Zac snorts. “Keep it up, and I might let you in on a secret.”
I lift my eyebrows. “Go ahead.”
He shakes his head. “You have to earn it.”
“How?”
“You really want to know?”
“Do I want to know what I have to do to earn it? Or do I really want to know your secret?”
“Either. Both.”
“I’d like to know.” I wince and pinch the bridge of my nose. “There’s a lot on my mind lately, so having anything and everything to distract me right now…” I frown and narrow my eyes. “Did Rob send you after me?”
“No. I haven’t seen Rob much at all today actually. Contrary to what you might think, we Grim Reapers all have minds of our own. We don’t have a hive mind.”
I grunt, wishing he hadn’t mentioned the motorcycle club. “Um, you haven’t spoken to Gabe either, have you?”
“Now he I did. He said you were ranting against motorcycle clubs. Not a groupie, huh?”
“Definitely not,” I mumble. “When you see him next, can you tell him I’m sorry? I shouldn’t have taken out my anger on him.”
“He probably didn’t mind being your punching bag.”
I try to smile but can’t pull it off. “He didn’t deserve that.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s possible you didn’t deserve everything we did to you.”
“And what made you change your mind? Why have you all stopped the bullying?”
“I can’t and won’t speak for the others, but I’ve… I’m… I want to be a better person.”
“Why?”
He grunts. “A person needs to have a reason for turning over a new leaf?”
“Well, yeah. Most people have a reason behind it. They don’t just wake up and roll out of bed and decide that they want to completely change who they are as person on a whim.”
“Not on a whim. Maybe I want to be better than my parents… better than my aunt.”
His aunt? I lift my eyebrows, but he’s staring off into space, not looking at me.
“I probably shouldn’t judge them because I only know what you told me about them, but your parents sound like complete assholes for leaving you. I’m sorry you had such a rough go of it.”
“That’s no excuse, though. I formed my own family, with the guys, and if someone hurts one of them… we all react, and we reacted badly. I won’t speak for the others, but I do apologize for my part in hurting you.”
“I’m used to people hurting me and letting me down,” I say.
“If you need me to deck anyone for you…”
I shove my cell into my pocket and put up my dukes again.
“I stand corrected. You can deck the guy or gal yourself, but if you need backup, I’m there. How does that sound?”
“Not too shabby,” I say, lowering my fists. “I’m still not sure why you’ve turned over a new leaf, but I appreciate the effort.”
He snorts. “I’m glad you approve.”