handed to me. I was going to have to work hard for whatever I wanted to be. Huck never let anything slow him down, and he never fell back on excuses even though his life had been as hard, if not harder, than mine. I’d always looked up to him, but even more so now. Even though he’d come home from the bar a few nights ago with busted knuckles, a gnarly scratch across his cheek, and wouldn’t give me a straight answer as to why he was so disheveled, he was still the person I trusted and respected the most in my very flawed world.
Vernon wouldn’t give me an explanation when I asked him if he knew who Huck got into a fight with either, which made me even more curious about what he got up to when I wasn’t around. I thought maybe it was a simple bar fight, and he just didn’t want me to worry, but surprisingly, it was Harlen who dropped the biggest hint that Huck was still protecting me with everything he had.
I was bitching about the fact that I still hadn’t heard from Mercer. She didn’t seem like she was in any hurry to mend the fallen fences between the two of us. She even sent me a text telling me not to come to the shop for the foreseeable future. I was frustrated by the cold shoulder, and I complained that she better not still be seeing Jack when Harlen muttered that there was absolutely no way he was still in the picture. I demanded to know what he meant, but it only took a hard look from him for me to remember Huck’s damaged hands and refusal to fill me in on his injuries. Even though he promised to keep me in the loop with all the decisions he was making for my benefit, he was still doing his best to keep blowback as far away from me as possible.
And the truth was, Mercer needed Jack out of her life entirely for her to move on and heal. I was silently relieved I didn’t have to worry about when he might pop back up and make trouble. My history of terrible luck when it came to the men in my life, aside from Huck, held true. Who else but me would have a one-night stand turn into the type of revenge plot saved for only the best thrillers and suspense novels?
I did remind Huck that we were supposed to share things nowadays and gently asked how he would feel if I came home all banged up and refused to tell him about it. The look on his face when he pictured me coming home as bruised as he was spoke volumes. I was pretty sure I got my point across because he’d been even more attentive than usual. He mentioned that sometimes brute force was the only way to fight against the wealthy. Money might talk, but bare fists and unfiltered rage did an even better job of getting some messages across. Guys like Sawyer and Jack didn’t know what to do when they faced a real fight, which is why they always fought dirty and went after those they thought were weaker than them.
I thought the call that nearly caused me to drop everything would be Huck asking if I wanted to meet up after class. I was surprised to see Mr. Peters’s information on the screen instead. It wasn’t unusual for the landlord to check-in, especially after my mad dash from his home after my breakdown. He really had taken on the role of a surrogate grandfather figure for me, much like he had for the boys I lived with. While it wasn’t weird for the older man to reach out, it was a bit strange he was calling during the week when he knew I was in and out of class. He usually tried to touch base on the weekends when there was a better chance one of us at the house would be free.
I swiped at the screen to answer the call and awkwardly shuffled my notebook into my backpack with one hand. “Hi, Mr. Peters. How are you doing?”
I slung my backpack back over my shoulder and, with a scowl, sidestepped a guy on a longboard when he almost ran me over.
“Actually, I’m not feeling very well today, Ollie. I’m a bit under the weather. I hate to be a bother, but do you think you