Page 52 of Pete and His Precious

Connie just stares for a second, her eyes going from me back to the flowers and then to me.

“That must’ve been some talk,” she says, looking at the flowers again. “I’ve never had a friend I talked to send me flowers the next day.” She sets a hand on my shoulder, and then brings me in for a hug. Warm and matronly, she smells like vanilla, underneath the diner smell of coffee and fried food. It’s not an unpleasant aroma. She feels warm and safe, and I lay my head on her shoulder. “I think the boy likes you for more than a friend, but I think he’s respecting the boundaries you set.”

She looks again at the flowers, and she says, “Yeah. Those are way too nice for some guy who’s only interested in friendship. Especially if he doesn’t have a whole lot of money.” She looks at me, her brows raised. “Does he?”

“He’s a policeman,” I say before I think about it, and then I wish I wouldn’t have said anything. Even though I love Connie, this is probably going to get out, and if people find out I’m ... “friends” with the policeman who arrested me for indecent exposure, my life will be a laughingstock.

“Thatpoliceman?” Connie says, and she doesn’t need to say anything more.

I don’t need to see her face to know that it contains a lot of surprise.

“Yeah.Thatpoliceman,” I say, although I wish I could deny it. The bell rings, and I turn, seeing my order is up.

Friends. Connie might be right. I’ve never had any of my friends send me white roses before, but I’ve never really been friends with someone like Pete. He’s...funny, but serious. Is that even possible? And he’s kind and sweet, but not a pushover. He likes rules, and I can tell that he’s as honest as the day is long, but he doesn’t come off as uptight or inflexible.

Guess he’s just pretty much perfect. And I told him I just wanted to be friends.

The flowers are gorgeous. I take another glance at them as I back out the doors. And he had them delivered to the diner. That makes me smile. Like, everyone knows I have a friend and that somehow makes me...feel good. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, that I need the whole world to know that people actually like me enough to send me flowers, but it does make my heart happy.

Chapter 17

Pete

Were the flowers too much?

I’m worried about that as I drop Bexley off at school and watch her walk in, the doors closing behind her, like a monster eating its prey.

I shake my head a little. My school issues might rub off on her, so I need to, at the very least, push them aside, but preferably realize that school might not have been my favorite thing, but that doesn’t make it wicked and evil.

I wait a few more minutes, although I’m not sure why. She’s safely inside.

From what I can figure out, there are no actual threats against Bexley. This is just the guilt of a mother who’s going away on an overseas trip and can’t take her daughter. Can’t, or won’t. Therefore, she’s hired someone to make sure that her daughter is okay.

It’s not up to me to question why she did it. My job is to make sure that she’s safe, even if I feel like there are no actual threats not only on her life, but on her physical well-being at all.

Still, one of the worst things a bodyguard can do is let his guard down, thinking that everything is okay.

So, I make sure there is nothing suspicious outside the school as I drive away. But my mind is already back on Zoe. I had the best time with her last night. Even Trixie seems to be infatuated with her, if Trixie finally saying something that I had taught him is any indication. Even if it was a little bit embarrassing.

Pete and his Precious. I do think that Zoe could become someone who is precious to me. But, I know I have large obstacles to overcome. The least of which is the fact that she considers me a friend, and second is the fact that she’s notinterested in getting married because she wants to be successful in her career. Or show that she can earn money, or something.

Still, as a friend, I can send flowers, right?

Since I have the entire day while Bexley is in school to do whatever I want, I’ve decided that I will start my day by working out.

Cal and Leo are totally on board with changing their workout schedule in order to accommodate my new hours. I feel like they actually want me when they go through that kind of trouble, just to be able to be with me. Still, while I know that working out with them will make me push myself harder, I’ll also have to put up with their teasing.

“You’re not running today?” Leo says with a smirk as I walk into the locker room. We’re the only ones there. It’s not a huge gym, and this isn’t a huge town. The early morning people are gone, and it’s a little early for people who get up at a normal time and don’t work.

“What’s up, now?” Cal says, taking a look at my face while his own crunches.

“Nothing,” I say. I love my friends, but they’re not exactly helpful when it comes to women. Although, I guess Leo did manage to get a good one.

“Does this have to do with that naked lady?” Leo says, still smirking, as he puts his foot up on the bench and ties his shoe.

I don’t say anything. What am I gonna say? I’m not going to bear my heart to these two.

“You know Leo is an expert now on matters of the heart,” Cal says. He’s dressed and ready to go. I change my shoes and just grunt in reply.

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