I dive toward Rich’s gun and wrap my hand around its cold, heavy body, and AJ looks up right as I point it at him.
His eyes widen.
“Are you serious right now?” he chokes out as a dribble of blood trickles out his nose. “Where the fuck did you get a gun from?”
I push up from the floor.
“You…you’re gonna shoot me, Lovie? That’s what you’re gonna do? You never even held a gun in your life.”
For the first time in five years, I see fear in his eyes. They follow the barrel of the gun as it shakes in my trembling hand.
“You need to put that down.” He scoffs. “Any…anything could happen. It could misfire. You don’t know how to handle a gun.”
“You need to get on your knees.”
“Are you fuckin serious right now?” he shrieks.
“As serious as you were two minutes ago when you had your hands around my throat. Get down.”
He eases down one leg at a time.
I swipe my bloody nose against my sweater. “Now call Blake.”
He holds his hands out, backing away on his knees. “Lovie?—”
“Shut up.”
“Put the fuckin gun down.”
“I’m not putting anything down. I said, ‘Call Blake.’”
“Call him for what?” he shrieks.
“We…we need to have one of those meetings with him.” I sniffle. “You know the ones we used to have with him after you’d beat me down into nothing and then call him to fix it. I…I want one of those meetings.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea?—”
“Look at us, AJ. We’re a mess. You’re bleeding. I’m bleeding.”
His eyes soften and he nods with his trembling mouth hanging open.
“Call him,” I urge.
“You need to put the gun down first. It’s easy, Lovie. Just put it down.”
I shake my head. “I can’t. I…I can’t do that. My brain isn’t the same, AJ. I’m not the same Lovie I was. I’m different. Look what you did to me.”
“You need to call him…” My voice cracks and tears prickle my eyes. “He can help us work through this.”
He gulps as somebody raps on the door.
“Everything okay in there?” they call out.
I keep my eyes on him, and right when he opens his mouth, I shout, “Yes! Everything’s fine!”
I nod toward his pocket. “Call.”
His hands tremble just as bad as they did the night before he played in his first NFL game. He reaches into the pocket of his sweats and slides his phone out.
