Page 65 of Undeniably Perfect

“Tabby’s coming with me,” I say as I pull her into my side and sling my bag over my shoulder. No says a word as I keep Tabby tucked against my side and walk toward my car.

Tabitha

Kent reads through his text messages before pulling away from the stadium. For the first ten minutes of the drive, we are silent. I think we are both processing everything that has happened today. Kent’s big win. My near run-in with a deranged man.

“Tell me your life story,” Kent says out of nowhere.

“My life story?” I ask, nearly choking on the words.

“Yes, start from the very beginning.” We are sitting in crazy traffic, likely the aftermath of the game, so I know we have hordes of time.

“I was born here in Maryland,” I begin. “My father was a deadbeat who left when I was a baby. I don’t remember him at all. I…don’t even have a photo of him.” I cringe at the reason why. I look over at Kent, wondering if he’ll see me differently when I finish this story. My gut says he likes me but will he still like me once he knows. “My mom did her best to provide for us. She was in a bad accident though and got addicted to the pain pills. It was downhill after that. I don’t even really remember her well. She died in a house fire when I was four.” I chicken out on telling him the whole story. “We moved in with my grandparents. I guess compared to before, life was sort of normal after that. My grandparents were older. We never really connected to them, but at least we had a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. Brix got a scholarship and went off to college. And I went to college for photography. And, well, here I am.”

“What about your ex?”

“Eric? He was my second serious boyfriend. I had one in high school. I met Eric in college. We had so much fun back then, but then he got weird. We got in a bad argument a few months back, he slapped me, and I left.”

“And his brother?”

“Jarrod was always…strange. I think they both have very different but very serious mental health issues. I didn’t even know Jarrod was on medicine.

“What about you?” I ask him.

“Me?”

“Yeah, what’s your life story?”

“Born in Maryland, too. You know my family. You know what I do. I played college ball and then went straight up the ladder to the big leagues. I’ve had a few serious relationships, but not recently. And that’s basically it.”

My phone buzzes, and I frown when I see it’s Brixton calling me.

“Brix?”

“What the fuck, Tabby? I had to find out you’re dating a major league player on the news?”

My frown deepens. “What are you talking about?”

A moment later my buzzes with a text message, and I look to see a screenshot of Brix’s phone. It’s a news article posted less than thirty minutes ago with a photo of Kent hugging me after the game with a headline that says, Moore’s New Girlfriend Congratulates Him on Big Win.

“What’s wrong?” Kent asks. I turn my phone to him and his jaw clenches. “Damn paps.”

“So?” Brix’s voice comes through my phone.

“Uh, I…” I trail off because I don’t know what to say about Kent and me.

Kent looks at me before grabbing the phone out of my hand.

“Hey! You’re driving!” I yell. He puts it on speaker and sets it on his dashboard.

“Hey, Brixton. This is Kent Moore. And yes, I’m dating your sister.”

My brother is silent, so Kent continues.

“She ran into some trouble with her ex’s brother today. I would like her to stay at my house for a while because it’s safer. What do you think?”

“What? Her ex?”

Kent fills my brother in while I sit there watching him. When he finishes, my brother curses.

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