Page 64 of In the Safety's Zone
I CAN’T BELIEVE I’d done this.
But honestly, I knew I needed this more than anything. Anthony and I had gotten showered, ordered room service so I could refuel and he grabbed his bag from his room. The hotel was more than happy to get us a private car large enough for all of my luggage and we were led out through a back entrance of the hotel.
It took less than two hours from the blowup with my father to our getting on a private plane to head to another island. We didn’t land in Ireland or Scotland. My baby turned my flight from my father’s bullshit into a much-needed baecation. The flight was over nine hours but I had given little thought to that because it gave me a chance to rest and for Anthony to relax me as best he could without wanting to damage my thigh.
That man’s tongue was a miracle worker and way maker.
By the time the doors opened and the warmth of being this far south hit me, all of my problems had been left behind.
We’d both been inundated with notifications and messages the entire time. He’d only taken one call from his brother to let him know he was going to be low for a few days and then he gave me his undivided attention. It felt insane to have him in my corner like this but I knew he had me. That kind of security was foreign but was becoming my norm and I didn’t understand how much I needed it.
The travel time gave me a minute to think of just how much I wasn’t protected by either of my parents. My father acted like he resented me and my mother wanted to be besties but wascomplicit in letting him walk all over me. More often than not, my mother pushed me even harder than he did. She wanted me to make a name for myself in the same area where he had made his so that she somehow won the baby mama competition. It was honestly disgusting.
Anthony had a doctor waiting for me when we got off the plane. He’d watched the competition and had a good idea of what was wrong with me. He’d recommended the same thing that the doctors at Wimbledon had—get off my feet and rest so that I could not further injure myself. My quad wasn’t torn but it was pulled. I needed to chill before it became something that would reoccur and plague the rest of my career.
I had no issue with relaxing and Anthony for damn sure wasn’t about to let me do too much. He seemed to enjoy sweeping me off my feet and carrying me from the tarmac and into the car that had patiently waited for us while I got checked out and our luggage got put away. The ride wasn’t too bad but the house that we pulled up to was stunning. I wanted to ask questions but I didn’t want Anthony to think I was counting his pockets. He didn’t seem bothered by the extravagance of this place so I was going to go with the flow even if I worried all of this was bankrupting him.
It took a minute to maneuver around on the crutches with the way the house was set up and often Anthony would just sweep me up in his arms to carry me. I can’t lie, that shit made me feel like a heroine in one of my mama’s vintage romance novels. Those women were constantly getting picked up and I didn’t understand not wanting to walk on your own two feet. But now? I understood that shit completely.
Carry me, big daddy.
“You good?”
I pulled my eyes from the horizon I’d been staring at for I wasn’t sure how long. This place was like a crazy upscalerental. It definitely deserved to be on a rental site likeEdwards’ Listwhere we found most of our rental properties for matches. However much they were charging wasn’t nearly enough. This place had a pool, multiple levels and seemed to be split off into wings for multi-family living.
I glanced back at him grinning and took the drink he was holding out for me. I could only assume it was from one of the many pitchers that were awaiting us in the massive, fully stocked fridge.
“Right now I’m perfect. How did you put all of this together so fast?”
He sat down next to me and immediately pulled me into him. The large outdoor sofa had plenty of room for four but under him was right where I wanted to be.
“This is my agent’s place. They let people use it whenever and they have a team on standby. They had no issues with opening up the house to me.”
I looked around knowing immediately where we were. “Wait, is this Billy’s place?”
He grinned, sipping whatever was in his glass. “Yeah, I forgot she’s your agent too. I sent her an SOS and she had the people who look after the place for her get it ready for us. They're some of her mama’s relatives so they hooked us up with everything they could. You deserve a vacation after winning and especially after that bullshit with your pops. I pulled some strings so I could give it to you.”
“Damn. I knew she was from here but I never thought I’d be at her place. I feel like I need to call her and thank her.” I searched blindly for my phone on the seat but he covered my hand as he shook his head.
“Later on after you rest.”
“I still can’t believe this shit happened.”
“I can. Parents can be your biggest opps and I’m proof of that.”
“It’s not just that. I didn’t have any expectations of their behaving but his talking like that was new.”
He angled his body so he could look me in my face and I wondered if I sounded as hurt as I was. “He knows whatever hold he used to have on you is slipping away. It started when you went and got with Billy without telling him. Picked a different coach and didn’t consult him even though I ain’t too sure about her—”
I chuckled as I interrupted him, thinking about the messages from Terri on my phone. “Oh, she’s as good as fired.”
“But yeah he can see that you ain’t with his shit no more and he don’t know how to handle that. More than likely, he’ll put the blame for the change in you on me and I’m good with shouldering that. Whatever he needs to do as long as he stays out your face.”
“I still can’t believe you had to hit him.” He deserved it, but I still can’t believe it actually happened.
“That was a love tap. I was ready to rock his shit when he was saying all that noise to you. Y’all sharing blood was the only thing that kept me from doing him dirty. He lucky I got some respect for my elders. Next time he come out his mouth crazy he gone have to feel me for real though.”
“Well, I took steps to get him out of my life in a more permanent way.”
