Page 28 of If You Claim Me

He nods slowly. “You know, back at the Hockey Academy, I thought I knew who he was. I mean, the guy had a serious chip on his shoulder, and he hated me before I even breathed in his direction. But I believed his parents had bought his spot there, and I wasn’t the only one.”

“Imagine always being on the outside of everything—your family, your team, your social circle. Never fitting anywhere. How impossible would it be to believe you could belong?”

Flip tilts his head. “You empathize with him.”

“If you take away the financial piece—which I realize is substantial—he and I aren’t all that different,” I reply.

“Everyone loves you, though.”

“Just like everyone loves you,” I remind him.

He sighs. “Are you going to tell me why?”

“Eventually, yeah.”

“But not now,” he presses.

“Not now, no.”

“I hate being on the outside of things, especially with you, Dred.”

I smile and nod, but say nothing.

“Fuck.” He huffs and laughs. “I am Connor right now.”

“Except everyone still loves you, and he’s still hockey’s favorite villain.” I reach across the table and squeeze Flip’s hand. “Trust my decision-making. I don’t do things without a reason, and I don’t do things I don’t want to. If that wasn’t true, I would go out to theoonsing bars with you instead of regularly bailing.”

“Okay, that’s fair.”

“I promise I’m doing this for myself, and to safeguard the people I love the most, and I need that to be enough for you right now.”

Even in this short time, I realize I’ve come to feel…duty bound to see this through. Not just because of the money. It’s a huge factor, obviously, but I can’t stand the thought of stealing Lucy’s joy. And I want to show Connor what it’s like to be on the inside of something for once.

“Just keep having faith that I’m smart enough to make the right choices for me,” I add.

Flip nods. “I do. I guess I just don’t love that he’s the choice.”

“I think it’s less about who it is and more that it doesn’t align with your personal views on marriage.” I’m one of very few people who know Flip’s history and what he’s been through. The way he drowned himself in nameless, faceless bodies wasn’t about sex, or even feeling good, it was a coping mechanism for deep hurt.

“I just want you to be happy,” he says.

“I am happy.” Until I met Flip, my whole life was about survival. This little side project will enable me to keep on thriving.

“I mean happy and inlove.” He blows out a breath. “Subject change. This is my wound talking, not yours. Tell me what’s going on at work. Any exciting new stories?”

“Oh yes! Yesterday we found a couple of kids boning in thefamily bathroom.” Everly, one of my favorites and the bad girl to her twin’s good boy, has a habit of being rather impulsive. “They would have gotten away with it if a desperate mom hadn’t come in off the street with a potty-training three-year-old and a baby who’d already unleashed a demon in his diaper.”

“Please tell meyoufound them and not Dorothea.”

Flip knows all about the battle-axe head librarian. “I found them.”

“What’d you do?”

“Explained that they could be charged with public indecency, that bathrooms are not the best place for such activities, and I made them both very uncomfortable when I asked them about birth control and went into details regarding their options.”

I also called the group home and requested that Everly come help me with one of the programs I run so she can complete her community service hours, which are a requirement to graduate from high school. They were thrilled and agreeable.

Flip grins. “I bet they were mortified.”