Bear, p.5
Bear, page 5
Chad chuckled. “That car did slide all over the place. I’m glad you have new tires.”
“Well, it wasn’t like the guys at the shop gave me much choice.”
“Brody said there was some excitement at the shop yesterday. Were you there when that canister blew up?”
“Yeah, but Teddy was nearby and made sure I wasn’t in the path of any flying debris.” She picked up her cup again and took a sip.
“That’s cool. It didn’t scare you, did it?”
“No, sweetie,” she lied easily. The explosion had freaked her out at first, but she didn’t want to worry her son. She hadn’t told him about the possibility of his father being in town. They talked about Thad from time-to-time, but Chad never asked why his dad never came around anymore. She didn’t want to say anything about the man being in town if he actually wasn’t. Plus, she didn’t know how to wrap her head around the whole hitman-bombing-mercenaries thing. She might’ve also latched onto the excuse that Chad had been sweaty and starving after he’d gotten home last night. By the time he’d eaten and showered, he’d crashed precluding any lying on her part.
“You sure? Because if you’re a little freaked out about it, I don’t mind hanging with you at work.”
Roxie laughed. “You’re not getting out of school that easily, mister.” She took another sip of her coffee.
“I’m glad Bear was there to protect you, then. He’s a good guy, mom. You should give him a chance.”
She coughed as some hot coffee slipped down the wrong pipe in her throat. When she finished choking and sucked in some air, she gaped at her son. No way was she going to talk about her love—her anything romantic—life with her teenage boy. Not only was that not a conversation she’d have with him, under other circumstances, but he also didn’t understand what had happened between her and Teddy. Hardly anybody did. She’d only recently come clean with her BFF.
But as Chad’s words marinated in her brain, a question she usually suppressed came bubbling out of her mouth. “Honey, does it bother you that it’s always just been the two of us?”
“Huh?” He dug through the fridge and pulled out the orange juice.
“I mean, that you mostly grew up without your father,” she gently said. Chad winced as he poured a glass of OJ. As he gulped it down, she continued. “Sometimes, I feel guilty that you haven’t had a man around.”
After chugging his drink, Chad dropped the glass onto the table and looked at her. “Mom, there are plenty of male role models in my life. Brody, coach, Bear, the rest of the guys at the garage…”
He was right, but none of those men were there for him twenty-four-seven. They weren’t always around to guide him or discipline him—and yeah, her feminist side cringed a little at that thought—but with the exception of his coach, they were more like older buddies.
An engine growled just outside. Roxie dropped her cup to the counter and gazed down at her tiny pajamas. The shorts were just long enough and the tank top barely covered all vital parts. It was barely decent enough to be walking around her son, but she only turned the air conditioner on in the peak of summer heat to save on the electricity bill. That meant dressing cool enough with the south’s unpredictable weather throughout the rest of the year.
“I didn’t know you were catching a ride to school.”
“I’m not.” Chad frowned. He walked toward the door, but Roxie jumped in front of him.
“Stay back.” She rushed to the door.
“Mom, you’re being weird.”
She looked over her shoulder. “Am not. I’m your mother. I’m protecting you. I still throw my arm out to protect you when I slam on the car brakes.”
“That’s because you’ve had crappy tires,” he muttered.
“Very funny.”
Banging echoed through the house as someone beat on the door.
She hesitated before taking the final step. What if it was Thad? Should she have said something to Chad when he got home from practice last night instead of waiting for confirmation he was in town?
Chad slipped past her in her hesitation. She clutched his left wrist as he twisted the knob with his right hand. She hissed his name, but he was faster at opening the door than she was at tugging him behind her. Chad stumbled back, and a towering man came into view.
A big, bald man with a sexy beard and hot tats. “Christ on a cracker, you scared the bejesus out of me, Teddy,” she grumbled.
His gaze traveled down my body lightning fast, and when he took in the sight of her, his eyes flared. “Didn’t mean to.”
“What are you doing here?” And why didn’t she have a robe on? Her nipples tightened under his stare, and it took everything in her not to cross her arms and cover the evidence of her excitement.
“Came to take Chad to school.” He looked at her son and nodded his head. “Grab your stuff, kid.”
Chad took off down the hallway, and when he was out of earshot, she stepped closer to Teddy. “I can take my own son to school.”
He reached up and tucked one of her wayward curls behind her ear. “Not dressed like a wet dream, you can’t.”
She swatted his hand away as little sparks shot down to her girlie bits. This man should be illegal in all fifty states. “I was gonna change, you goob.”
“Now, you can get ready for work without having to rush around. Me and the guys don’t mind helping out with the boy. You know that.”
“I don’t need your charity.” Yes, she was being bitchy, but getting a proposal out of a sense of obligation apparently did that to her. Who wanted a reluctant husband? It was like being offered a pity fuck. She wasn’t hard up for either, regardless if the suggestion had come from the god among men.
The same one who’d once crushed her.
Teddy glowered at her. “It has nothing to do with that.”
“Oh, so you go around offering rides to all the kids in the neighborhood?”
“Of course not, but I’m picking up Scott, too, so Brody and Xan can get some sleep. For the record, though, I like spending time with Chad. He’s a good kid with a great mom.”
Just like that, the wind under her sails was gone. Her shoulders dropped as the indignation fled. “Flattery will get you nowhere, mister.” But her words lacked heat.
Chad shuffled into the foyer. “Ready.” He kissed her cheek after coming to stand beside her.
Teddy winked at her as he stepped back to let Chad pass.
“Call me when you get out of practice,” Roxie called out as they walked to the truck. He usually drove some antique hotrod or a motorcycle, so it was odd seeing him in that old thing.
“It’s game night, baby. Brody’s taking them some dinner before they load the bus, and we’ll pick them up when they get back tonight. We got it handled.”
Oh, that’s right. With everything that happened yesterday, she’d forgotten what day it was.
As her son and the man she dreamed about backed out of the driveway, her heart fluttered. Maybe Chad was right, and he had all the male role models he needed.
Too bad Teddy would never give her what she needed, too.
Chapter Six
Chad scooted to the middle of the bench seat to make room for Scott. The back seat of Bear’s 1970 Camaro split bumper was being reupholstered, so this old beast was the only thing he had that fit more than two people. It’d be a tight fit for his muscular ass and two hulking teenage football players.
“Oh, I remember this,” Chad said, picking up the lighter Bear had bought at a gas station right after signing with the Bears. The image on the side was of a bear in the wild, not an actual mascot, but he hadn’t cared at the time. Chad flicked it open and lit it.
“Still not a good idea to play with fire,” Bear said with a twitch of his lip.
“Dad wants you to stop and get some breakfast sandwiches before going to the shop. He’s starving,” Scott said as he slammed the door shut. “He’s too busy freezing breast milk to make breakfast.”
“Can do. Did you eat anything?” he asked as he pulled out of the driveway.
“Had some cereal.”
“Good. Y’all ready for the game tonight?”
“Oh, yeah. We’re gonna crush ’em,” Chad said, and the boys high-fived each other.
“Always tough when you don’t have home-field advantage,” he warned.
“Yeah, but we’re undefeated in conference games this season,” Scot said. “You coming to the game next week? It’s homecoming.”
“You know he never misses a home game,” Chad said and punched his buddy on the shoulder. “Not much else to do in this small town.”
Bear glanced out the window. The boy was right. Friday night football was a way of life around here, but that wasn’t why he watched the games. Football would always be in his blood, and there was something electric about an entire community getting behind their local team. However, several years ago, his motivation for attending the games had shifted. He remembered that afternoon like it was yesterday.
Bear loaded up his groceries into his Harley’s satchel but pulled out the lighter fluid. He’d just refilled his old Zippo when a high-pitched scream came from the front of the store. He looked up just in time to see a kid with light brown hair and dark blue eyes running out with his arms spread wide.
“Coming in for a landing,” the kid announced as he made engine noises and ran across the walking path in a zigzag pattern. He almost ran smack dab into Bear’s motorcycle.
“Whoa.” He steadied the little bundle of energy before he face-planted.
“Wow, you’re big. Oh, is that a Bear?” He pointed at the lighter he’d carried since his college days. “Can I see?”
“Not supposed to play with fire, kid.” Bear chuckled and looked behind the kid. “Where’s your mom and dad?”
“Don’t got no dad no more. My mom’s—”
“Chad Willis, you get your butt back here!”
“Uh-oh.” Wide eyes stared back at him. “When she says my last name, I’m in big, big trouble,” he whispered. “My coach says it, too, but that’s because he calls all of us by our last names. Says that’ll make us men or something.”
Bear looked up and felt his eyes pop. Holy shit. The woman storming in his direction was all of five-foot-nothin’ with a mane of wild red curls. Several grocery sacks covered her body, but damn her short, little legs were just long enough to wrap around—
“What did I tell you about running out into the parking lot, huh? That’s how you get hit by cars and end up all bloodied with broken legs and in the hospital.”
“Sorry, mom,” he muttered, clearly chastised.
She hoisted one of her bags higher on her hip as she got closer and had to look slightly up at the kid, who was probably only around ten years old.
“Sorry don’t cut it, mister. Now, apologize to…” She glanced up at Bear and hesitated. “Um, sorry. I, er…”
Her face turned red, and one of the paper bags she was holding shifted. Before it fell, Bear lunged, and she squealed, trying to grip it tighter. Bear secured it in his grip before her stuff came tumbling out.
“Thanks,” she breathed.
Bear clutched the other bags in her arms. “I got this. Where you parked?”
She smiled as she handed over her burden and pointed to the next row over. Bear stole a glance at her cleavage popping out of a skin-tight tank top. Fuck, he could not get a hard-on in a grocery store parking lot.
Chad started running, and she called out, “Hold your horses.”
He stopped and then walked slower.
“Cute kid.”
She ducked her head as she thanked him. It was a shy reaction, but from what he’d witnessed of her already, she seemed anything but that.
He followed her to the car and loaded her bags into the trunk. There were lots of sports drinks and snack packs.
“I don’t feed him all that,” she said quickly. “It’s my turn to bring the game snacks.”
“I play football. You should come watch.” The kid hopped into the backseat but rolled the window down and stuck his head out. “We’re gonna crush ’em!”
“He doesn’t want to watch a bunch of rowdy boys.” She looked at Bear with a smirk. “You don’t have to come.”
“I like football.” He shoved his hands in his pockets when the urge to reach out and touch her suddenly overcame him. “What’s your name?”
“Roxanne Willis. My friends call me Roxie. You?” She put her hand on her hip, and it was the cutest damn pose he’d ever seen on a woman. Naked or clothed.
“Theodore Knight. My friends call me Bear.”
She chuckled. “Like a Teddy Bear? How adorable.”
“No, actually—”
“Mom, we’re gonna be laaaaate.”
“I gotta go. See you around…Teddy.” She winked at him, and damn but if his chest didn’t squeeze.
“I’d love to come watch you play, kid,” he called out as the boy manually rolled the window back up and his little momma climbed into the car. He liked thinking of her like that. Little momma.
“I guess I’ll see you there, then.” She smiled, and there wasn’t anything sweet about it.
“You can count on it, little momma.” Oh yeah, he liked the sound of that a lot.
When Bear had asked Colonel about Roxie a couple of days later, his boss had lectured him about getting involved with a local woman, especially one with a kid. Their work was too dangerous, and he couldn’t afford to be selfish. He’d backed off after that, knowing the man was right, but every once in a while…when he’d run into her unexpectedly…they’d start dancing around each other, flirting just a bit, staring just a little too long, standing slightly too close than was socially acceptable. They both fought their magnetic attraction, but sometimes, the pull had just been too great to ignore.
“You know I’m gonna be there. It’s your senior year homecoming game. Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Bear said, closing the door on that memory.
“Did you ask Becca to the dance?” Scott asked.
Chad frowned. “Hell, no. She broke up with me.”
“Girls are so stupid. Malorie said Tasha was talking shit about you to make her break up with you, but that Tasha really wants you for herself.”
“Tasha’s a slut that spreads—”
“Hey,” Bear said, not sure how he should navigate this minefield. “Yes, some girls can be vindictive, and you should definitely steer clear of those who play games like that, but you don’t get to be disrespectful.”
Chad huffed and crossed his arms. “I don’t care about Tasha. I just want Becca to talk to me.”
“Have you tried talking to her?”
Chad frowned at him. “How can I when she avoids me?”
Damn. So many minefields to dodge. Chad couldn’t come off as pestering the girl if she didn’t want to be with him, but…
“Have you tried talking to her outside of school?”
“I’ve texted her and tried messaging her online, but she hasn’t responded. I don’t want to just stop by her house and piss off her parents.”
“What about calling her?” Chad gave him a blank stare. Did kids nowadays not talk on the phone? “Or, you know, doing a video call?”
“No,” Chad said slowly. “Is that what you do?”
Bear rubbed a suddenly clammy hand along his jeans-clad thigh. He didn’t talk to women on the phone if he could help it, but he also didn’t do relationships. The last woman he’d contemplated anything serious with was not someone he could talk about to Chad. “Sometimes,” he finally answered.
“Dude, you should totally call her after her parents go to bed,” Scott said. “Then you can ask her to homecoming without all her fake friends standing around.”
Chad nodded. “I could do that. She’d probably give me an honest answer without Tasha around. I’d have to ask mom to take the car.”
“Y’all could ride with us,” Scott said. “Mom’s letting me drive the Honda.”
As Bear pulled into the school parking lot, he glanced at Chad and said, “You can borrow my Camaro.”
“What?” he said, his eyes widening.
“No way,” Scott said in awe.
“Yeah, man. The backseat’s supposed to be done by Tuesday. It’ll be good to go by the night of the dance.”
Chad beamed up at him like he was the greatest person on the planet. Bear swallowed the lump in his throat.
“Thank you,” Chad murmured as Scott hopped out.
Bear muttered something about it not being a problem, and the boy got out.
As he drove away from the school, Bear rubbed his chest. He had a hard time reconciling how a man as evil as The Shadow helped create someone was awesome as Chad. Roxie deserved a mother-of-the-century award for how great her son had turned out.
Thinking of Roxie had him fighting a smile. Bear couldn’t advise a teenager to hound a girl until he got what he wanted, but he was a grown-ass man. When it came to Roxie, all bets were off.
By tonight, she was going to learn just how stubborn Bear could be when he wanted something.
Chapter Seven
Roxie lived the riveting life of an independent single woman. Her Friday nights were always booked doing the coolest things and hanging out at the trendiest spots.
“Every woman wants to be me,” she murmured to the hanger as she slipped it into the neckline of her work blouse before placing the shirt on top of the hang-up pile.
Laundry. That was what she was doing. It was her standard Friday night activity whenever Chad had an away game. When had she become the sad little woman who got excited about washing clothes a day early?
The episode of the show she was currently watching ended, and Netflix asked if she was still watching.
She snatched up the remote and continued her binge-fest before grabbing another hanger.
Xan came busting through her front door, startling her. “I thought I was your best friend,” she said, stomping toward Roxie.
“Good Lord, you could knock. There might be a crazy man on the loose. I could’ve stabbed you.”
“With a plastic hanger?” Xan looked at her with mock disappointment. “And for real. I should’ve been the first one you called. I’m hurt. Just because I have a baby now doesn’t mean I’m not up to the task.”
