The Summer Boyfriend

by Benjamin, Christina

  Hayden nodded and Jack shut the door behind them. Then he turned his attention back to Jo and Hayden. As soon as he took another step into the room, Piper went back on guard.

  Jo’s stomach hurt watching her sweet dog go full Cujo on her uncle. For a brief moment she worried that Brock’s attack had permanently traumatized Piper. What if she hated all men now?

  Jack exhaled loudly. “Really, Piper? I helped raise you.” He looked at Jo. “What the hell’s gotten into her?”

  Jo and Hayden exchanged looks.

  “She’s just scared after last night,” Jo said.

  Jack frowned. “Last night? What the hell happened last night?”

  Jo and Hayden exchanged looks again. Jo was shocked her uncle didn’t know what happened by now. She assumed that was the reason he was beating down their hotel room door. But if he didn’t know . . . why the hell was he here?

  “Somebody better tell me what the hell is going on,” Jack ordered.

  “We will,” Jo said calmly. “But you’re gonna need to sit down for this.”

  Jo called Piper off while Hayden led Jack into the comfortable living room of the suite, far away from the rumpled sheets and hopefully the memory of what Jack had walked in on.

  Jack sat on the loveseat while Jo took up a spot next to Hayden on the couch. Piper settled stoically at their feet.

  “Well?” Jack pushed.

  Jo reached for Hayden’s hand and took a deep breath before she began recounting the events of last night.

  * * *

  When she was finished telling Jack everything that happened it was like a weight had been lifted off of Jo’s shoulders. Sadly, it looked as though the weight was now resting on Jack. He pinched the bridge of his nose for what seemed like the hundredth time. He’d been deadly quiet the entire time Jo spoke and now she was waiting for him to erupt.

  He slowly stood. Hayden and Jo followed suit, tension pulsing between them as Jack walked toward them. Jo grabbed Piper, who was starting to bristle again.

  Jack extended a hand to Hayden—an offering. “I owe you an apology, son. Thank you for protecting my niece.”

  Hayden shook Jack’s hand. “You’re welcome.”

  Jack turned to Jo and his face instantly softened to the one of her loving uncle. He pulled her into his arms and held her tight, his drill sergeant demeanor evaporating. “Jo, my God, why didn’t you come to me, sweetheart?”

  There was so much hurt in Jack’s voice that she wasn’t sure how to respond. When he finally released her, she sat back on the couch. Jack pulled up a chair next to her, while Hayden and Piper took up their previous positions.

  “I wanted to tell you,” Jo admitted. “But I also wanted to be adult enough to handle it myself.”

  “Jo, there’s proud and there’s stupid. Being an adult means knowing the difference.”

  She shrunk under the backhanded reprimand. “But you taught me how important it is to be strong and independent.”

  “Yes, and you are those things, Jo. But I also raised you to know the importance of family. Family always has each other’s backs. But we can’t be there for you if you keep us in the dark. If Brock had hurt you . . .”

  “He didn’t,” Jo reassured.

  “But last night wasn’t the first time he tried,” Hayden interjected.

  Jo cut him a look, but knew she shouldn’t really be mad at him. She’d shared all of Brock’s horrors with the police last night and Hayden had heard every word of it.

  “Is that true?” Jack asked.

  Jo nodded, slowly. “Yes. He tried to force himself on me after Max’s memorial.”

  “Jo, that was two years ago. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “It wasn’t a proud moment for me. I was drunk and lonely, and I let things go too far before telling Brock to stop. But he did stop. I made him.”

  Jack shook his head. “The fact that you’ve been dealing with this for two years . . .”

  “It really hasn’t been an issue until this summer. He was drunk and got handsy with me again when he gave me an ultimatum. Marry him or he contests my custody.”

  “What!” Jack was on his feet. “I hope Brock likes his room at the hospital because I swear to God I’m gonna put him right back in there if he ever gets out.”

  Jo flinched and Hayden stood abruptly. “Jack, I think Jo’s seen enough violence in the past few days to last a lifetime.”

  Jack took stock of Jo. She was huddled on the couch looking worried. It made him drop back to his seat. “Jo, sweetheart. I’m so sorry. It’s just, when I hear about someone putting their hands on you . . . I want to kill him.”

  “Me too,” she whispered.

  “What did he do to you?” Jack growled.

  “I don’t really want to talk about it. It’s in the past and I just want to move forward and put all of this behind me.”

  “But I don’t understand why Brock’s talking about custody at all. He doesn’t have any rights to Kai, does he?”

  Hayden cleared his throat. “I may have some ideas how to rectify the custody situation.”

  Jo turned to face Hayden. “What ideas?”

  Hayden looked sheepish. “I don’t want to get your hopes up. I need to speak to my father and my attorney first.”

  “About that . . .” Jack said. “He’s the reason I’m here.”

  Jo was lost. “Who? What’s going on?”

  Jack scrubbed a large hand over his face. “Your father should be here any minute, Hayden.”

  Hayden nodded. “Good.”

  Jo felt like her head was on a swivel as she looked between Hayden and Jack. “What am I missing?”

  “Archibald Anderson has been leaving me angry voicemails since this morning. It’s the reason I came here looking for Hayden. Although I didn’t know I’d find you in his bed.”

  Jo’s cheeks burned, but she tried to ignore it. “But why did he call you?”

  “Because I had my lawyer withdraw my Olympic eligibility last night.”

  “What?” Jo croaked.

  “It all makes sense now,” Jack added. “I would’ve had to drop you from ACE anyway.”

  Jo was on her feet. “Jack!”

  “Jo, he assaulted one staff member and is in a relationship with another. It’s a complete violation of the rules.”

  Jo gaped at her uncle, but when she looked at Hayden he was trying to hide his grin. He tugged her hand so she would sit back down. Then he winked at her. He just ruined his swimming career and he winked at her.

  “You’re worth it,” he whispered. “Besides, look at my hand. I won’t be swimming for a medal with this thing.”

  Jo didn’t know what to say. So much was happening so fast, and through all of it the only thing she could think about was Kai. She had a feeling things were going to turn ugly quickly once Brock’s mother found out Jo was pressing charges for the events that transpired last night. And as much as she wanted to press pause and ask Hayden what the hell he was thinking giving up on swimming, she couldn’t. She had to focus on her son. “Is Pam still with Kai?” she asked Jack.

  He nodded. “They’re at Gina’s.”

  “So, they don’t know about any of this yet?”

  “They didn’t when I left.”

  Jo chewed her lip. “Do you think you can ask Pam to bring Kai home? I don’t want him with Gina and her family when they find out about Brock. I’d do it myself but the police told us not to leave the island.”

  Jack nodded. “I’ll escort them back myself.”

  Jo breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

  Hayden’s phone was ringing somewhere in the bedroom. He dashed out of the living room to retrieve it. When he came back his mouth was pressed into a hard line and his jaw muscles twitched with unease. “My father’s here.”

  “I trust you can handle him on your own?” Jack asked.

  Hayden nodded.

  Jack stood, shook Hayden’s hand again and then pulled Jo aside. “Jo, you’ve been through a gr
eat deal. And for the most part I think you’ve handled yourself with the grace of someone far beyond your years. But when things like this are going on in your life you can’t shut us out. You or Kai could’ve been seriously hurt and we would never forgive ourselves for standing by if we could’ve prevented it. The choices you make now can affect your whole future. So I want you to think long and hard before you make any decisions. And promise you’ll run them by me first.” He looked pointedly at Hayden.

  Jo didn’t like how Jack’s gesture insinuated he didn’t trust her judgment, but she understood his concern. Jack didn’t know Hayden the way she did. If Kai was in this situation, Jo was sure she’d react the same. So for that reason, she hugged her uncle and kissed him on the cheek. “I promise to be more open with you.”

  “That’s all I can ask.” Jack gave her one final squeeze, then left the hotel room—this time through the front door.

  57

  Hayden

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Joy asked for the tenth time.

  “I’ll be fine. He’s my father, not a firing squad. Besides, you need to stay here with Piper and wait for Jack to get back with Kai.”

  “I know, but—”

  Hayden cut her off. “You know you’re pretty cute when you’re worried about me, girlfriend?”

  Joy crossed her arms and tried to look serious, which only made Hayden think she was more adorable. He pulled her into a hug and dropped a kiss on her silky blonde hair. “I’ve got this, Joy. Now go take a shower. I’ll be back before you get out.”

  With a sigh, she reluctantly peeled herself away and padded toward the bathroom. Before slipping through the door she gave him a shy grin over her shoulder. “Hayden?”

  “Joy?”

  “I like it when you call me girlfriend.”

  His heart, or Max’s, whatever that thing was beating in his chest, it leapt. It literally leapt at her words. Hayden didn’t even try to hide his grin. He bit his fist trying to convince himself to leave right now, because keeping his father waiting was not a good idea. But Joy was standing in the bathroom doorway, wearing nothing but his shirt and that goddamn beautiful smile. That smile was for him. And nothing could stop him from kissing it.

  Hayden ran across the room and scooped Joy up. He pressed her into the doorframe as he kissed her thoroughly. Her hands raked through his freshly showered hair, pulling him closer as his tongue lavished hers with greedy strokes.

  When he pulled away her cheeks were full of that beautiful coral flush. Hayden ran his thumb over it, grinning.

  This is mine, Joy.

  This color, these cheeks, these lips.

  I want all of it, forever.

  I’m gonna go get us a forever, Joy.

  You just wait and see.

  He kissed her one more time before setting her back on her feet. “Now get in the shower before you make me any later than I am already, girlfriend.”

  She grinned, turned the shower on, took off her shirt and boldly let it drop to the floor.

  Goddamn!

  Hayden’s hand playfully clutched his chest as he backed out of the bathroom and went straight for the door. If he didn’t leave now he never would, because the image of his gorgeous naked girlfriend stepping into the shower was now seared into his mind. He wanted to join her so badly it hurt. But it would have to wait.

  Right now, he needed to go make sure he and Joy would have a future full of time to do indulgent things, like take long, hot showers together.

  Hayden slipped out of his hotel room, intent on securing a forever with the girl he loved. And that meant facing his father.

  * * *

  Hayden paused outside his father’s hotel room door. He checked his reflection in the hall mirror. He smoothed down his still damp hair and buttoned the collar of his shirt. He’d showered and changed into fresh clothes earlier, but there was nothing he could do about the bruises climbing up his jaw. Not that it mattered. Hayden could’ve shown up in an Armani suite without a hair out of place and his father would still find something to be disappointed in.

  Besides, if Archibald Anderson was here in Hawaii, it meant that Warner had filled him in on the details of last night. And that meant there was nothing Hayden could say or do to dull his father’s certain outrage. The best he could hope for was to beat him to the punch.

  At least the first part of Hayden’s plan had worked. Warner had done as he asked and withdrawn Hayden’s Olympic eligibility. He’d just have to trust that the lawyer had followed through on everything else.

  Hayden took one last glance in the mirror. Here goes nothing. He walked up to his father’s hotel room door, knocking twice.

  Silence

  Hayden gave two more knocks with his aching fist before the door opened.

  The unfamiliar face of a butler greeted him. “Mr. Anderson?”

  “Yes.”

  “Your father has been expecting you. He’s in the parlor.”

  Hayden followed the butler silently through the massive penthouse suite of the Four Seasons. When he walked into the parlor, he felt like maybe he was facing a firing squad after all. Archibald Anderson was standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out at the ocean, Warner by his side. Both men turned when Hayden entered the room. Both looking at him with hardened expressions. No one spoke until the butler left the room.

  Archibald threw the first blow. “After all I’ve given you. This is how you repay me?”

  So, we’re jumping right into it, then.

  Good, let’s get this over with, Father.

  “What have you given me? A complex? A chip on my shoulder? An unachievable goal?”

  “Olympic gold is not unachievable. If I came so close, you can surely grasp it with all the advantages I’ve given you. If you’d just apply yourself—”

  Hayden cut him off. “You think I haven’t been applying myself? What the hell do you call this?” Hayden said lifting his shirt to show off his scars.

  His father looked away, confirming what Hayden had always known . . . his father was ashamed. Ashamed he had a son full of so much weakness. A son that needed so many surgeries just to survive. A son that was less than what he wanted.

  “You can’t even look at me can you?”

  Archibald averted his eyes and walked to the far corner of the room.

  It should’ve hurt worse to see the disgust in his father’s eyes, but Hayden had always known how his father felt. But for once, he didn’t care. All he cared about was Joy and getting what he’d come here for.

  “Fine, you don’t have to look, Father. But you do have to live with the knowledge that you did this to me. You made me into a project. Because just surviving wasn’t enough for you. I had to thrive. I had to be an excellent athlete just like you. I had to want greatness just like you. But guess what? I’ve found it. And it doesn’t come in the form of a gold medal. It comes in the form of love. I’ve found that here, and I’m not giving it up.”

  Archibald laughed. “What the hell do you know about love?”

  “Not much, thanks to you. But I know that I love Joy and I’m done following your dreams. It’s time I follow my own.”

  “We had a deal, Hayden. One shot at the Olympics then you could chase whatever foolish dreams you think you have.”

  “You’re right. We did have a deal. But I’m conceding.”

  “You ungrateful little bastard. I won’t let you concede. You owe me this!”

  “I don’t owe you anything.”

  “I’ve wasted entirely too much time and money getting you here to just let you walk away. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get you into ACE? How many physicians I had to bribe? You don’t just get to walk away, Hayden. I’m going to speak to Jack Wright and get you back in the program. And I’ve already put a call into the Olympic committee—”

  “Make all the calls you want. It won’t change my mind. The deal’s off. I’m done swimming. I should’ve quit the day I got my transplant. I’m luc
ky to be alive. And I’m not wasting another second of my life chasing something I never wanted.”

  Archibald laughed. “You’re twenty, Hayden. You have no idea what you want. You think this girl will be enough, but she won’t. You’ll see.”

  Hayden bit his tongue. He wanted to scream at his father. He wanted to shake him and tell him he was wrong. That Joy would be enough. Love was always enough. But Hayden knew he could scream until he was blue in the face and it wouldn’t matter. Something was broken in his father, it had been ever since his mother died, and Hayden needed to accept that it wasn’t his job to fix it.

  “Think what you want, Father. But my mind is made up. I’ve withdrawn my eligibility and I’ve already spoken to Jack about withdrawing from ACE.”

  “Withdrawing, ha! You’ll be thrown out after the stunt you pulled last night!”

  “It doesn’t change anything. I’m done. Cut me off, disown me, do whatever you think you need to do. I’m done swimming. I’m done chasing your dream.”

  “You’re giving up a chance at greatness for a life of mediocrity!” Archibald bellowed. “And for what? A girl? What a waste!”

  Hayden wanted to say a life without Joy was the only waste he saw, and he wasn’t giving up anything, only gaining. He was gaining a chance at happiness and it wasn’t something he was willing to give up, no matter how difficult his father made it for him. “Just tell me your terms.”

  “My terms?”

  “For breaking our deal.”

  “The terms were clear,” Archibald replied. “You’ll be cut off from everything. Your inheritance, my fortune, everything.”

  “Fine.”

  Archibald laughed. “Fine? Do you really think you can live without my money? And what about this girl? Will she even want you when you’re broke?”

  Hayden’s jaw twitched. “It’s not like I have nothing. I still have my trust.”

  Archibald shook his head. “Absolutely not. I set that trust up for you. If you walk away, you walk away with nothing.”