘Show my boy your weakness.’
And it had a football right under the lettering.
I put my hair up in a long ponytail.
After I was ready, I ate my usual morning meal of overnight oats. Vanilla Greek yogurt, honey, oats, milk, blueberries, and almond silvers.
Ten minutes later, I took my medicine.
And then I let out a breath when I did the one thing I dreaded the most.
I used an alcohol pad to cleanse the area on my stomach, grabbed the injector with the medicine already in it, pinched the skin, took in a breath, let it out, then I plunged the needle into my skin and hit the depressor.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck Auburn and the horse you rode in on, too.
I cleaned up everything and tossed the injector into the hazmat cube thing I had.
Then I took in a breath.
I got this.
I got this.
I got this.
Just then, my phone pinged.
I pulled it out of my back pocket.
Badass Chicks Thread
Talia – We didn’t talk about plans today.
Talia – What are we doing?
Harlee – No Clue.
Everly – Same.
Tatum – I don’t know.
Cassie – Wait, isn’t the game tonight?
Me – Taking Madalyn shopping, then going to Cole’s game tonight.
Tatum – That’s tonight? The big one, right?
Me – It is.
Tatum – Good. Garrick and I will be there.
Cassie – So will Alec and I and a few of his team members.
Harlee – Carter and I will be there. Mom and Dad are watching the kids. Frank and Misty are going too.
Smiling at my girls and their support, I texted Madalyn.
Me – Leaving my place now.
Madz – Perfect.
I had just closed my car door to head to get Madalyn when my phone pinged with another text.
Mom – I’m going to cancel the dinner plans, Bax and I will go to the game.
Me – That would be real nice, Mama.
Mom – Love you, sun beam.
Me – Love you, too.
It took me twenty minutes to make it to their house.
Now, I had heard through the girls that someone had built a large home on the outskirts of the other side of town.
A home that was five bedrooms, five and a half baths, with a state-of-the-art kitchen, a weight room, a pool, a hot tub, and a five-car garage.
I had seen pictures as it was being built.
But nothing could have prepared you for the actual sight of it.
And what a sight it was.
I wanted to move in here and pull a Tom Cruise moment by wearing a long-sleeve white button-down, sunglasses, and black knee-high socks, and slide across the floor.
That was my only thought the first time Bronson had held dinner here at his house a few weeks ago for the group.
I had just shut my car off and climbed out when the right side of the French doors opened, and there were Madalyn, Cole, and Bronson.
I smiled as Madalyn raced to me.
“Ready?” she asked with an excited clap.
I nodded, “You?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Cole clasped his hands and bowed before me, “Thank you, oh great one.”
I snickered, “Hush.”
Bronson chuckled, Madalyn shrugged, “I was excited.”
“Need me to take you to the field?” I asked.
Cole shook his head, “Nah, Dad’s drop...”
We all turned to look at him.
Only I saw his eyes trained on my shirt.
I smiled. “What do you think?”
He swallowed.
I turned and let him read the back.
And the moment I was sure he was finished reading it, I turned back around, just in time to brace.
Because Cole launched his body into mine and wrapped me up in a tight embrace.
And I wouldn’t ever talk about the wet tear I felt trailing down the side of my neck.
I pressed a kiss to the side of his head, and squeezed him back once, then let him go.
He pulled away and sniffed once.
I winked at him, then I looked at Bronson, “I’ll keep you posted.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything.
Once Madalyn and I were in the car, I winked at her, then hit the playlist I had created when we had one of our shopping days.
And in the car on the way to the shops, Madalyn looked over at Lila and smiled, all the while praying, ‘Don’t let anything take her away from us. Please.’
***
Meanwhile, back at Bronson Adams Estate.
“She’s something else,” Bronson whispered.
“Yeah. She really is.” Cole whispered back.
***
We were at our fourth store of the day, and both of our stomachs were growling.
I winked, “Food?”
She nodded eagerly, “Think we can go to Gushers?”
I snickered at the name. Again.
Madalyn followed suite and then we were both in full-blown hysterics.
We had just opened the door to Gushers when Harlee’s dad, Pete, tossed someone out on their ass.
I looked at him and asked, “What did he do?”
“Handed the new waitress a hundred-dollar bill and told her to strip.”
I winced, “Yeah, that will do it.”
He winked, “I know.”
After we sat down and got our orders, Madalyn looked at me and asked, “So I know we know your mom and Bax. But what about your dad?”
I looked at her, “Do you really want to know? It’s not a pretty story.”
She nodded, “Yeah. I would. You're awesome.”
I smiled, “So are you.”
Then I swallowed.
Then I told her about how my dad was.
Alcohol.
Drugs.
Other women.
I told her about that holiday.
I told her about the dishwasher incident.
Then I told her something I’ve never told a single soul.
“Sometimes, at night, I lay awake in fear. Because some mornings when I woke up, my panties were askew. I knew it was my dad. Because I had pretended to be asleep one night when he came in.” I shivered at the memory.
I wasn’t going to tell her anything more than that.
I wasn’t going to tell her about the Polaroid camera he used.
I wasn’t going to tell her about the sick, twisted gleam in his eyes, I had been foolish enough to catch once without him knowing.
Madalyn’s mouth was open. “Are you serious?”
I nodded.
“Can I sic dad on him?” she asked with a growl.
I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye, which I hadn’t realized had fallen, and chuckled, “My stepdad already has something on him. But should it ever fail, I’ll let you sic your dad on him, okay?”
She nodded.
“No one else knows about that. Do they?” she asked.
I shook my head, “No.”
Madalyn swallowed, then in a low tone, she asked, “Can you keep a secret?”
I leaned in and whispered, “Of course.”
She swallowed. “Noone knows this, but umm,” she swallowed again, “Before dad got full custody of us, my mom let her boy toy at the time into my room. If it hadn’t been for something falling in the house, I.
..” she swallowed then wiped a tear from the corner of her cheek, “hate to think about what could have happened that night.”
“Now, I will suggest we sic your dad on him along with Ethan, Garrick, Carter, Dominik, Alec, and every member of his teams,” I growled.
“Whoa, who pissed you off?” Darla, Harlee’s mother, asked as she placed our food down on the table in front of us.
I snickered, “Men. Who else?”
She nodded, “Oh, the bane of our existence.”
I giggled, then I looked at Madalyn, reached over and placed my hand over hers, “I mean this from the very bottom of my soul, sweetheart. If you ever see that man again, point him out to me, because I can think of no better person to go to prison for.”
At my words, her eyes widened, and then they softened, “Do you know that I love you?”
Oh, be still my scarred heart.
“Only if you know that I love you too.”
She smiled widely.
Good.
We were good.
Then she sighed and looked at me, “Is everything okay?”
She bit her lip and hesitantly asked, “I need a favor.”
I nodded, “Anything.”
***
Half an hour later, I loaded her down with everything she needed. Tampons. Chocolate. Midol. A heating pad.
And I walked her through how to insert a tampon and what not to do.
***
Madalyn and I had just dropped her bags off at their house, she changed into a pair of jeans and an old sweatshirt of her brother’s, and then we headed to the football stadium.
After we paid, we headed to the concession stand and loaded ourselves up like we always did so we wouldn’t miss a single play.
We moved through the throng of people to find our seats.
Just as I heard, “Lila!”
I looked up and smiled.
Three entire rows were taken up by our group.
Frank, Misty, Carter, Harlee, Dominik, Talia, Alec, Cassie, Wolf, Dalton, Jekyll, Hyde, Everly, Ethan, Melanie, my mom, and Bax, Garrick, Tatum, and Bronson, along with the guys who work for Dominik and Garrick, as well as a few of the guys from Bronson’s gym.
We made our way up, and then I sat down beside Bronson after he pointed at me to sit beside him. Madalyn took the spot beside me.
“I need one of those shirts.” Harlee chuckled as she read it.
“Sorry, Ms. Harlee. But yours will have to say something else on the back. We’re hers.” Madalyn said.
And then I felt every pair of eyes on me, and I smiled, then I bumped my shoulder with hers.