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Ares
Well, that was the reaction I was hoping for.
Yeah, I remember you, Red.
I shook Kurt Ackerman’s hand, a family friend. Meanwhile, Red stood behind him, shell-shocked in a poorly fitted suit, her hair up and out of her face.
Her face flushed…
Blasted in color, her freckled cheeks matched her hair. I obviously remembered that well, the red, and she was different from that girl on the field. The suit was way too big for her, hiding her. This girl had curves, and she hadn’t been afraid to show them in the pair of cutoff shorts and crop top she’d worn that day.
Trying to impress today, Red?
I supposed she was. She did have this interview with Kurt today. Kurt’s assistant had explained all about it before I came in.
Smirking, I let go of Kurt’s hand, the man all grins before me. He cuffed my arm. “Good to see you, my man.”
“Good to see you,” I returned, though it was better to see Red. She still hadn’t said anything, her hands working together. She shifted in a pair of heels and a flash of a tattoo on the front of her foot captured my attention. That and the fact that she’d taken the nose ring she had out, her attempt at an obvious professionalism. She was trying to stack the deck here with old Kurt and attempting to play off who she really was.
And what she was capable of.
Red, Red, Red…
This girl was as cutthroat as she was ruthless, and when Kurt let go of my arm, he gestured to her. “Ms. Greenfield and I were just finishing up,” he said, and though Red jolted, she came over.
I fought my smirk again, pulling my hands out of my hoodie. I could imagine she hadn’t expected to see me today, and that had been the point.
Let the games begin, Red.
“Fawn is one of my internship candidates,” Kurt explained. Meanwhile, Red’s eyes were on me. They were hazel and filled with an innocence she didn’t dare place in my direction. This girl wasn’t innocentat all,and each and every second she tried to play that shit in my direction had my fingers knuckling.
I returned them to my hoodie for safekeeping, and Kurt Ackerman was completely oblivious. If he wasn’t, he’d realize he just introduced the girl who had ruined my fucking junior year, or I guess he was aware. I just allowed him to believe I didn’t care. The topic came up in conversation when my father and I ran into Kurt this morning. We’d all made a lunch date for later today.
And we’d laughed about all that shit concerning Fawn.
Water under the bridge, I’d told them both, and my dad had looked at me like I was crazy. I supposed he had good reason. That shit wasn’t water under the bridge, not by a goddamn long shot.
Even still, I had made it seem that way, and I had to say, my dad had been pretty proud of me. He called me the bigger man, responsible.
Yes, that was me.
I was all kinds of responsible and forgiving. I lifted my hand in Fawn’s direction. “I’m pretty sure we know who each other is, Kurt,” I said, nodding. “After all, she did write that article about me.”
“Actually, I just took the pictures.” Brave this fucking girl, ballsy. She stood tall. “But yes, we know who the other is.”
My fists knuckled again, but I didn’t lose my smile in her direction. “Was actually just talking to my dad and Kurt about that article.” I faced Kurt. “We had a laugh about it. Didn’t we, Kurt?”
Well, this shocked Ms. Fawn Greenfield like nothing else. She shifted in those heels again, her attention making a beeline for Kurt, and when he nodded, her brow flicked up.
Kurt braced my arm. “Sure did, and can’t wait to catch up more over lunch.”
Enter my father stage right. Dad was directed in by Kurt’s very helpful assistant, and to watch that shit play out all over Fawn’s face…
You scared now, Red? You should be.
My father and Kurt Ackerman were very good friends, as Kurt had covered a lot of the community work my dad had done over the years. Dad was very active in the art world, had several galleries and his charity work by far exceeded the most generous man. My dad and my parents in general liked to give back, and that had gotten the attention of the papers. Kurt was one of the first Dad called to take photos for events he hosted, and the papers loved splashing what he did for others across their pages.
Fawn was seeing that now, that connection. Dad grabbed Kurt’s hand before hugging him. My dad and I were very similar. At least, physically. Dad was slightly taller and broader, but our facial features resembled way more similarly than my mom and me. My twin, Sloane, looked more like my mother, but when it came to similarities anywhere else, my sister was more like my dad. They had a kindness about them and an overall forgiving nature.
Yeah, she was definitely more like him.
I grinned watching Kurt and Dad together. Kurt braced Dad’s arm.
“Speak of the devil,” Kurt said to Dad. “Your morning meeting go okay?”
This was another nod to my dad. He’d been cutting checks all morning. He and my mom donated a ton of shit to this university. Dad was actually in town today to do that, which was how Kurt had collided with the pair of us this morning in the first place. And of course, we’d made that lunch date.
And what a coincidence that all happened to be on the very day Kurt had his meeting with Red, happenstance a crazy thing, wild…
I studied Ms. Greenfield, as Dad and Kurt chatted. The two were wrapped up, and I took the initiative to close the distance.
She noticed, her head shooting way,wayup. I had well over a foot on her like I did most people, and she wasn’t short, average. Her freckled jaw moved a little. “You know Kurt Ackerman.”
She had those same freckles on her lips, and I think I only noticed due to her lack of makeup.Again,she’d been trying to be a chameleon for today. Her lips had been painted bloodred the last time I’d seen her, this girl faker than shit. My eyes narrowed. “He and Dad are old friends.”
“Old friends?”
“Yeah.” I lifted my head about the same time something sweet touched my nose, sugar or honey or some shit. Whatever it was, I didn’t like it. I wet my lips. “He’s covered a lot of events my dad’s done. Charity work.” I looked at the pair. “We all ran into each other on campus this morning. Dad’s in town to donate money to the school.”
She looked at them too, and I noticed a visible jump hit her throat. I wondered if I’d feel her pulse if I grabbed it, squeezed…
This was probably a sick thought, but at the moment, I didn’t give a shit. This girl had crossed me, and here we were now in the thick of it.
“And he donates money because you go to school here,” she said, putting two and two together. Smart. She chewed her freckled lip. “We both go to school here.”
We do, little red.I angled in. “Fancy that.”
“Yeah, fancy.” She analyzed me, a full tilt down my face and across my shoulders. I was a foot away from this girl, and she didn’t step back. Like stated before, ballsy… She folded her arms. “Too much to request an olive branch?”
Intrigued, I cocked my head, and she lifted her eyes.
“For the pictures and all that. The media coverage?” She raised and dropped her hands. “I can imagine that sucked, but I didn’t do it maliciously or anything. I saw a story, and I captured it.”
She really was cold this one, ruthless.
A little fucking opportunist.
She was lucky I didn’t care about it, over it. The school had decided to make an example out of me that year, which was the only reason I’d lost football my junior year. I’d been a minor, and since that asswipe with the bottle had technically struck first, he couldn’t press charges.Hehad actually faced charges for assaulting me, and my family had made sure of that. They’d made the whole thing go away, and the football stuff could have been the same had my parents not backed the school up on the decision. They’d wanted me to learn a lesson, and though yeah, that shit fucking sucked, I was beyond it.
I had much bigger plans for Red, my look passive about her proposal. “You want to forgive and forget?” I questioned, leaning even more into her personal space. “A peaceful truce.”
“If we could, yeah.” A raspiness touched her voice, one deeper and edgier than her already rich tone.Am I affecting you, Red?Her eyebrows narrowed. “We’re adults. We can act like it. Not to mention, this was three years ago. Now, I’m not saying you should just forget it, but—”
“No, you’re right,” I stated, surprise flicking her brow up. I nodded. “Completely right. It all should be water under the bridge, and I’m not even playing football anymore anyway.”
“You’re not?”
“No, I’m not.” I passed that off, as Kurt and Dad made their way toward us. “Like I said, water under the bridge.”
I couldn’t see how that statement played on her face, as Dad and Kurt cut the conversation off when they entered our space. Kurt introduced Fawn to Dad as one of his internship applicants, and Fawn was definitely visibly different as she shook my father’s hand. She was well aware now of my family’s position to this place and Kurt Ackerman, but the earlier intimidation on her face dissipated. She relaxed before my father and me, and that sick thrill hit again. She was letting her guard down, her sins forgiven, forgotten.
Round one, I guess, went to me.