Page 122 of Nanny for the Athletes

Before I could walk away, Trip said, “You’re such acunt.”

Over by the security check-in, one of the guards turned toward us. “Hey, settle down…”

“You’re acunt,” Trip said, taking a step closer. He was like a child who had found the right button to push. “You’ve always been a cunt, and you always will be.”

“There it is,” Logan said.

“What?” Braden asked.

“The thing I was waiting for.” Logan closed the distance in four long strides, pulled back a fist, and threw a right hook into Trip’s jaw. The blow sent him spinning away, and he crumpled to one knee, holding his face and wailing in surprise.

“Fuck that hurts,” Logan hissed, cradling his fist. “But it feels so fucking good.”

I sighed. “I wish you hadn’t done that. But it wasextremelysatisfying to watch.”

Logan grinned. “Right?”

The security guard had been approaching from the moment Trip cursed, and now he grabbed Logan’s arm. “Sorry, pal. He deserved it, but the law’s the law.” He unclipped a pair of handcuffs from his belt. “Hey, are you Logan Landry?”

Another guard came rushing over. “Sir, do you want to press charges?”

“YES I WANT TO PRESS CHARGES!” Trip screeched. “Are youblind?He sucker-punched me! I’m not going to protect your new boyfriend. Or at leastoneof them. I didn’t realize you were such a slut.”

Now Christian and Braden took a few steps in our direction. “Say one more word to Beth,” Christian said, jabbing a finger at Trip, “and you’llreallyregret it.”

“Did you hear that?” Trip demanded of the guards. “They threatened me too! Arrest them!”

“That one’s on you, pal.” The guard turned toward the football players. “How about you two go wait outside? I’d hate to take either of you in. I have a hundred bucks on the Colts on Sunday.”

“Easy money,” Braden said with a smirk. “We’re going to beat the Titans by twenty points.”

“Seriously?” Trip demanded. “You’re going to let them make threats and thenwalk away?”

“Take a step back,” one guard snapped at him, “or I’ll arrest you for impeding an officer.”

Trip held his palms out, then walked over to a bench to sit down. He tenderly touched his jaw and yelped in pain.

The other guard grimaced to me. “We have to take him to the Fourth Street location for booking. Someone will need to bail him out.”

“I’ll meet you there,” I told Logan. My heart went out to him standing there, hands cuffed behind his back.

“Can I talk to my daughter for a minute?” Logan asked.

“Make it quick.”

Logan knelt in front of Claire, who had watched all of this happen silently. “Are you in trouble, Logan?”

“A little bit, yeah. Nothing serious. What you just saw was me losing my temper. I made a big mistake, one you should never make. No matter how angry you get sometimes, you have to find constructive ways to let it out.”

“Punching someone isn’t constructive?”

Logan shook his head. “Nope. It was a mistake. One that I promise I will never make again, especially in front of you. Do you understand?”

Claire bobbed her head, but didn’t make any move to hug Logan. He couldn’t initiate it with his hands behind his back, so he stood and allowed the guards to take him away.

*

“I knew it was a bad idea for Logan to come,” Braden said while we walked back to the car.

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