Page 30 of Needing Your Love
“He scored!” DJ shrieked, but seeing as how no other Pippen Creek fans were screaming, I realized the opposing team had crossed the goal line. DJ didn’t care. He was having too much fun, and after checking out the field to confirm, I didn’t bother telling him the touchdown wasn’t something to be celebrated.
Still, we exchanged high-fives, and the woman on DJ’s other side gave me an encouraging smile, which caused my chest to puff up the slightest bit.
I knew I did a good thing hanging out with DJ, loved how Sutton seemed to appreciate my actions from afar, but I hadn’t taken the kid under my wing to impress anyone. I honestly enjoyed DJ’s company. He made me laugh more than I had in years, and I’d decided after day one of shooting hoops with himin Gram’s backyard that I would act as his big brother for the duration of my visit to Pippen Creek. My energy matched his, which made his stays at Gram’s easier for her to handle.
The game ended with our town the victor, and the press of people attempting to leave the stadium caused me to lose sight of the chief. The woman on DJ’s other side had clued me in to the fact that lots of folks headed to Frenchie’s after Friday night home games, so I settled a plan in my head for after dropping DJ off at Gram’s.
We hopped in the car, buckled up, and inched our way through the gravel lot toward the exit along with everyone else.
“Dad asked about you and was being all weird.”
I glanced over at DJ. “What do you mean?”
DJ peered out his window, unable to sit still as was his norm. “He was drinking. He’salwayssays stupid stuff when he’s got a beer bottle in his hand.”
A shiver of unease slid down my spine. “Does your dad mind that we’re buddies?”
DJ shrugged. “He didn’t tell me we couldn’t be friends, so I don’t think so? But he doesn’t care what I do. He’s too busy daydreaming about hisgirlfriendto pay attention to me.” The sarcasm and eye roll spoke volumes.
I’d talked to Mary about DJ’s home life, remembering Kurt only a little from back in school as he was a few years ahead of me. He’d been a hothead and got into a lot of fights, one of which I’d witnessed as a freshman.
Kurt hadn’t been great with paying child support after the divorce, and according to Gram, Carrie constantly threatened to take him to court for full custody. It sounded like DJ was nothing but a bargaining chip between them, the constant push and pull taxing on the poor kid as well as Gram. It was why she babysat him whenever she could, the only reason she’d stuck around as long as she had when Florida called her name.
But I noticed how slowly she walked, heard the constant complaints about her brittle, tired bones that would benefit from warmer weather.
What would happen to the boy if she decided to become a snowbird or move permanently out of town where she wouldn’t be a short car ride away?
We rolled forward a few more feet and stopped again, but I was in no rush to rid myself of DJ’s company for Sutton’s. This was the first time the kid had opened up to me, and I loved how he felt safe enough to share his heart. “Who’s your dad’s girlfriend?” I asked, wondering if maybe a solid relationship would help settle Kurt and create some stability for his son.
“He won’t tell me her name, but I know he has one. He’s always stinky like a girl’s perfume.” DJ’s nose wrinkled. “But she smells better than that shit Dad drinks.”
“DJ,” I admonished like Gram would over his language but let it go, my mind full with not only my own issues but the kid’s as well.
More than anything, I wanted to hug the boy’s hurt away, to protect him from the further trauma ahead of him, but I’d learned from experience that while support might make things better for a little while, the deeper issues had to be dealt with personally.
I wanted to fix myself but still hadn’t found the healing I’d hoped for. Walking into Dad’s house had proven there was a shit ton more work to do—and not just with the house’s rehab.
I dropped DJ off at Gram’s, the tug of wanting to escape reality for a while making me refuse her offer to hang out longer. With a promise to pick DJ up again in the morning to help me paint the living room over at Dad’s house, I slipped back out into the chilly night, my heart racing.
Frenchie’s called out to me from afar, so I slid my confident, laid-back mask into place and headed downtown.
Chapter 13
Sutton
Something stirred inside me, a feeling I couldn’t deny—and didn’t really want to.
I’d seen Jimmy and DJ enter the stadium, and same as every time my gaze landed on his gorgeous face and glossed lips, I’d lost my breath.
Dex had chuckled at my reaction, teasing me about my eyes waiting on the gate more than the field while the boys had warmed up. I hadn’t thought Jimmy would come to the game but couldn’t help myself from watching for him. He was a beacon in the night, drawing me in like a moth to dangerous flames. I had no expectation beyond being singed to death if I gave in to the magnetic pull between us.
Jimmy and DJ had sat quite a ways away, closer to the end of the stands, but I’d felt Jimmy’s focus like a teasing caress. I’d have preferred a firm grip, and my near-constant state of hardness made paying attention to the game difficult. At least I’d managed to set my gaze forward rather than casting it over my shoulder every other second like I wanted to.
After the game, I lost out on the chance to see or talk to Jimmy and followed Dex to Frenchie’s, which was packed with people still riding the high of our first win of the season. Thenoise of the crowd in a tight space after being out beneath the stars bothered me more than normal, and I couldn’t help but keep an eye on the door, determined to stay put, just in case.
Dex abandoned me for a cute out-of-towner sitting at the bar, and I watched my best friend flirt toward what seemed would be a sure lay considering the small touches between the two and how they intimately shared space and words.
Christian Cole sat at the other end and studied Dex even more steadily than I did, lips in a thin line.
