Page 55 of Smitten with the Single Dad

“He hit you and hurt you after you said no to a kiss. So, I mean, he kind of had it coming. Right?” Jake said. “Hitting women is what cowards do. That’s what Dad says. Brave men just accept the ‘no’ and move on. We all have to learn to deal with and accept rejection. I’m not going to like everyone and not everyone is going to like me, and we need to be okay with that.”

“I don’t like Barnacle at school. But I don’t hit him. Or try to kiss him,” Griffon said. “If he tried to kiss me, I’d simply say, ‘no, thank you’ and hopefully that would be enough. I wouldn’t want to have to kill him because he kept trying to kiss me. Or hit me because I said no.”

“That’s not what happened,” Vica said quickly. Oh boy, this conversation took a very tight turn she wasn’t prepared for. “The man was my boss. Since I worked at the company, he let me know that he wanted to kiss me. I always said no. I always said I only see him as my boss and not a boyfriend. Then, when he tried to kiss me the other night and I said no, he hit me. I tried to get away. He pulled my hair and hit me again. I fought back. My brother taught me how to defend myself. So I did, and I hit my boss. Only, I hit him in a place that would make him let go of me and give me time to get away.”

“Where?” Griffon asked, totally enthralled by Vica’s story.

“In the throat.”

“Oh. Man, I thought you were going to say penis.”

“I hit him there too, but that didn’t kill him. So I punched him here in the throat. It broke a very important bone in his neck,” she pointed to exactly where she struck Track, “and stopped him from being able to breathe, and he died. I didn’t mean for him to die. I meant for him to let go of me so I could get away.”

The boys were staring at her, unblinking now.

Her phone buzzed on her lap.

Thank god.

“Your dad says it’s okay for you to come in. Your grandpa doesn’t know who your dad is—he thinks he is an army buddy of his named Steve, but you being there shouldn’t upset him.”

They all unbuckled their belts and climbed out of the truck. She met them around at the rear of the truck after locking it up, and held them back with her hands on their chests as a car came whipping through the parking lot too quickly.

“Slow down!” Griffon yelled at the driver. “This isn’t the freeway, you know!”

The driver’s window was down, and the driver nearly hit a parked car when he hung his head out the window to glance back to see who yelled at him.

Vica had to keep herself from laughing and rolled her lips inward.

They reached the front doors of the seniors’ home, where Wyatt met them. “Now, Grandpa thinks I’m an old friend from the army. So you guys can just be my kids or something. Okay? Just play along. Pretend it’s a game like you guys play when you make up different names and stuff.”

“Oh, oh! Can I be Voltron the Conqueror?” Griffon asked.

“No.”

“You’re no fun.”

Wyatt and Vica exchanged looks, and his eyes twinkled with amusement. They reached a bedroom door that was open just a crack. “Hey, Peter,” Wyatt said. “Remember these guys?”

“Is that Ronnie and Donnie?” Wyatt’s dad asked. “Wow, they’ve gotten big.”

“Ronnie and Donnie?” Griffon said under his breath. “Those names suck.”

“Just play along,” Jake encouraged. “And remember to call him ‘Mr. McEvoy’, not ‘Grandpa.’”

Griffon made a noise of discontent in his throat, but didn’t argue.

“And Elora,” Peter went on, slowly standing up from his chair and coming to Vica where he hugged and kissed her on the cheek. “You look lovelier than ever.”

Vica smiled at Wyatt’s dad. “It’s nice to see you again, Peter.”

Griffon gave Vica a confused look. “You’ve never met him before,” he said under his breath.

“We’re pretending, remember?” she reminded.

“Oh, right.”

“We were in the neighborhood and wanted to come and check in on you,” Wyatt said. “But I left these crazies in the car until I knew you were awake.”

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