Page 70 of Broken Hero
“Yeah, that’s how I feel about him, though, so knowing he put himself and you guys on the line for me makes me feel sick.”
He reaches up and touches my arm. “Hey, it was fine. It didn’t get rough. We had a chat and that Phoenix dude promised he’d leave you alone.”
Dec did this for me? He wanted to protect me—my man. I have no idea what I did to deserve him, but I am so grateful that I have him.
“Okay, Pete. Thank you...thank you to all of you for doing that for someone you hardly know.”
He nods. “We know you mean the world to Dec. That’s good enough for us.”
I stand on tiptoes and lean in to kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
I look around, watching everyone have fun and feel a contentedness with my life that I'm not sure I’ve ever felt before. Maybe when I was little and my mum was around, but not since. I have my new friend, a new job that I love, and my new man is here with all his fab friends. And to find out he did this amazing thing for me. I have Dad to worry about, and while I'm not there yet with him, I'm determined that I'm going to help him through this, but I don't want to think about him tonight - I want to let my hair down and have fun. A tingle goes through me as I think of drunk sex with Dec. Yum, that will be fun, something to look forward to later.
I look at my man, talking to Pete; he keeps stealing glances at me. I walk over to the jukebox and pick a song that my mum used to love - one that I know that the words are perfect for Dec and me right now. Bon JoviI’ll be there for you. I press the button on the jukebox, and the song starts. I walk over to Dec, “Dance with me?”
He looks around the room. His friends are looking at him with a grin on their face. There is no one dancing – there’s hardly anyone in the pub.
He looks down at me. I think the alcohol helps him decide “Love to.”
I grab his hand and walk him over to the jukebox, where there’s a tiny patch of wood tiling that could be mistaken for a dance floor if you were drunk and needed to dance.
His arms slide around me, and I reach my hands up behind his neck. He has all his hair down today, tucked behind his ears, and it does something to me, thick luscious dark hair waiting for my fingers. If he ever gets it cut I will be devastated.
We dance closely, and I know I’ll never forget this moment as long as I live - dancing here, as though the two of us are the only ones that exist in the world, dancing to one of my mum's favourite songs. I know she would have loved him for me.
I love him. He is it for me. I never want this to end - us. I hope that he’s as over Violet as he says he is because if he backed off now, he would break my heart.
Chapter Seventeen
Sophie
Kill me now.
I am officially going on record to say that I HATE play areas. They're loud and grubby - no matter how much I see the staff going around cleaning - and all the kids have snotty noses - what the hell is that about? And the smell. Why do they smell so bad? Probably years of vomit, snot, poop, wee, and god knows what else. And people are eating here! There is an eating area, and people are actually consuming food.
I might change my mind when the time comes to take my own kids to a play area. Maybe by the time that comes, I’ll be glad to eat wherever I can - who knows? It could be that you have to be less fussy when you're a parent. I can't believe I'm thinking about this - wondering what it would be like to carry Dec’s baby? Warmth floods through me because I know, beyond anything, that the thought of having a family with Dec would be a dream come true. I want him to be the father of my children. I’ve never been at a place that I would contemplate getting pregnant before. The thought of a little boy with Dec's dark colouring, tearing into things, makes my heart feel like it's going to burst. Wait, if I were to have Dec's baby, it would be huge! How would I give birth to a baby with Dec's genes? Okay...I will bury that somewhere in the back of my mind and pretend I haven't thought it - a worry for another time.
The smell is getting stronger. What could it be? It's like an intense smell of burning plastic. This building is so old - it is getting strong though, I wonder if I should ask someone about it. No one else seems to be worried, though - it's like a gas smell, shit I don't know, I know it's making me sick.
Eli comes running back to me. “Sophie, my friend has gone home. Come on the climbing frame with me.”
Whoever thought up play areas never had a hangover. I can’t handle this. The plan of not drinking much last night didn’t pan out.
“Alright, I'm coming.” I slip my shoes off. What am I supposed to do with my bag and phone? I look around, and everyone seems to be leaving them on the table, I guess it’s the kind of place where people trust each other while they're off playing with their kids. I like that.
I grab his hand and we go to the climbing frame. I climb right to the top with him...so tired. “Eli, wait, I need a rest.”
“You've only just come up here?”
Okay kid, way to make me feel unfit.
“I need a minute.” The climbing frame is a three-tier structure, and we are right at the top. Yes, I have climbed up to the top of the soft play structure and feeling damned proud of myself. I would have dragged Dec here if he weren’t working. I laugh to myself, I’m sure he'd rather be at work right now.
“Right, come on, I have my breath back. Where do you want to go now?”
Suddenly, there’s a bang so loud that my ears are going to explode. I instinctively grab Eli and cover him. I have no idea what it is, but the whole of the play area falls silent. Fear grips me at the thought of something going wrong. I'm in charge of Eli; no matter what, I will not let him go.
“What was that, Sophie?” he asks, his eyes so wide.
