Fuck yes, she will be.
I am now the man she deserves, the man who will give her no reason to have to show the world her strength for her survival. I will breathe life back into her and heal every pain me or anyone else has ever caused her.
One day …
SIX
PLAYOFFS
It’s a colder than usual February day, and my boy and I are in New Jersey so that we can watch the playoffs together. My college buddy, José, is coaching the Giants, and I haven’t seen him in years.
We were at Dad’s place when news of the storm coming up the coast hit, so we packed up the car to head closer to New York City, neither of us wanting to miss the big game.
Ava surprised us and came home for the weekend. I wasn’t there, and Ashley never was. I felt bad but called Jade to see if she’d keep her busy. Jade let me know she was with Harper, so the guilt subsided and I set out to enjoy the weekend with my boy.
“You really gonna wear a Cowboys jersey to the Giants’ stadium?”
“Hell yes, I am.” Logan laughs.
“You trying to get your old man in a fight?”
“Will your buddy be pissed?”
“José? Hell no. He’s one of the coolest guys you’ll ever meet. But you have NFL hopes, and you wanna piss off my NFL coach friend, boy?”
“My team’s playing. No band wagon jumper here.” He shrugs. “When the Giants are paying me, I’ll still be wearing blue, white, and silver, just not on the field.”
The phone rings as we’re pulling out onto the highway.
I answer it on Bluetooth. “This is Lucas.”
“Lucas, this is Donavan. We just received a call that Ava was in an altercation in New York City.”
“What?” I yell.
“She’s with Harper Abraham and, well, apparently, she assaulted a young woman and—”
“Makes no sense. My daughter is not—”
“It’s all over social media. It happened on the Plaza during a live show Burning Souls performed onThe Today Timesprogram. Bones saw it and called me. I looked into it and, sure enough, the young woman’s father is an attorney.”
“The fuck,” I grumble as Logan shakes his head, hiding a shit-ass grin.
“Lucas, the attorney is Sam Hammond.”
“That’s just fucking great. Thanks, Donavan. I’ll be in touch.” I end the call.
I glance at Logan and am about to speak when the phone rings again. I recognize the number and hitaccept.
“You’re on speaker, Bones, so give me the rest in PG, please.”
“Dad, I’m almost eighteen,” Logan huffs.
“Hey, Logan.” Bones laughs.
“’Sup, Bones?”
“Not much. When you talk to Ava, tell her I saw her on TV and she hits like a girl.”