10. Presley
“Where is he?”
Principal Sturges holds up his hands to stop me as I charge into the main office. “The nurse is checking him out. Ms. King, I think you need?—”
“What I need is to see my nephew.” I dart around him and storm in the direction of the nurse’s office.
“I was going to say, I think you need to tell me more about the kids who are bullying Avery.”
My shoes skid to a stop, and I glance back at Mr. Sturges. “Thought you were going to tell me to calm down.”
He grimaces. “I have a wife. I know better than to tell a woman to calm down.”
I blow out a breath and run my fingers through my hair. “I’m sorry. I just don’t know how to help him. He doesn’t want to be a snitch, and I know that’d only make things worse for him. But I can’t stand by and watch him get hurt like this. I’m out of my depths here. I don’t know what else to do.”
I came running as soon as I got the call from Mr. Sturges that Avery had been hurt. Luckily, my boss let me cancel my last library class and leave early.
“I called the counselor, Mrs. Landry. She’s in there with Avery now. She’ll be able to offer some helpful advice, as she has a lot of experience with situations like this.” Mr. Sturges lowers his voice. “But I need to know who the boys are. I have a school to run, and this kind of behavior is unacceptable. It’s my duty to put a stop to it.”
I nod. “I’ll talk to him.”
I peek my head into the room, and spot Avery sitting in the chair beside Nurse Nancy’s desk. When he turns his head toward me, holding an ice pack over his right eye, I swallow down the bile climbing up my throat. I need to stay calm, for his sake.
But when he lowers the ice pack and I see the swollen, bruised skin around his eye, I lose all my cool.
I kneel down in front of him and pull him into my arms, squeezing him tight. Tears sting my eyes. “Are you okay?”
His voice is muffled against my shoulder. “I’m okay.”
“What happened?” I pull back and cradle his face in my hands. “Was it the same group of boys again?”
He nods. “They followed me into the bathroom. Two of them held me back while the other one hit me.”
Those little shits.
The woman sitting beside Avery leans forward and holds out her hand. “Hi, Ms. King. I’m Monique Landry, the school counselor.”
I shake her hand, blinking back the tears. “Hi.”
“I’ve been talking with Avery, and he said this has been going on since September.”
“He hasn’t wanted to disclose who the students are, because he’s afraid they’ll come for him even harder if he gets them into trouble.” I glance at Avery. “But we’ve tried it your way, and now it’s time to try a different tactic.”
Monique nods. “It’s common for students to retaliate after they get in trouble for their actions. But Avery, it’s their actions that got them into trouble—not you. You have every right to stand up for yourself and put a stop to this.”
“They won’t stop.” Avery’s voice is flat. “They’re never going to stop.”
He’s not wrong. From what I’ve seen growing up, the only thing that’ll stop a bully in his tracks is when someone bigger and stronger puts him in his place. But that’s not Avery.
Monique turns her attention to me. “I explained to Avery that we can’t lose hope. Things can always change; things can always get better. He’s not alone in this.”
“No, you’re not alone.” I squeeze his knee. “We’re going to figure out a solution together.”
I just don’t know what that solution is.
When I pull up to the curb at home, Alyssa flies out of the back seat. “Chance is here!”
I can’t help the way my heart skips a beat at the sight of him sitting on my porch, but my head falls back against the headrest with a groan. After everything with Avery today, I don’t have the energy for my love life—or lack thereof.
“Looks like he brought dinner,” Avery says beside me.
“Thank God, because I was not in the mood to cook tonight.”
Avery’s eyebrows pinch together. “You don’t have to cook every night, you know.”
“It’s important to me to make sure you and your sister are eating healthy foods.” I hike a shoulder. “Your mom hated fast food.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “We don’t expect you to be like mom.”
“I just want to do right by you guys. I want to do right by her.” My bottom lip trembles as I struggle to keep it together. “Sometimes it feels like I’m failing.”
“You aren’t failing. I’m really glad we have you, Aunt Pres.”
A lone tear rolls down my cheek and I lean over the console to wrap my nephew in a hug. “Thanks, kid. I’m really glad I have you too.”
He gestures out the window. “Let’s go save your friend from Alyssa.”
I chuckle, and some of the tension rolls off my shoulders.
Alyssa pops up when I get to the bottom of the stairs. “Aunt Presley, Chance brought us Thai food. There’s shrimp and noodles and vegetables. And he said he would listen to me play the trumpet after dinner.”
Avery scrunches up his nose. “That’s because he doesn’t know how awful you are at it.”
Alyssa plants her hands on her hips. “That’s not kind, Avery.”
“Be nice to your sister.” I hand Avery the house key as I lug my work bag up the stairs. “Go inside and set the table.”
The kids head into the house, and my eyes trail up Chance’s tall frame until I’m met with his dark gaze. “You really didn’t have to?—”
“What happened to Avery’s eye?”
I let out a long exhale. “Some kids are bullying him at school.”
“And they put their hands on him?”
I nod.
He crosses his arms over his chest. “What is the school doing about this?”
“Avery doesn’t want to rat out the kids bothering him. He’s worried it’ll make them mad.”
“So, you’re just going to sit back and let it keep happening?”
My chin jerks back. “I’m not letting anything happen. But I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here, and I don’t know how to help him. I’d always call my sister for help when I needed advice, but she’s not here so I’m alone, and I’m fucking this all up, and I just don’t know?—”
Chance wraps his arms around me and swallows me in his embrace. My tears soak into his sweatshirt as they spill out. His palm presses against the back of my head, holding me against his warm body like he’s trying to shield me from everything.
“You’re not alone,” he whispers.
Four years ago, I was thrown into a life I had no clue how to manage. I still don’t. It never gets easier. As the kids get older, a new kind of danger presents itself, and it’s different than the last one. Just when you think you have a handle on the first little fire, another one starts up somewhere else. I’m doing my best, but my best doesn’t feel like enough.
I need help.
Chance pulls back just enough to look into my eyes, his thumbs coming up to swipe at my tears. “Let me talk to Avery, and we’ll come up with a plan so that no one will ever lay a finger on him again.”
My chest aches at the reminder that Chance was once in Avery’s shoes. Only, it wasn’t a punk-ass kid putting his hands on him. It was his own father. On top of that, Chance lost his mother at a young age too.
Maybe Chance is the perfect person to help Avery navigate this situation.
I stretch up on my toes to reach him and press a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you for being here. And thank you for dinner.”
He slides my work bag off my shoulder and slings it onto his own. “Anything for you, Presley.”
I stamp down the butterflies swarming my stomach as we step inside the house.
The kids have already ransacked the food. Chance makes me a plate before making one for himself, and he takes the empty seat beside Avery.
Avery keeps his head down, keeping his bruised eye turned away from us.
“Do you know how to defend yourself?” Chance asks.
No lead up to the conversation; he dives right in. That’s how Chance is. He doesn’t speak much, but when he does, it’s about something important.
Avery shakes his head. “Wouldn’t matter anyway. There are three of them and one of me.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to take all three of them at once.” Chance dabs the corner of his mouth with a napkin. “Go for the leader. There’s always a leader.”
“Austin.” Avery’s eyes dart from me to Chance. “He’s the leader, and the other two are his minions.”
Chance nods. “After dinner, I’m going to teach you how to throw a punch.”
Alyssa’s eyes fly to me. “Can he teach me too?”
I clasp her hand. “Another time. Let Chance focus on Avery right now.”
Maybe my sister wouldn’t want her kids learning how to fight. Maybe it’s wrong to teach them. But I refuse to let anyone cause harm to my niece and nephew. If I can’t punch this Austin asshole in the face myself, then I’m sure as shit going to let Avery do it.
“We don’t start fights,” Chance says. “But we can be ready for them.”
Something flashes in Avery’s eyes, and he sits up a little straighter in his chair.
“Were you ever bullied?” Alyssa asks.
Chance nods. “The boys at my high school used to beat me up in the locker room every day before practice.”
Avery’s eyebrows shoot up. “The boys on your team?”
He nods. “Yup.”
My heart hurts for him. I know how much he hates talking about his past, but I appreciate him talking to the kids about it.
As soon as they finish eating, Chance takes Avery into the basement. Alyssa insists on following, and I’m curious too, so we end up sitting on the couch to watch.
Chance holds up his fist in front of Avery. “Make a fist like this. Never tuck your thumb inside, or you’ll break it.”
Avery balls his hands into fists, and when Chance holds up his palms, Avery throws a couple of punches.
“Step into it,” Chance says, demonstrating with a punch into the air. “Put your body weight behind it, and don’t lock your elbow.”
He shows Avery how to block his face, and dodge an incoming attack. The more he learns, the more confident my nephew appears. There’s a new determination behind his eyes that wasn’t there an hour ago.
Halfway through the lesson, Chance reaches behind his neck and pulls off his sweatshirt, leaving him in a plain black T-shirt. I catch a flash of his incredibly muscular torso as his shirt rides up with his sweatshirt before he tugs it down, but that flash is all it takes for my skin to heat.
I remember what this man looks like without clothes on; what he looks like crawling on top of me, settling between my thighs; what he looks like when he comes.
My chest heaves with shallow breaths, and I remove my own hoodie.
Chance arches a brow, no doubt reading me like a book. “You okay over there?”
My cheeks burn. “It’s just getting a little warm in here.”
Chance smirks before returning his attention to the lesson.
Avery does everything Chance shows him, and even I learn a few things that I didn’t know about throwing a punch. It breaks my heart that Chance had to learn all this in order to defend himself in his own house, whether it be from his dad or from his many different foster parents after his father was put in jail, but I’m so grateful that he’s here right now to help.
At eight o’clock, I tell the kids it’s time to take showers and get ready for bed.
Before Avery darts upstairs, he throws his arms around Chance’s waist and hugs him tight. “Thank you for helping me.”
Chance heaves a long sigh and rests his chin on top of Avery’s head. “Anytime.”
“Do you think...” Avery pauses, pulling back. “Do you think we could do this again sometime?”
My chest aches. Chance’s eyes flick to mine before answering. “Of course, if that’s okay with your aunt.”
Avery graces us with a wide grin, and I swallow a gasp at the sight of it. He hasn’t smiled much since he lost his mom, and it has been my mission to put one on his face any chance I can get.
Alyssa says goodnight to Chance and bounds up the stairs, leaving me alone with him.
I wring my hands in front of my body. “I can’t thank you enough for helping Avery tonight.”
He reaches out and covers my hands with his. “He shouldn’t have to go through this alone, and neither should you.”
I nod, glancing down at our connection. “I’ve been doing it alone all this time.”
“You chose to.” I can hear the resentment in his voice when he says it.
“You’re living your dream.” I hike a shoulder. “Look how wonderful your life is.”
“None of it matters, Presley. It never did. Not when it came to you.”
His words sink into my chest, wrapping around my heart.
“Did you even miss us?” he asks, his voice quiet, and I don’t miss the fact that he’s asking about Stephen too.
“Of course, I did.” Tears sting my eyes, and emotion thickens in my throat. “I hated not being a part of your lives. I watched every one of your games just to get a glimpse of you, trying to hold onto the memories. It killed me to lose you, but?—”
Chance walks me backward and presses me against the door, his large hands coming up to cradle my face. His dark eyes are wild as they bounce between mine, his chest heaving with shallow breaths.
“I would’ve given it all up to help you. You didn’t have to go through that alone. You didn’t have to push me away. And as long as I’m breathing, you will never be alone again. Do you understand?”
A tear rolls down my cheek as I nod, swallowing a sob.
He brushes it away with his thumb. “Use your words, Pres. Let me know that you hear me when I say that I’m here for you now.”
“Yes,” I whisper. “I understand.”
“Good.” He presses his lips to my cheek, centimeters from where I really want his mouth to be. “I’m going to take care of this bullying problem. Then you’re going to let me know what else you need help with, and I’m going to take care of those problems too. And when you’re back on your feet and you feel like you can breathe again, we’re going to have a conversation about what you want in life—for you , not for the kids, and not for anyone else.”
“W-why?” is all I can ask, because my tears are threatening a flood, and I can’t trust my own voice.
Why is he helping me?
Why does he still care after all this time?
“Because I’ve missed you too. And I don’t plan on going back to a life without you in it.”