Page 68 of Into These Eyes
“I wasn’t, until now.”
“Okay, I’ll admit it. They’re spectacular.”
“Now I know you’re lying,” he chuckles, his eyes dancing with happiness. “Come on, we should catch up to Benny.”
He grabs my hand and breaks into a jog, tugging me along until we reach his friend. Before he releases me, he gives a tight little squeeze, then pulls his wallet from his back pocket and hands it to Benny.
Benny grins as he takes it, apparently knowing exactly what’s going on. “Go, ya big goofball.”
Go? Where’s he—
And then go he does. He takes off at a sprint, his feet kicking up sand, arms pumping, his backside magnificent as those long, muscular legs almost become a blur.
“What’s he doing?” I ask Benny, the distance between us growing rapidly as Gavin flies along the beach.
“Running.”
I let out a huff. “I can see that. Why?”
“Coz that’s what he was meant ta do,” he tells me, a wistful look on his face.
“He was?”
“Ya don’t know he was destined ta be a great soccer player?” he asks, shifting his gaze to me.
“No. I had no idea.”
“Yeah, star of his high school. Had a few offers from some scouts he was still deciding on before everythin’ went down. Paid gig and everythin’, right off the bat. No doubt he woulda ended up playin’ for the Socceroos.”
My eyes water before I even have a chance to try and stop the sorrow pouring out of me.
“Hey.” Benny gives my shoulder a comforting pat. “Didn’t mean ta upset ya.”
Unable to speak, I shake my head. The more I discover about Gavin, the more I understand what my father took from him. Like the fact that he really could have been someone, could have had an amazing career. Instead, he has to start from scratch and find a place for himself in a world that thinks he’s a killer.
When I search for Gavin, I can no longer see him up ahead. “Is he going to run the entire length of the beach?” I joke when my voice returns.
Benny chuckles. “Well, if he does, it’ll be your fault.”
“I made him want to run away?”
“Yup,” he says with a wink.
“Okay, I don’t feel like that’s a compliment.”
“Sure as hell is.”
Confused, I stare at him. “You’ll have to explain that to me.”
“And I thought lawyers were s’posed ta be smart.”
“Spit it out, old man.”
That gets a laugh out of him. “Seein’ all this wide-open space, I knew exactly what he’d wanna do. ‘Specially since I’ve never seen him as happy as he is right now.” He shakes his head. “Well, not just right now. Since ya first turned up at his caravan.”
“Great news tends to have that effect.”
Benny does nothing to hide his smirk. “It’s not just the great news that has him full of beans. Guy’s got a heart so big, I think it physically hurts him not ta have someone ta share it with, so he’s gotta burn off all that excess energy. ‘Specially when that someone’s right here, within reach.”
