Hero of Mine (11 page)

“A friendship, really?”

“Mom, where's Dad?” Dani asked.

“He dropped us off and went to go fill the car up. You were saying, Tyler?”

“Well, ma'am, we were watching a movie, and both of us fell asleep. Because it was late, Dani offered to let me sleep on the couch, and I decided to return her kindness by making her breakfast.”

Dani could tell her mom was studying the living room for signs that he spoke the truth and noticed the rumpled blanket on the couch.

“I see.”

“Do you want some pancakes, Mom? They're really good, and Tyler made a huge stack.” Finally catching Tyler's gaze, she mouthed
I am so sorry.

He shrugged with a smile.

“No, I'm fine. Your father and I were going to take you to lunch, but I can see you already ate.”

Tyler set Noah at the table with a stack of cut-up pancakes. He did it with such ease, as if it had happened a hundred times, and she could only imagine what her mom was thinking.

“Well, ladies, I should let you visit. I need to get Duke home anyway.”

“I'll walk you out,” Dani said.

Once she closed the door behind them, she leaned against it with a groan. “I am so sorry.”

“Seriously, it's fine. My mom would have been the same way.”

“You're just trying to make me feel better,” she said.

“A little. Is it working?”

Putting her hands and her forehead on his chest, she breathed deep. “Thank you.”

He laughed as his arms circled her waist. “Wow, the way you act, I feel like I should have more battle wounds.”

Her arms wrapped around him. “How are you not running right now?”

“I don't know. Maybe I've got a good feeling about you,” he said.

“Well, you'd better take that feeling and get the hell out of here before my dad shows up and then there are two of them.”

He cupped her chin with one hand and brought her gaze up to meet his. As his lips dropped and covered hers, she hardly had time to worry about her breath before his mouth was moving over hers in a soft, loving kiss.

When he finally released her, she leaned back against the door in a daze.

“I'll call you.”

“I bet you say that to all the girls,” she said breathlessly.

Tyler's hand trailed over her cheek, an indiscernible expression on his handsome face. “But with you, I mean it.”

T
YLER WASN
'
T SURPRISED
that Jeremiah was less than trusting of the trainers at Alpha Dog. Hell, most of the kids who came through those doors were leery of the staff, who tried to earn their trust with structure, understanding, and firmness when needed. But Jeremiah hadn't been a problem at all. Whereas most of the kids were harsh and angry or attention seeking, Jeremiah was soft-spoken and slightly awkward. Since he'd been at the program, he had hardly said anything, fading into the background. But Tyler hadn't forgotten about him.

“Jeremiah, why don't you show us how to put Lucky into a sit-stay?” he called.

Had Jeremiah's face actually paled? His light blue eyes were definitely wider than usual, but he stepped forward, his longish brown hair falling over his forehead as he stared at the ground upon approach.

Tyler frowned, concerned at the kid's timidity.

And then, just as Jeremiah reached the front of the group, Tyler heard a coughed word, loud enough for others to hear. Some of the boys started laughing, but Tyler's body stiffened with fury.

“Fag.”

“Who the fuck said that?” The boys were dead silent, and Tyler stepped up to Jamie Platt, whose laughter died under Tyler's thunderous expression. “You think hate speech and slurs are funny? Huh, Platt?”

“No, sir!”

“Then why are you laughing?” he shouted.

The teenager didn't answer, visibly shaken, and Tyler stepped back. “Do I need to remind you that Alpha Dog has a zero-tolerance policy for bullying? That means that hate speech, racial and sexual slurs, and other derogatory violations of members of this group will not be tolerated. This is your one chance; whoever threw out that word better step in front of the group in the next ten seconds or it will get worse for you.”

Tyler waited, knowing that the perpetrator wouldn't do it, but he wanted to give him the chance anyway. When nobody stepped forward, he shrugged.

“You wanna do this the hard way? Fine by me. Platt, Harlow, Meyers, Fredrickson, and Shields, hand your leashes off to a friend. And start running.”

“Come on, Sergeant Best, we didn't do anything,” Dwayne cried.

“That's where you're wrong. You're a team while you're in this program, and when one member is targeted, you should be defending him, not laughing at his expense. Now, get moving. Every four laps, you get a five-minute water break, and you will keep going for the next hour, until someone confesses. At the end of that hour, if no one has stepped forward, then you five will be leaving the program. So, you better hope that whoever the comic was has some integrity.”

Hank stepped forward. “Sarge, it was—”

“Unless you're about to confess, Hank, I suggest you keep your mouth shut. I don't want you to turn anyone in; I want that person to be a man and come talk to me. The rest of you are dismissed; take your dogs in and report to study hall. Except Jeremiah. You stay.”

All the boys headed inside while the five others took off to run laps around the perimeter of the yard.

Once it was the two of them, Tyler nodded at the trembling teenager. “Now, show me that sit-stay.”

Jeremiah did as he was asked, and Tyler timed him. A twenty-second sit-stay wasn't bad.

“Okay, go ahead and give him a treat.” He walked closer to Jeremiah, who was squatting down in front of Lucky. The kid had been a good choice for the dog, and while Jeremiah rubbed Lucky's ears and told him what a good dog he was, Tyler crossed his arms over his chest as he stopped. “Is that the first time that's happened here? Someone calling you that?”

“No, sir.”

Tyler placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. “I apologize for that. I want you to feel comfortable being able to tell one of us if you're being bullied. There is no excuse for it, not here.”

“But calling them out is only going to make it worse,” Jeremiah said.

“I have a hard time imagining they'll keep harassing you if the end result is them getting shipped back to juvie.”

“They might stop in here, but what happens when we're out?”

Tyler had a suspicion that turned his stomach. “Whoever has been harassing you is someone you knew before?”

Jeremiah didn't need to answer; Tyler could see the answer in his expression. But the kid said it anyway. “You can't protect me from things like this.”

Although Jeremiah had a point, the impotence of the situation pissed Tyler off. “You're right. You gotta decide how you're going to handle it, but that doesn't mean I'll have someone like that in this program. You might not feel safe anywhere else, but you will here. Go ahead and take Lucky inside and join the rest of the guys in study hall.”

Jeremiah hesitated for half a second. “You didn't ask me.”

“Ask you what?” Tyler said.

“If I was gay.”

Tyler shrugged. “Gay or straight, it doesn't matter. He had no right to call you that.”

The kid smiled brightly. “Thanks, Sergeant Best.”

It blew Tyler away that Jeremiah was thanking him for stating the obvious. Then again, he'd been in the Corps with guys who hadn't thought twice about throwing around gay slurs, but Tyler never had.

He'd seen what his little brother had gone through the last few years after coming out. As much as the world was changing and evolving, there was still bigotry and hate.

Just not under Tyler's watch.

Tyler focused on the five boys running and already had an idea who had spoken, but he was determined to give him the benefit of the doubt. Not that he wouldn't be dealt with, but he wasn't a malicious boy. That was why singling Jeremiah out was so puzzling.

“Come on, you can run faster than that. Pick up the pace; as soon as you finish this lap, you can take a water break.” As they came around another lap, Tyler glanced down at his phone for the time and saw a text message from Dani. They hadn't seen each other since Sunday, but he was hoping her text meant she was available for dinner. He was dying to get her alone.

“You have just over fifty minutes left! I hope you aren't getting tired,” he said cruelly.

The boys ran to grab a drink at the fountain, and Harlow was the first to quench his thirst and start running again.

Sliding his finger over the phone screen, he read her message.
My babysitter is sick, and my mom and dad are out of town visiting my aunt. I'm homebound, I'm afraid.

Damn, this whole keeping Noah and him separate was harder than he thought.

What if I bring pizza and a movie over after Noah goes to bed? Then we aren't breaking any rules, and if he wakes up, I can always hide in the closet.

Raised voices by the fountain pulled him away from his phone, and he looked up in time to see Platt push Meyers against the wall. The bigger boy was radiating anger even from a hundred yards away, but it was the shouting that made Tyler rush to intercede.

Tyler caught every word as he neared the fountain, confirming what he'd already known.

“I'm not running anymore for you, asshole! You're going to tell Sarge it was you talking shit, or you're going to have bigger problems.”

Meyers might have been the smaller of the two, but he wasn't backing down. He shoved Platt back. “Fuck you, fat ass, what are you going to do, sit on me? Mind your business!”

Tyler sped up, hollering, “Hey, hey! Knock it off. Platt, get back to running.”

Platt did as he was told, glaring at Meyers until he finally turned away.

Tyler held his hand up as Meyers started to take off, too. “You want to come clean now or keep torturing your friends?”

Meyers's face turned an ugly shade of red as he snarled, “They aren't my friends. I'm out of here in a few weeks anyway.”

“That's true. You can spend that time getting shipped to juvie and losing all the goodwill you've earned from me and the rest of the instructors. That would be the easy way out of this. To just pretend that you didn't do anything wrong.” He hoped his tone was conveying that was the wrong choice. “Or, you could show that you've actually learned something in your time here and deal with your mistake. Apologize to your team and especially to Jeremiah. I don't know what happened between the two of you before you got here, but I know you're better than this.”

“I was just being funny, Sarge. Why do I need to apologize because the kid can't take a joke?”

“Because calling someone that isn't a joke. Words like that cut deep and can scar a person.” Tyler's eyes bored into Meyers's until the kid's brown ones darted away. “You've been someone the other guys look up to and have earned their trust and respect. I'd hate to see you lose that.”

“If I kiss that kid's ass, none of them will respect me.”

“Now, I'm pretty sure you're wrong. Did you see Platt's face when you called him fat? That was hurt, which means he thinks you're friends. You shouldn't treat your friends like that.”

Despite the kid's tough attitude, Tyler noticed Meyers's cheeks and ears were red with a blush. “I wasn't trying to start anything. I was just having a laugh.”

“At other people's expense. How is making someone else feel like shit funny? Does that actually make you feel better?”

Meyers shrugged and answered honestly. “Sometimes.”

“Then it sounds like you need to spend an hour a day with Dr. Stabler if you plan to stay. See if she can help you work through healthier ways to boost your self-esteem.”

That seemed to be the kid's breaking point. “Oh, come on, I don't need a shrink!”

“Part of your probation, Meyers, if you accept my terms. You can talk to her and work out your shit or not—it's up to you—but you will show up to every appointment. And if anything else comes up, you're out of here.”

Meyers stared mutinously at him, but Tyler wasn't going to cave, not on this. After everything his little brother had been through, with dick bags hassling him and calling him every shitty name in the book, it wasn't going to fly here.

“So, what's it going to be? Accept the consequences and apologize? Or do I need to make a phone call?” Tyler prodded.

Meyers's Adam's apple bobbed hard. “Okay.”

“Good. First, you'll apologize to Platt and all of the other guys. Then, you're going to have extra cleanup duty this week after meals.” Meyers nodded, not arguing. “And until you're discharged, I wanna hear that you're going to every counseling appointment. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir, we're clear.”

“Good. Hang out while I call your cohorts in.” Cupping his hands over his mouth, he shouted, “All right, you're done. Get over here.”

While they waited, Meyers said, “I know it's none of my business, Sarge, but I heard the black eye Sergeant Sparks has is from you. Why'd you hit him?”

Well, hell, the kid had him now.

“Honestly? He was being a dick.”

Meyers laughed and with a definite twinkle in his eyes chided, “Now, you shouldn't hit your friends, sir.”

Tyler grinned sheepishly. “You're right, I shouldn't have. I don't recommend throwing punches at your friends when they piss you off. It's something I gotta learn not to do, too. The point is, you need to learn from the mistakes of your elders and strive to be better. Which means we don't bully people just because we need to feel better about ourselves.”

As the other boys gathered around, Platt shot Meyers a dark scowl. Meyers's jaw clenched, and for a second, Tyler wasn't sure Meyers would follow through, but he surprised him.

“I'm sorry I was a jerk, Platt. I didn't mean it; I was just pissed,” Meyers said, relaxing.

Tyler thought Platt was going to draw it out, but instead he nodded, a small smile on his face as he held his hand out to Meyers. “All right, but the next time you try to dis all of this, I
am
going to sit on you.”

The other boys laughed, and Meyers grinned as they shook hands.

“Let's go inside, and we'll find Jeremiah, who will receive an apology from each of you. No exceptions, got it?” No one argued. “After you.”

Tyler fell into step behind them, pulling out his phone once more, and saw a new text from Dani.

Okay. You bring a pizza and movie, and I'll make cookies.

Here's hoping you get more than a cookie.
The thought popped unbidden into his head, and he couldn't help laughing at himself. As much as he'd changed over the last few weeks, he still had a bit of the old Tyler in him. The one who hadn't gotten laid in a while—had barely been kissed, actually—and he was starting to feel the withdrawal.

I wouldn't expect too much tonight. The last thing you want to do is be getting it on and have Noah walk in on you. Scar the kid for life.

But it wasn't just about the sex. They had hardly had time to figure out how they'd work without drama, parents, or friends getting in the way. Noah was one thing, he and Dani were a package deal, but it seemed like every time Dani and Tyler started to grow closer, something would put distance between them. It wasn't them; he had the feeling with no interruptions, they'd have a really good time together, as he'd experienced the few times they'd been alone.

Building something real was new territory, though, and he just hoped he wasn't going to royally fuck it up.

T
HAT NIGHT
,
JUST
as Dani was closing the door to Noah's room, there was a knock at her front door. Bella and Shasta barked and howled, and she shushed them sternly as she ran past. She had been looking forward to going out with Tyler all week, and when she'd almost had to cancel, she'd been really disappointed. She hadn't wanted to be the one to ask him to come over, especially when she had been the one to suggest keeping him and Noah separate.

She hadn't needed to, though. And even if Noah woke up, she wasn't worried. Her son adored Tyler already, but as someone who introduced him to puppies, not as a potential dad.