Chapter 10
Joy
I’m in luck because Bobby is waiting for me in the parking lot. He’s in the driver’s seat, baseball cap pulled low. I doubt anyone would recognize him here, but he can’t be too careful. It’s one of the downsides of being “semi-famous” as he calls himself.
I crawl into the passenger seat. “Let’s go home.”
He doesn’t ask questions, and maybe that’s the best gift anyone could give me tonight. He just starts the vehicle and drives into the night. Even as he follows me up to my apartment, he doesn’t say a word. He only asks about it when we’re finally in the privacy of my living room.
I’m on the couch, arms wrapped around myself. I know the tears are going to hit in a few minutes. Right now, I’m numb, still processing everything that happened tonight.
Bobby takes a seat beside me, leaving a cushion of space between us. “Did someone hurt you?”
I shake my head and give him what I’m sure is a wobbly smile. “I had the best night of my life.”
He frowns. “I’ve seen you happy, and this isn’t it. Do I need to go kick some motherfucker’s ass?”
“Bobby,” I exclaim, “I didn’t know you knew those words.”
He shrugs and doesn’t let it derail the conversation. “All I need is a name. Hunter and I will go kick his ass together.”
I chuckle even as a sob builds in my throat. “Hunter doesn’t even like you.”
“Hunter would help me kick some ass on your behalf,” Bobby is quick to reassure me.
I shake my head, unwilling to talk about tonight. I want to hold the memories to be just mine. But even if I didn’t, I couldn’t reveal Ford’s real identity. As it is, future holidays spent together are going to be awkward.
I’ll always remember what it felt like to be near Ford, to have him hold me in his arms and whisper filthy things as he made me come.
“You know we could figure out who it is. It wouldn’t take much for me and Hunter to get his identity and beat him to a pulp.”
I will myself not to fall apart. Later, after a hot shower, I’ll crawl under my blankets and sob my heart out. But not just yet, not with an audience still present. “Please don’t do that. Give me my privacy. You know what it’s like when your whole life is available to the public.”
Something flickers across his expression, and he finally nods. “I’m staying over tonight.”
“Thank you for being a good friend,” I say softly. I didn’t expect that I would grow to like him so much.
There’s a terrible banging sound. Someone is pounding on my front door. Whoever it is, they managed to get past the doorman.
I exchange a look with him because it’s almost midnight. There’s no one that should be at my door, let alone pounding like a maniac.
Bobby’s jaw tightens. He gets to his feet and sends me a firm look. “Stay there.”
He grabs an umbrella from my foyer and swings open the door. From my seat on the couch, I can’t tell who’s there.
“Who is it, Bobby?” I call as I step around the wall. I can’t stand the idea that he might get hurt on my behalf. He’s been so kind and sweet to me through this whole thing.
Ford is there, and it completely scrambles my brain. I don’t know why he’s here. He’s never once been to my apartment. How did he figure out I was with him tonight?
He takes in my tear-stained face, his expression becoming thunderous. He snarls Bobby’s name and shoves him against the wall. “You made her cry. You don’t deserve the air she breathes.”
Bobby holds up his hands. “Hunter, I wasn’t anywhere near your girl.”
“Ford, put him down,” I call.
“He made you cry. That’s unacceptable,” Ford roars and pulls back his fist like he’s going to punch Bobby.
“You’ve got this wrong, Hunter, Ford, whoever you are,” Bobby insists. He met Hunter recently when Hunter threatened to kick his ass if he proposed to my sister. He doesn’t know that Hunter has two brothers that look just like him. That must be why he keeps calling Ford by Hunter’s name.
