A Fresh Start

by Lexi Bissen

  “Sure. I was just calling to let you know some people here found about my arrest online. That shitty agent of yours didn’t do her job so well.”

  “Are you serious? I’ll call her first thing in the morning. Have you had any problems with any of the students there?”

  “Nothing I can’t handle, don’t worry about me.”

  He goes quiet for a second. “How are you doing staying with Dan?”

  “I like it. He’s working a lot, but we get along pretty well.”

  “That’s good, son. I’m happy everything’s working out over there.” I could have sworn I heard my dad’s voice drop at the end of his statement.

  There’s an awkward silence between the two of us and I’m not sure how to respond. “Hey, Dad, I’m walking into the house now. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

  “Yeah, son, have a good night.” I hang up and shove my phone in the front pocket of my jeans.

  I make my way up the driveway of Dan’s house and notice his patrol car is here. I thought he was working tonight, so I’m surprised to see he’s home.

  When I make my way inside, there’s loud noise from the living room. Walking through the kitchen and toward the hallway, Dan sitting on the couch watching TV, still in his uniform with a beer in his hand.

  At my appearance, he turns his head, then leans forward, placing his can of beer on the coffee table. “Where are you coming from?”

  “Chili’s down the road. Stopped by to grab a bite to eat,” I lie.

  Dan turns his attention back to the TV. “Plenty of food here. Any reason you made that long walk?”

  By the way he’s acting, I’m betting he knows exactly why I was there, or who I was there for. “They have great chili?”

  He tilts his head to the side, not believing my dumb answer. “You’re sticking with that response? I know a certain little blonde teenager works there.”

  I walk over to the loveseat, opposite from the couch he’s sitting on. “You trying to tell me something?”

  He laughs and shakes his head. Reaching for the remote on the coffee table, he turns down the volume. “I’m wondering what’s going on with you and Hamilton’s daughter. You’ve been spending quite some time with her.”

  “Is there a problem with that?”

  He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. “I’m going to be straightforward with you, Gibson. I know about your past and I personally know Ronnie and her family. I want to make sure you’re hanging around her for the right reasons. Ronnie and her brothers are the most respectable kids around here.”

  I wouldn’t say Sean was respectable, a dick would be more like it. “You’re saying I’m going to corrupt her or something?”

  “I’m not saying anything like that, I just want to make sure she’s being a good influence on you. Spending time with someone like her is a good thing, but I want to make sure you aren’t influencing her. I don’t want you to go back to your old habits.”

  I narrow my eyes at him and tighten my lips, trying to keep the annoyance from coming out. I get where he’s coming from, but I thought he knew I was serious about changing my ways. “You don’t need to worry about me being a bad influence on the precious Ronnie. I haven’t touched any of that shit since I left California and I don’t plan to. Plus, Ronnie knows about my past. I’ve already told her.”

  Dan’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “Really? I thought you weren’t going to talk about any of that with people you met here.”

  I shrug my shoulders. “I wasn’t, but Ronnie’s different.” I can’t help the small smile that creeps across my face.

  “You like this girl. Actually like her.” He doesn’t question it. It’s blatantly obvious from the look on my face.

  “Yeah, I like her, all right?” I say, my tone a little defensive. I don’t like talking about this with anyone, especially him, he’s the guy that took me in when I could be sitting in a cell and be someone’s bitch right now. I owe Dan. I push to stand and turn to go back to my room when Dan calls my name.

  “I have to pull a double tomorrow night since Jimmy’s wife went into labor tonight. That’s why I’m home. Two other guys covered for us. I’ll be home late tomorrow also, so you might want to grab yourself some Chili’s for dinner.” What a jokester he is.

  “I actually have a…um…date?” I say, shifting uncomfortably.

  “A date, you say? This wouldn’t be with Ronnie by any chance, would it?”

  “You think I would talk to you about her being different and then bring some other chick on a date?”

  “Of course not. If you were, I would have kicked your ass. I’m just surprised she agreed to go on a date with you. With her brother and that Rodger kid around, I was sure no one was going to make it through to her.”

  “Well, her brother and that douche don’t know about it. I’d like to keep it that way for as long as possible. They aren’t exactly fans of mine.”

  “Make sure you don’t keep it a secret for too long. I’m sure Sean and Ronnie’s daddy wouldn’t be too happy about her hiding your relationship.”

  I shrug at his comment. “Nothing to worry about. Parents love me.” Even though I’ve never met a chick’s parents and my friend’s dad had me arrested. Nothing to worry about there. Yeah right.

  Dan laughs. “You? Kid, if I were the parent of a teenage girl, I wouldn’t want you or anything with a dick around her. And you have a past. You better kiss some ass when you meet Mike.”

  I hold my hands up to stop him from talking. “Let’s take it back a notch. I haven’t even been on a date with her yet. Let me get through my first date and then maybe we can start talking about meeting the parents.”

  “Small town like this, nothing stays a secret. Everyone talks, Gibson. It’s hard, but get used to it.” If only it were that easy. After nineteen years of being in the media because of my dad, I still wasn’t used to it.

  Saturday morning, I wake up bright and early, ready to hit the gym like I do every weekend with my brother. Gathering my workout clothes from my closet, I quickly get changed and make my way downstairs to meet up with Sean. Walking into the kitchen, I find him scarfing down a protein bar. He nods his head and takes a drink out of the water bottle next to him.

  “You ready to work up a sweat?” he asks.

  Rolling my shoulders back, I puff out my chest and narrow my eyes at him. “Bring it on, bro,” I say in the deepest tone I can go. He laughs at my attempt to be manly and the two of us head out to the truck.

  Sean puts on some heavy metal garbage that makes me break out in chills from the high pitch screams. Deciding to get in the zone with my own tunes, I take my headphones out of my gym bag and play some Sam Hunt.

  Bobbing my head and getting lost to the smooth tone of Sam’s voice, I think back to when I first started going to the gym with my brothers. Jerry had made the football team and, even as a freshman, was the best out of all of them. That could have something to do with growing up with my dad, where you love, breathe, and sleep football if you are a Hamilton boy. Jerry was worried about disappointing our dad, so Sean and I would help with his training on weekends. That meant early mornings and working out when I’d much rather have a nose in a book. Even though helping my brother meant taking away one of my days to sleep in, I loved being there for him and learned to love working out.

  The truck jerks to a stop when Sean puts it in park and I take my headphones out. We enter the gym in silence. Sean is always serious when he works out and likes to get straight into sets after stretching.

  Licking the sweat off my top lip, I push through my last squat, feeling the burn all through my legs. “Good form. It’s gotten a lot better since we first started.” He’s talking about the time when I had fifteen pounds on each side and struggled to make a set. I’ve come a long way since then.

  “Thanks. I think this one is becoming my favorite.”

  Sean nods, but doesn’t say anything else. He seems like he wants to say more to me, but walks over
to the free weights. I’m not used to a silent Sean, so I head over to find out what’s wrong with him.

  Sean grabs a dumbbell and begins doing bicep curls. “What’s with the brooding Sean this morning? I know you’re usually serious, but you seem angry.”

  He looks at me through the mirror we’re standing in front of. “Nothing’s going on.”

  Like that short answer will cut it for me. “Sean, I know you, and I know when something’s bugging you. Call it a twin thing, but there is definitely something on your mind.”

  Sean drops the weights on the floor in front of him and turns to face me. From the slight flare of his nostrils, I can tell he’s pissed. It’s not a look I’m used to being directed toward me, so I take a step back, feeling threatened. “Fine, there is something I’ve want to talk to you about,” Sean barks out, talking at me more than to me. He may be a great team captain because of his assertive personality, but when it’s directed at me, all I want to do is smack him. “I’ve seen you and that criminal around each other too much. You need to stay the fuck away from him. He’s trouble, Ronnie, and you don’t need that kind of shit in your life.”

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I glare at him. Where does Sean get off on judging Gibson, someone he doesn’t even know? This has to be the kind of discrimination Gibson must have gotten his whole life. No matter how good of a person he becomes, his mistakes will always be what he’s known for. Sure, Gibson didn’t help himself when he chose the wrong path and started doing drugs and breaking the law, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t able to change.

  I point my finger at Sean’s chest and push. “How dare you. I’m sure all your opinions of him are from stupid social media and gossip websites, but you know nothing about who he is. And you, of all people, should know, sometimes we mess up, but that doesn’t make us a bad person. Everyone deserves a second chance, Sean. Gibson is here for his. He’s not corrupting me into the life he used to like, he’s not using me, and he sure as hell isn’t lying to me. He’s already told me about what he’s in the news for and more. He’s been open and forthcoming with me, so until you decide to actually get to know Gibson as a person, you can keep your opinions to yourself and shut the fuck up.” I turn around and storm out the gym door, leaving my brother standing there stunned. Once I’m outside, the cool breeze hitting my now wet skin sends a chill up my arms and I rub them to stop it.

  Sean and I rode over here together in our truck, so now I don’t have a way to get home other than the ten mile walk. I decide to take advantage of the time alone to cool off from the argument. I never thought my brother would be the type to listen to gossip and judge someone based on it. It makes me sad because a year ago, he was the one in Gibson’s shoes and Anna was the one who got hurt.

  They started dating freshman year and fell in love right away. Sean would tell me over and over he had found the girl he was planning on spending the rest of his life with. I thought he was happy to just have a girlfriend at fifteen and saying stuff like that because he fell in lust, but if you saw the two together, you would have known they were the real deal.

  Then, Sean went to an away game in New Orleans with the entire football team, staff, and cheerleaders, and there had been one girl in particular trying to get her claws into Sean for the past year. I never did get the full story from either one of them, both said they didn’t want to talk about it, but from my understanding, there were pictures of Sean and the girl together throughout the night—talking, kissing…Sean and a girl in bed together, which had the entire school talking when most of them personally received the photo. You can clearly tell Sean is in bed with a brunette laying topless across his chest, but you aren’t able to see her face.

  I was with Anna when she got the photo message that said, “Like our QB would be faithful. Hurry quick, girls, he’ll be off the market soon…” I have never seen such devastation on someone’s face before. Anna looked like a relative died. She refused to talk to Sean after that, wouldn’t even let him explain. I was proud of her for standing her ground. It must have been hard, but no one should ever forgive a cheater. My relationship with Anna changed then, and I felt lonely after losing one of my closest friends. We had known each other for so long. Growing up, she had lived down the street from us and we would always ride our bikes together after school. Sean ruined everything by breaking her heart, taking away one of my favorite people. Sure, she said we were still friends, but I could tell she felt uncomfortable being around me. After a while, I gave up, realizing being my friend would only hurt her in the long run, and eventually, I had to get past what Sean did.

  I had been so lost in my head and focused on cooling off, I never paid attention to where I was going. Looking around, I find myself in front of Gibson’s house. There isn’t a car in the driveway, so I’m guessing his uncle isn’t here. Deciding I’d much rather hide out here than go home where Sean will no doubt want to talk again, I walk up to the front door and knock. I wait for a minute, but no one answers.

  Just before I’m about to turn around and leave, the door swings open and my jaw nearly falls to the ground. Gibson stands there, holding the door open while leaning forward…shirtless. This cannot be the body of a high school student. He’s beautiful, hard and muscular, his six pack and flexed bicep on display as he holds the door open. My eyes descend his body and land on that V that makes girls go crazy. It’s never affected me, unlike most girls, and Allen. Even Rodger had the V, but I was never fixated on it. Right now, I’m unable to look away. His sweatpants are slung low on his hips and I follow a trail of dark hair starting at the bottom of his belly button and disappearing into his waistband. I’m still staring, and maybe drooling, when that perfect torso starts to get closer. Gibson grabs my chin and lifts my face so I’m looking into his eyes. His striking green eyes captivate me. They look different now. Sort of dark and…hungry. Between his half naked body and the way those eyes are looking at me, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stand up straight for much longer.

  “You have a little something right here, princess.” He swipes his thumb across the corner of my lip. Was I really drooling? I reach up to my mouth and check, but don’t feel anything. The liar.

  I stand here like an idiot, unable to form a structural sentence in response. I’m pretty sure the only sound that would come out of my mouth right now would be a moan, and that wouldn’t be appropriate at all.

  Gibson rubs his thumb across my cheek with a light caress that makes me want to shut my eyes, but then I wouldn’t be able to look into his. “What brings you over this way?” he asks in a deep, scratchy voice, sounding like he just woke up. It is only eight a.m.

  How would I answer that question? That I left the gym and subconsciously made my way to his house? Doesn’t sound strange at all. “I…um. Well, I was on my way home…” I trail off.

  Gibson leans in and lightly kisses the cheek his thumb isn’t touching and my face catches fire. “I’m guessing by the outfit you have on, you were working out. And if this is what you wear when you go to the gym, I’m going with you—every time. You look too sexy for me not to be around you.” His hot breath dances across my cheek the entire time.

  I didn’t think anything of my choice of clothing this morning other than find clean clothes to workout in. I picked out a bright green pair of yoga capris and a black Nike tank top. I never thought of it looking sexy, but maybe Gibson sees something different. “Yeah, I was at the gym with Sean this morning. We go every Saturday together.”

  “Hmm.” I don’t get much out of Gibson before his lips make their way from my cheek to my neck and he places an open kiss right against my pulse. By the loud pounding of my heart, I’m sure he can hear it. I tilt my head, exposing my neck more for him. Gibson places one hand on my lower back, pulling my body closer to his. He tangles the other in my hair, controlling the movement of my head to where he wants it.

  He makes his way across to the front of my throat and my eyes shutter closed. Gibson licks my jaw and I let out
a moan of approval. No one’s ever licked me before and I like it—a lot. Gibson’s grip on my hair tightens and my scalp tingles, but it’s not painful. He removes his lips from my neck and lifts his head, bringing his face right in front of mine. Our lips are close to touching and I want nothing more than to close the distance, but he still has a hold of me, preventing me from connecting our lips.

  A smirk forms on Gibson’s face. “You want me to kiss you, princess?” His lips brush mine as he teases me.

  “Yes.”

  He plants a soft, chaste kiss on my lips and releases his grip on my hair. Just when I think he’s going to come back and do what he did on my neck to my lips, he turns around and heads back through the open door, leaving me standing there on the front porch, confused. He left the door open, so I’m guessing he wants me to follow him. The only problem is I can’t get my legs to move.

  After I’m able to collect myself, I make my way into his house. I’ve never seen the inside of Officer Dan’s house before. It is a small one-story surrounded by woods. Walking through the door, the living room is to my right and there’s a small hallway that I’m guessing leads to the kitchen. The front room looks too tidy for a house where two men live. There’s no clutter or trash and the couches seem to match, unlike how my brother’s apartment looked like when he moved out. I could see myself getting comfortable with a blanket and a book on those couches. It’s every reader’s dream.

  After breaking my away from thoughts of a good book and my butt in that seat, I make my way down the hall to the kitchen. When I enter, the smell of strong coffee hits me and my stomach growls right away. Gibson is still shirtless, reaching in the top cabinet for two mismatched coffee cups. As he brings them down, he notices me standing near the doorway. “I made some coffee, you want some?” Coffee? I scratch my head, wondering why he would be asking me for coffee. Looking back to the front of the house, I run through the kiss we just had and wonder why he would ask such a casual question.