“He also knows we’re friends,” he says, disgust at the word lacing his tone. “He should also know that the last thing we would want to do is fight each other.”
I shake my head. I get Brawler’s suspicion. Johnny doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to me. No, I haven’t forgotten the bruising and the physical pain he inflicted, but I’ll maintain that was from a scared boy. Now, he’s a man, coming into his own. He’s not his father’s puppet any longer. He’s not in his father’s shadow, doing as he does. He’ll make his own decisions here on out, and hopefully, that decision will be joining the family I’m trying to build for us. One that will love him for who he is, background scars and all. “I love that you’re concerned,” I tell him. “But I think what happened there was just Johnny falling into a routine. His father asked a question, and he answered truthfully. He didn’t think about the consequences.”
Brawler looks like he wants to argue, but he doesn’t. This fighter has the biggest heart out of everyone I know. He’ll forgive Johnny, eventually. If only because I ask him to, he will.
“Well,” he finally says. “If you’ll stop distracting me. Your phone is in my gym bag. You need to call your aunt before we leave here. I’ve been texting her. I hope that’s okay. I was pretending to be you, but she wants to hear your voice. I figured pretending to be you was better than having her send the police, considering you were gone for a long time.”
I move to my tiptoes to kiss him on the lips. “You’re the best.” I grip his shirt in my hands, tugging him even closer to me. Leaving my phone with Brawler was the best decision I could have made. I knew he would handle it.
I walk out of the office with a weight lifted off my shoulders. Connection is what we all need. A place for us to fit in. To feel like we belong somewhere that’s different than the shitstorm surrounding us.
22
Brawler rocks at texting because for once, the conversation I have with my aunt isn’t strained with accusations about how I’m not talking to them or how they’re worrying about what I’m doing. When I get off the phone with her, I have an actual smile on my face. So different from my normal wave of guilt that plagues me for the rest of the night.
In fact, I’m in such a good mood that I invite everyone over for dinner at my place.
“Um, Princess?”
I turn my head toward Oscar, just knowing by his asshole smirk that he’s two seconds from making me want to slap him. Lovingly, of course. “Yeah?”
“Aren’t you forgetting about Johnny?”
I crack an even bigger smile. “No, in fact, I’m thinking about Johnny and all of us. I’ll make dinner. We’ll watch movies and talk. It’ll be great.”
Brawler gazes at his feet while Oscar still stares at me as if I’ve lost my head. “Johnny isn’t one to have people over.”
“That’s because he’s usually up his dad’s ass. If we want to help him, we have to separate the two. Insert...us.”
“Insert us?” Oscar grins. “That’s your grand plan?” His voice takes on a high-pitched female quality as he says his next words. “Guess what, babe? I found you a new family, and now we can all be together.” He drops his facade. “That’s what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”
I barely contain the laugh bubbling up my throat, but I do. I also step forward and give him a playful shove in the chest. “Yes, asshole. The sooner he finds out he actually likes you guys the better. If he actually likes you guys.”
“Please,” Oscar scoffs. “I’m downright lovable.”
I roll my eyes into the back of my head. Literally. Well, okay, not literally, but I roll them as far as I fucking can. That Drego, always so full of himself. “Then you’ll have no problem winning him over.” I move to peek at Mag. “This is a good idea, right?”
He scratches his scruff. I’m beginning to think he does that when he’s nervous, or thinking, or hell, basically any time. “It could go either way.”
Footsteps approach us, and I glance at Finn who’s come out of the back room with fresh clothes on. They’re about to shut down the gym, and he’s dressed