I barely get my shirt over my head when he texts back.
Declan:I want to tell them too.
Abbott:But the idea makes you itch a bit, huh?
Declan: Hell yeah. She’s gonna make it a whole thing. Ma is all big emotions, all the time. Especially where love is concerned.
Abbott:So am I.
Declan:Sigh. Meet me at their place at five?
Abbott:
I grin as I drop my phone on the bench and finish getting dressed. That grin is still plastered over my face as I step out into the muggy air and blazing sun. Briggs is by my car, clearly waiting for me.
“Wanted to talk a minute. In private.” He looks serious and kind of contrite as he shifts from foot to foot and scratches at his scruffy beard.
“It’s okay, Briggs.” I smile. “But you’re a good guy for checking in.”
“I know if you hadn’t had that fight, I wouldn’t be getting the C,” Briggs says. “And I’m going to push for you to get an A. I know you’re a leader and the guys respect you and you deserve it. Honestly maybe even more than I do.”
“I appreciate that.” I grab his shoulder for a second and squeeze. “But I don’t think I even want the C at the moment. And I have the utmost confidence in you, old man.”
He snorts out a laugh. “Fuck you. I’m not that old.”
“Keep telling yourself that. Especially tonight while you’re icing every joint.” I wink and walk by him. He walks away after swearing at me jovially one last time.
I jump in my car and am buckling my seat belt when my phone rings. It’s Aspy. I pick it up through my Bluetooth. I open my mouth to greet her but the car fills with her sobs. Deep, guttural sounds and my body grows cold. “Aspen? Are you okay? Is Andie okay?”
“Filed. Court… Custody… Served.”
“What? Where are you? What happened. Take a breath and use more words. Are you okay? Is it Andie?” I grip the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles are white.
There’s more sobbing. And then I hear Javi. “Abbott, your parents served Aspen with paperwork. They filed for custody of Andie.”
“No. No fucking way!” I bellow so loud that if Briggs was still in the parking lot he would have heard me, even with my windows up and engine idling. “Those fucking assholes.”
“She’s freaking out, Abbott.” Javi sounds helpless and panicked. I have to think this might be bringing up some PTSD for him and his own family issues. “There’s a note with the paperwork. They say this can still be amicable and to meet them at the Waves Resort to discuss if we want to avoid a messy, public display.”
“What do I do Abbott?” Aspen’s voice fills the car again. It’s shaking just like I’m sure her entire body is.
“I’ll meet them,” I tell her. “Tonight. With my lawyer. You will stay put with Javi and Andie. I will not let them take her or even touch a hair on her head, Aspy. I swear to you.”
“I love you, Abbott.”
“I love you too.”
I hang up and call my lawyer, who handles sports contracts but he’s got to know a guy who does family law. At least he better because if not, I’m fucked.
22
DECLAN
Ma and Dadare looking at me with concern and sympathy that makes me want to crawl out of my own skin. I run a hand through my hair out of habit. It was longer for so long that it became a reflex to shove it out of my way in moments of annoyance, but it’s not there anymore. I was actually at the hairdresser getting it cut when Abbott texted me that he wanted to tell my parents about us.
I didn’t do it for him, I remind myself. Well, not entirely for him. I hated my shaggier hair. I missed my neat, clean look and how it made me feel like I was put together and in control. But I’m not. Abbott is steering the ship that is my heart and it seems like once again, he’s doing it with the skill of the guy who steered the Titanic.
Ma gets up from the kitchen table and walks over to the fridge. She’s wearing a green cotton sundress that falls just below her knees and a pair of strappy, flat sandals. Despite being barely five feet tall I have never seen my mother in heels. Ever. She says they’re fussy and she’s not a fussy woman. She pulls out a dish of my favorite marinated chicken thighs and says, “Charlie, can you fire up the barbecue? My boy needs some sustenance.”
