“Thank you, Finn,” she blurts out.
“Don’t thank me yet. Save that until we’ve made even an inch of progress.”
Her laugh is a welcome sound, and I can’t help but let my smile stretch. “Just shut up and take it.”
“You’re welcome,” I sing, already stepping in front of an untouched five-drawer dresser.
“Wanna bet on who can do the most damage?”
“You’re on.”
She joins me and lifts her sledgehammer into the air, her stance similar to the way Kellan stands before swinging his bat. I clear my throat to avoid laughing at her.
“Loser has to buy beer for the team next week,” she adds, completely focused on the dresser.
“I hope you have enough room in your tiny trunk.”
“It won’t matter.”
“We’ll see. Five.”
“Four.”
I tighten my grip on the wooden handle. “Three.”
“Two.” Her eyes pierce into my cheek for a beat.
“One.”
The crack and smash of our sledgehammers into the wood is music to my ears. Yet it’s her howled laughter that matters the most. And if I soften my blows, who’s to know?
Certainly not her.
8
I enda tense call with Lydia and pocket my phone before knocking on Kellan’s front door.
Today was almost a normal Wednesday. It would have been had I not been so fucking furious with Kevin and his team of dipshit lawyers for the majority of my day. Despite already attempting to soil Lydia’s name with their BS claims about her party history and the bald-faced lies in his supposed ex-girlfriend’s letter, they still won’t give it a rest.
Our review hearing in front of the judge has been set for tomorrow for the last month now, but late last night, his lawyer attempted to have it postponed. I’m not sure why, and clearly, they did a terrible job of convincing the judge, because she denied the motion without giving it any thought.
The denial hasn’t settled me, though. I reread her email thirteen times over the course of the day to try and dissect any sort of hint as to what caused the motion in the first place but couldn’t find a damn thing. That only pissed me off even more.
I don’t like being kept out of the loop, especially not when I’m this close to beating this asshole.
I sent my motion for Kevin to take unscheduled alcohol tests outside of visitation hours two hours ago, with an affidavitexplaining how his recent actions of reaching out to intimidate Lydia suggest he might be drinking again. Tomorrow, I’ll nail this fucker to the wall and make sure he’s unable to continue getting away with terrorizing his son and those protecting him.
“Well, look who finally decided to join us!”
I blink and focus on the towering man in front of me. Kellan Pike is almost as wide as his doorway, with trimmed brown hair hidden beneath a baseball cap that almost looks too small for him, and a pair of soft chestnut eyes that you can’t help but stare into. His dimples pop when he grins and pulls me into his body, squeezing me tight.
“Yeah, yeah. I missed you, too,” I grumble into his chest.
“If Finn isn’t getting you tickets for our games, all you gotta do is ask me. We miss you being there.”
“You can’t even tell when I do go to a game,” I counter, pushing free of his heavy arms.
He steps aside for me to step inside. “Yes, I can. It’s all in the energy, baby.”
