Read Online American Bad Boy: A Military Romance by Sadie Black, Eddie Cleveland - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Sadie Black, Eddie Cleveland
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and his eyes focus as he clears his throat. “Thanks. I’m just happy to be home now.”
“I’m happy you’re home too,” my voice cracks. Damn it. “I, uh, I’ve got a great program outlined for you here,” I stuff my hand in my pocket and pull out my phone so I can bring up his schedule. “I know you’ve been working hard on walking again, and I can see you’ve put in the hours with how well you’re doing.”
My mind snaps into nurse mode and I force my emotions back down my throat and bury them deep in my gut. “But, I’m gonna get you running again. By the time you’re finished here, you’ll be living the same as you did before the …” I don’t want to call it an accident. I saw the footage, just like the rest of America, and it wasn’t some kind of tumble that took Mack’s leg.
“Before I mistook a grenade for a soccer ball? I always get them confused. It’s all those little octagon shapes on them. Practically identical.” he jokes and I smile back at him, happy to let the awkward moment go.
I look down at the screen of my phone and see that my son’s school has been calling and texting me.
What the? I scroll through the messages, piecing together the situation. Perfect. Just perfect.
“Everything ok, Lauren?” Mack hovers near me and I can smell his scent. The little hairs stand up on the back of my neck as I breathe him in.
“No, I’m sorry, but I’ve gotta go. Crap.”
“What’s going on?”
“Chris, my son, he just got suspended from school. I’ve got to go pick him up. Is it alright if I go over the program with you later?”
“Yeah, sure. Of course.” Mack waves his hands at me. “Go deal with your delinquent kid,” I know he’s joking, but the comment hits a bit too close to home. He has no way of knowing how much Chris has been acting out since Joel died. How he’s fallen in with a crowd that keeps me up at night sick with worry. How I pray to God to show him the way out of this darkness before he ruins his life.
“Thanks, ok, I’ll probably be back in a couple hours and we can go over it then.” I start walking toward the door.
“No problem. Hey, if you need good old Captain America to do a public service talk with your boy, swing him by here sometime. I’ll straighten him out for ya,” he smiles.
I nod politely and bite my tongue. As I walk toward the door I don’t tell Mack that a sit down with him might actually be the best thing for him. After all a heart-to-heart between a boy and his father can probably do a world more good than anything I can pass on to him.
Especially when his father is a famous, American war hero.
11
Lauren
2014
I pull into the school parking lot with my head buzzing like a beehive and my stomach filled with dread. This is the same elementary school that I went to when I was Chris’s age. This is the school where I met Mack Forrester. Now his son is walking the same halls, charming some of the same teachers and stirring the same shit up as his dad.
Even if Joel hadn’t died last year, Chris would still be a handful. It’s in his DNA as much as the almond skin tone he gets from me is, or the mischievous smile he gets from Mack.
Since the day he was born, Chris has always been a handful. I was blessed with the kid who climbed out of his crib and pulled the curtains down when he was one. The kid who decided the bathtub was an ideal place to put garden snakes when he was four. The boy who stole cardboard and other trash on garbage day for months so he could build a huge Evil Knievel style bike ramp across the street of our subdivision.
It was two days in the hospital getting his leg set and casted up for that one. And, of course, about a week after it was removed he built another ramp. This time it was sturdier and he landed the jump. He also got to spend almost an entire month in his room being proud of himself.
Even before Mack was all over the news, I never had a chance to forget him. Not when his son has been
“I’m happy you’re home too,” my voice cracks. Damn it. “I, uh, I’ve got a great program outlined for you here,” I stuff my hand in my pocket and pull out my phone so I can bring up his schedule. “I know you’ve been working hard on walking again, and I can see you’ve put in the hours with how well you’re doing.”
My mind snaps into nurse mode and I force my emotions back down my throat and bury them deep in my gut. “But, I’m gonna get you running again. By the time you’re finished here, you’ll be living the same as you did before the …” I don’t want to call it an accident. I saw the footage, just like the rest of America, and it wasn’t some kind of tumble that took Mack’s leg.
“Before I mistook a grenade for a soccer ball? I always get them confused. It’s all those little octagon shapes on them. Practically identical.” he jokes and I smile back at him, happy to let the awkward moment go.
I look down at the screen of my phone and see that my son’s school has been calling and texting me.
What the? I scroll through the messages, piecing together the situation. Perfect. Just perfect.
“Everything ok, Lauren?” Mack hovers near me and I can smell his scent. The little hairs stand up on the back of my neck as I breathe him in.
“No, I’m sorry, but I’ve gotta go. Crap.”
“What’s going on?”
“Chris, my son, he just got suspended from school. I’ve got to go pick him up. Is it alright if I go over the program with you later?”
“Yeah, sure. Of course.” Mack waves his hands at me. “Go deal with your delinquent kid,” I know he’s joking, but the comment hits a bit too close to home. He has no way of knowing how much Chris has been acting out since Joel died. How he’s fallen in with a crowd that keeps me up at night sick with worry. How I pray to God to show him the way out of this darkness before he ruins his life.
“Thanks, ok, I’ll probably be back in a couple hours and we can go over it then.” I start walking toward the door.
“No problem. Hey, if you need good old Captain America to do a public service talk with your boy, swing him by here sometime. I’ll straighten him out for ya,” he smiles.
I nod politely and bite my tongue. As I walk toward the door I don’t tell Mack that a sit down with him might actually be the best thing for him. After all a heart-to-heart between a boy and his father can probably do a world more good than anything I can pass on to him.
Especially when his father is a famous, American war hero.
11
Lauren
2014
I pull into the school parking lot with my head buzzing like a beehive and my stomach filled with dread. This is the same elementary school that I went to when I was Chris’s age. This is the school where I met Mack Forrester. Now his son is walking the same halls, charming some of the same teachers and stirring the same shit up as his dad.
Even if Joel hadn’t died last year, Chris would still be a handful. It’s in his DNA as much as the almond skin tone he gets from me is, or the mischievous smile he gets from Mack.
Since the day he was born, Chris has always been a handful. I was blessed with the kid who climbed out of his crib and pulled the curtains down when he was one. The kid who decided the bathtub was an ideal place to put garden snakes when he was four. The boy who stole cardboard and other trash on garbage day for months so he could build a huge Evil Knievel style bike ramp across the street of our subdivision.
It was two days in the hospital getting his leg set and casted up for that one. And, of course, about a week after it was removed he built another ramp. This time it was sturdier and he landed the jump. He also got to spend almost an entire month in his room being proud of himself.
Even before Mack was all over the news, I never had a chance to forget him. Not when his son has been
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