#Hater (Hashtag #2) (18 page)

“It’s not for me,” I said. “It’s for Rimmel.”

Rimmel groaned beside me. “That isn’t necessary.”

“Yes. It is.”

Dad stared at me without displaying much of a reaction. “You know,” he said and took a bite of his dessert, “I can’t get a restraining order unless the person filing the complaint has been physically threatened or harmed in some way.”

“I’m well aware of that, Dad.”

He glanced at Rimmel. “Has someone harmed you?”

“It really isn’t that big of a deal. I don’t think a restraining order is necessary.” Her hand went under the table and landed on my thigh and squeezed.

I knew she wanted me to take it back, but I wasn’t going to. This was about her safety.

“Who is this person?” Mom demanded.

I sighed. They weren’t going to like this. “It’s Zach.”

“Richard Bettinger’s son?” Dad asked, surprise in his tone.

“Yeah.”

“You know Richard is a colleague of mine,” he said, his doubt clear.

“I’m on a couple charities with his mother,” my mom added.

“Yeah, well, he’s a complete douche,” I said, flat.

“Roman!” My mother gasped.

I turned away from her completely. “I can’t prove it, but last semester, he attacked her in the haunted house. He physically pinned her to the floor.”

My dad started shaking his head like it wasn’t enough, but I was relentless. “More recently, he’s put bruises on her. On her wrist and arm. He grabbed her and was jerking her around even after she told him to stop.”

Dad frowned, and I knew I had Mom’s attention.

“Someone on the team was a witness to this.” I glanced at Rimmel, knowing she was going to be pissed. “I have photos of the bruises.”

“What!” she exclaimed.

“I took them while you were sleeping.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Her voice was low and even.

“Then just yesterday, he followed her into the girls’ bathroom at her dorm. He locked himself in there and hid while she was taking a shower.” I had to pause to drag in a breath and control the anger inside me. “When she got out, he attacked her.”

My mother gasped and Rimmel hurried to tell her, “Not like that. He didn’t touch me.”

“When she went running out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel, he used the little scene he set up to make everyone think she was cheating on me. He wanted to mess with my head before the game.”

“And last night?” Dad said. “When someone fell in the pool.”

“Yeah, that was him too. He had the nerve to show his face here last night. So I decked him. He deserved it. Then I told him to get the hell off the property.”

“Did he?” Dad questioned, sensing there was more to the story.

“He came after me with a chair.”

“He did what!” Mom demanded.

I ground my teeth together. “Yeah. But Rimmel got in the way. She ended up in the damn pool. In the freezing water.”

“Why would you get in the way?” Mom asked, clear confusion in her voice.

“I wasn’t going to stand there and watch Zach attack Romeo when he wasn’t even looking. He could have been hurt,” Rimmel replied. The indignation in her tone had me hiding another smile.

“You stepped in the middle of two grown men fighting to protect my son?” Mom’s eyes were wide as she stared at Rim.

“Of course,” Rimmel said without pause.

“You need to get a cover on that pool, Dad,” I ground out. “She could have drowned.”

Once again, my mother gasped. I glanced at her and knew she was realizing what a plunge into the pool probably did to Rimmel. After all, thanks to the PI, she knew how her mother died.

“Of course. I’ll call tomorrow,” Dad said. His lips turned down as he digested all that information. “Why would Zach do all this?”

“He hates me. He’s jealous. He blames me for losing his presidency at Omega. He’s the reason I dropped out of rush last semester.”

Realization dawned in my father’s eyes. He had been disappointed when I told him I’d changed my mind about Omega. I never told him why, though.

“This has been going on for a while, then.”

“Yes. And now he’s starting in on Rimmel. I won’t have it.”

Rimmel made a frustrated sound. “You are not my babysitter. You can’t just announce that I’m getting a restraining order and expect me to go along with you. You didn’t even talk to me about this.”

“It’s the best thing,” I told her.

“Says who?” she shot out, her voice rising. “You do not get to tell me what to do, Roman Anderson.”

“He shoved you in the pool,” I growled.

“I fell.”

“Because he was going to hit you with a goddamned chair!”

“Don’t you talk to me like that.” She matched my tone. The stubborn glint in her eye frustrated me.

“If I hadn’t jumped in that pool after you, you would have drowned,” I said, harsh, trying to make her understand how serious this was.

Too late I realized what I’d said.

Her face paled like I’d thrown ice water on her.

“Roman,” my mother said quietly, admonishment in her tone.

Rimmel’s eyes widened and she looked between my parents like she’d forgotten where we were. Her cheeks turned red and she lifted the napkin off her lap and laid it beside her plate. “I’m terribly sorry,” she apologized. “You shouldn’t have had to see that. I’ll just go.”

“Rimmel.” I grabbed her arm, but she pulled away from me and stood.

Fuck.

“I’ll wait for you outside so you can drive me back to campus.” She put some distance between us. A few steps, a couple feet.

It felt like one hundred miles.

“Thank you so much for the lovely dinner,” she said politely. “It was nice to meet you.”

She started for the door, and I shoved away from the table.

“Rimmel,” my mother said without getting up.

I could have called for her a thousand times and I would have been ignored.

But my mother wasn’t someone to be ignored.

Rimmel stopped and turned.

“Would you mind helping me in the kitchen before you go?”

I knew she didn’t want to. She didn’t even look at me once. It felt like someone kicked me in the nads.

“Of course,” she replied politely. She was too nice to say no.

There was a heavy and awkward silence as they gathered up the plates they could carry and then went into the kitchen.

I was tempted to go after her, but in the end, I decided maybe it was better if I let us both cool off first.

I glanced at my father. “I want that restraining order.”

He nodded. “She has a case. I’m fairly certain I can have one put in place. Text me the pictures you took.”

I nodded. “Do it.”

“Sounds like she doesn’t want one.”

“She needs it.” I shoved a hand through my hair. “He put his hands on her, Dad. Bruises. Do you see how small she is? How fragile?”

Dad smiled. “She didn’t seem so fragile a minute ago.”

I grunted, then cracked a smile. “She’s pretty pissed.”

“Son,” he mused, “let me give you a little advice.”

I nodded.

“Women don’t like to be told what to do. They like to be the ones telling us what to do. You want her to do something, you’re gonna have to go about it a different way.”

“Is that why Mom has so much jewelry?” I wondered.

He laughed. “Partly.” Then he paused. “But she doesn’t strike me as the jewelry type.”

“She isn’t.” But she did like honesty. I’d probably rather buy her a diamond than tell her what it was like for me knowing that he’d been lurking in that bathroom with her.

“I’ll get the paperwork in place. She’s going to need to sign it.”

“She will.” I didn’t care what it took.

Dad shook his head and sighed. “Richard’s going to be livid.”

“Zach’s got some screws loose. He’s pissed at me and using my only weakness to get revenge.”

“What’s he need revenge for?”

I sighed. “I might be partly responsible for getting him dethroned at Omega.”

“I know you want to protect your girlfriend, son, but you can’t be getting involved in those kinds of situations. You need to keep yourself clean. Your future in the NFL depends on it.”

I nodded like I agreed. And I guess I did. But there was no way in hell I was going to stand by and let Rimmel get hurt. “That’s why we need that restraining order.”

“Consider it done,” he said, getting up from the table.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” he said. “She still has to sign it.”

Before leaving the room, Dad turned to me. “I like her, son. And despite how your mother acts, she likes her too. Now you better go do some groveling, because she’s a keeper.”

I glanced toward the kitchen where Rimmel had gone. She was upset with me. And she had a reason to be. I wondered what it was going to take to set things right.

Rimmel

Oh no, he didn’t.

(But yes. In fact,
he did
).

Of all the nerve.

I loved Romeo. More than anything.

But sometimes when he opened his mouth, pure stupidity fell out.

I don’t know what possessed him to up and announce at dinner that I was getting a restraining order. Then he went as far as to tell his father to draw up the papers.

I was not a puppet on a string.

I admit I was timid and sometimes awkward, but I wouldn’t be controlled.

It wasn’t even so much that I hated the idea of the restraining order. I actually thought it might be a good idea. Zach
was
scaring me. And after last night…

I closed my eyes against the memories that assaulted me when I plunged into the frigid water.

But I wouldn’t be bossed.

And then when I told him that, he yelled at me! And expected me to take it.

And then.

And then…

He brought up my mother. He practically threw it in my face that I froze when I hit the water and he had to come in to save me.

I wanted to leave. I wanted to go home and seethe in anger. I would have.

But she stopped me.

Of all the times his mother decides she wants to have a conversation with me, it was that moment. Hell. She probably wanted to give me the third degree about yelling at her son.

Well, bring it on, lady. I was in a piss poor mood and I’d yell at her too.

Okay. I probably wouldn’t.

I set the plates filling my hands on the large beautiful island and turned to go back for more.

“Wait,” she said. “I wanted to speak to you.”

I knew it was coming so I just nodded.

“I apologize.”

That wasn’t what I was expecting to hear. In fact, I was convinced I heard wrong.

She must have realized by the expression on my face that I was confused, because she smiled. “I haven’t been very welcoming to you, and for that I am sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I said carefully. “You were just worried about Romeo.”

“Yes. I was.” Her brown eyes were sincere. “But I should have been nicer.”

I stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. Just moments ago, I’d been mad as hell, but now I was speechless. “I don’t understand why,” I blurted out. “Why did you suddenly change your mind?”

“Last night at the game.”

“The game,” I echoed, not understanding.

“You were going to jump onto the field because you thought he was hurt.”

Why was that such a big deal to everyone? I mean, sheesh. I probably would have fallen down and hurt myself the second I jumped. Then I would have been carted away like a criminal.

“You didn’t think. You acted. Just like tonight.”

I was so embarrassed. “I apologize for yelling. He just caught me off guard.”

She smiled. “He’s like his father that way. Decides what he wants and that’s that.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think he might have gotten that from you.” Actually, I didn’t think that. I knew it.

“I saw the same thing again just a few minutes ago. You reacted. You didn’t even think and you didn’t take his crap.” The fondness in her eyes for her son was unmistakable. “Only a girl who is truly in love would react so quickly without thought to her actions.”

Again, I was embarrassed.

She might as well ask me if I was raised by wolves.

I started to apologize once more, but she held up her hand. “And the fact that you got in between my son and a chair, well, that speaks volumes.”

I shrugged. “I love him. I don’t want to see him hurt.”

“You know,” she said, stepping around the island and placing some dishes in the sink as she talked, “the doctors told me I’d never have children. We tried for years to get pregnant and it never happened. I went to four doctors and every single one of them told me the same thing. I’d never be able to have a child of my own.”

“That must have been very difficult,” I said. Even though that was over twenty years ago, I could still hear the anguish in her tone.

“I was devastated. I knew Anthony was too, he just never said it out loud. But then I got pregnant. We were all shocked. It was a miracle.” Her voice was hushed, like she was recalling something sacred. “I was on bed rest the whole pregnancy. The doctors didn’t think I’d even be able to carry a baby to term. But I was determined. I did everything humanly possible to bring that boy into the world.”

I moved over and sank down on a barstool, completely enthralled in the tale of how Romeo came to be.

“I knew he was going to be special. From the second I was pregnant, I knew he was going to be. Even before he was born, he was strong. He was a fighter.”

I smiled because Romeo definitely was all those things.

“I devoted myself to him, my little miracle baby. How I enjoyed those days when he was small. They go by so quickly,” she mused, then blinked, seeming to come back into the present. “What I’m trying to say is that when you spend years trying to live with the fact you will never have a child of your own, but then by some miracle you’re given one, the perfect one, a mother will do anything to protect them.”

I nodded my understanding.

“It’s hard to let go, to stand back and watch them live while you hold your breath and pray to God you did a good enough job raising them.”

“You did,” I whispered.

She smiled. “It’s no excuse for my behavior, but it’s the truth.”

“You know…” I said, deciding right then that I was going to be honest, just the way she was. I wasn’t just going to nod my head. I was going to really talk to her, even if it made me uncomfortable.

Especially after everything she’d just said.

Someone who loved Romeo—her son—that much deserved it.

“I never asked you to let go. Maybe just loosen your grip a little.”

Valerie laughed.

“I think Romeo is lucky to have a mother like you. I wish my mother was still here, and I’d like to think if she was, she’d give Romeo the third degree just like you’ve given me.”

“I don’t know,” his mother mused. “He’s very charming.”

“Well, there is that,” I allowed.

She turned back to the dishes.

“I’m not going to take him away.” My softly spoken statement had her pausing at the sink. “I wouldn’t even try. A mother holds a special place in a child’s heart that no one else can fill. Even after they’re all grown up.”

“I’m beginning to like you,” she said without turning around.

I grinned at her back. “Well, Braeden did give me his stamp of approval.”

“That boy.” She chuckled. “He’s just as charming as Roman.”

“He’s definitely a ladies’ man.” I agreed.

“He just hasn’t met the right girl yet. He will. He’ll find someone, just like Roman has found you. And then everything will change.”

Was she saying she thought I was the girl that changed everything for Romeo? And if she was, was that acceptance in her tone? Was I winning her over?

Of course, the happiness I felt at that was dampened by the fact that I was so angry with Romeo right now.

“Now, about this situation with Zach,” Valerie said. She turned to face me and a frown pulled at her perfectly made-up face. She really was a beautiful woman, the kind of beauty that was ageless.

“With all due respect, it’s really not your business.”

“It is my business. It concerns my son.” She pinned me with a look. “It concerns you.”

“I really don’t think a restraining order is necessary.”

“I think you know one would be sensible. I just think you’re mad at Roman.” I started to disagree and she held up her hand. “You have every right to be upset with him. He should have spoken to you about this and not just ordered you do it.”

My stomach flipped thinking about the argument we’d just had. We’d never really argued before, over anything. He was probably really angry that I’d yelled at him in front of his parents.

“I’m going to give you my advice. You can do with it what you want,” Valerie said.

I nodded.

“Get the order. If not for your own piece of mind, for Roman’s. He doesn’t get worked up very often, and he’s worked up about this. He’s only trying to protect you. You make an easy target because it’s so clear how my son feels about you; it’s written all over his face. Perhaps if you do this, it will send a clear message to Zach and he will back off.”

She was right and I knew it. But I was still beyond mad. I mean, he took photos of me without my knowledge. That was taking my trust a little too far.

Romeo appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, his hands tucked into the front pockets of his jeans. “Is it safe to come in?”

“Of course,” Valerie replied.

I avoided looking at him. When he stepped farther into the room, the tension in the air became noticeably thicker.

“Why don’t you two go?” Valerie said. “I’ll take care of the dishes.”

“Oh no. I said I would help.” I argued.

“And I appreciate the offer, but it’s not necessary.”

“Come on, Rim. We should talk.” Romeo put a hand on my arm, and I stiffened. He pulled back immediately, but the action caused a prick of regret in my chest.

“Thank you again, for dinner,” I said.

“Maybe next time we can get through dessert without a yelling match.”

I grimaced, but she just laughed.

“See ya later, Mom. Thanks for the chow.” Romeo moved forward and kissed her on the cheek, and she smiled.

I followed him back through the house and toward the door. I didn’t see his father anywhere. Before going outside, I pulled on my coat and zipped it all the way up. Outside was freezing, and my breath puffed out around me in a great white cloud.

I headed in the direction of his car, figuring he was going to drive me back to campus.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he said from behind.

I looked over my shoulder. He was standing there looking adorably kissable with a sheepish look in his eyes.

“Back to the dorm?” I said.

He shook his head and the look on his face was replaced with something much more intense. My blood heated despite the chill in the air, and I swallowed down my immediate desire as he prowled toward me.

“Oh no, you aren’t.” He took my hand and tugged me gently toward his house. “You aren’t going anywhere.”