Razor's Edge: A Bad Boy Romance (Bad Boys of Football Book 2) (9 page)

Four
 
days and we were finally settling into a bit of a routine. I woke up and applied for jobs online while Edge slept. After he woke up, we’d make breakfast together. Edge was quite the little cook. He’d assemble ingredients while I sliced and diced. I’d handle the cooking duties while he told me stories -- most of them about things he’d done with his dad. After that, we’d clean up and get some school work done.

“When can I go back to school?” Edge asked me.

I’d been wondering the same thing, but I didn’t want him to know I was completely clueless on that front. My understanding was, E.J. had pulled him out of school for a family emergency. For now, he was still enrolled but away.

“As soon as your dad is done with his work stuff, you’ll go back to school. Until then, we need to make sure we’re doing some work so your brain doesn’t forget how to study.”

“Is that when you’ll go back to school too?” he asked me.

I wish!

It was time to change the subject. “Tell me about the vacation you went on last year. It sounded like you had a lot of fun.”

We spent the remainder of the morning talking and completing school work. I found it was a nice replacement for not having anything or anyone to keep me occupied. It helped me to pass the time while I waited for the powers that be to figure out I’d done nothing wrong. I deserved to have my job back. Eventually, someone would come to their senses and ask me to return.

Edge kept glancing out the window throughout the morning. I felt sorry for him, thinking he was missing his dad.

“Would you like to give your dad a call?” I asked.

“Nope. I can’t. It’s not time yet,” Edge answered. “He said, I have to wait five sleeps before I can call him on the cell phone. Didn’t he tell you?”

I thought it odd that his dad would have told him to wait a few days before calling. I walked over to stroke Edge’s soft curls when I caught a glimpse of a man with a long camera lens pointing up at my window.

“They found us,” Edge said, shrugging his shoulders like it was all in a day’s work for him. “They always do. My dad says to stay away from them because they’ll bite his head off.”

I laughed nervously as I yanked the heavy drapes shut to block the photographer’s view. “Do they follow you everywhere?”

Edge shrugged again. “Pretty much, but mostly they didn’t start following me until my mom told them to.”

I swallowed hard. I’d never heard him say anything about his mom before.

“After my dad comes back, we’re all going to go live by the water. I like the water. We used to always go to the beach when I was a little kid. My dad loves the beach, too,” he said.

My ears perked up. “You’re going to live by the beach with your dad?” I asked.

Edge busied himself with the television remote. I didn’t want to push him by asking him more questions, but I was curious. I wondered why E.J. hadn’t mentioned he and Edge were going to be moving away.

“Are you moving downtown?” I asked.

“Nope. Far away.” he answered. “Can I watch t.v. now? Please, Ms. Jackson?”

I nodded my consent. While he found a children’s television show to watch, I sent E.J. a quick text to ask him how things were going. I figured it was better not to ask him about moving to the beach until we met face-to-face. I’d have a better chance of getting an honest response from him if I was looking into his eyes.

The buzzer downstairs sounded.

I took a peek over at Edge as I went to the intercom. “Who is it?” I asked.

“Ms. Jackson, this is Sean Ridge. I’m a reporter with Sports Daily News. I was wondering if you have a few minutes to chat?” The man’s voice was low and soothing, but it didn’t stop my blood from running cold.

“I… um… I can’t. I don’t have anything to say. Please, go away.” I glanced over at Edge, but he didn’t seem to be paying attention.

The buzzer rang again.

“Someone is ringing the doorbell,” Edge called out. “Can I get it?”

“No!” I warned him. “Never answer the door or the buzzer, okay? You’re my guest. I can do it for you.” I hoped I hadn’t scared him. The whole reason he was here was so I could keep him safe. I couldn’t guarantee it now that the press had found us. I had to call E.J. I just hoped he’d answer.

I thought I’d dialed the wrong number because a woman answered E.J.’s phone.

“Sorry, I think, I dialed the wrong number,” I said, my anxiety levels climbing exponentially.

“Who are you calling for?” she asked me.

“I’m sorry. I was trying to call someone else. I didn’t mean to disturb you,” I tried to explain, but she interrupted me.

“Are you looking for Razor? He’s right here.” I heard some jostling of the phone before E.J. came to the phone.

“Hello?” His voice breathless.

What the hell?
“Please don’t tell me, you suckered me into watching your kid so you could hang out with some woman,” I said, my anxiety turning to anger.

“What? What are you talking about? That’s Annie, my business manager,” he explained.

“Your business manager answers your personal cell phone?” I asked. “That’s so sweet of her. Now I know why she was glaring at me the other day. She’s one of your harem.”

E.J. groaned. “Hillary, don’t do this. Just tell me why you called,” E.J. pleaded with me.

The buzzer rang again.

“Is something wrong?” E.J. asked.

“Nope, everything is perfect. Everything is just perfect.” I hung up the phone, deciding to handle things on my own moving forward.

I told Edge to stay inside the apartment while I went to deal with the reporter. “Don’t move. Your dad wouldn’t like it if he heard you didn’t follow the rules,” I warned him. “I’ll be right back.”

Edge looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Bye,” he said with a shrug.

Without putting much thought into how to proceed with this reporter, I headed out the door and down the stairs to confront the reporter. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I could see him, standing in the vestibule, reading the names on the mailboxes.

“What are you snooping around for?” I asked as I approached him. “Can I help you with something? Did you want to see my utility bills too?”

He turned quickly to face me, his cheeks reddening. “Oh, hi! Sorry, I was just looking around. This looks like a nice building.”

I looked out onto my block. Nothing about my neighborhood would be deemed nice. I was very well aware I didn’t live in the safest neighborhood. “Great; you came here to lie to me. Thanks, but no thanks.” I slammed the door in his face.

The reporter knocked on the glass door. “Wait! Ms. Jackson, I’m sorry. Can we start again?”

I was halfway up the stairs, but I stopped to hear him out. Not because I was particularly interested in answering any of his questions, but because I realized what a big mistake it was to engage with him in the first place. “No!”

“Please,” he pleaded, clasping his hands together. When I didn’t respond again, he tried a different approach. “Does Mrs. Razor know you’re hiding her son? Did she give you permission to move her son in here with you?”

Asshole!

He had me. How was I supposed to be respond?

The reporter kept baiting me. “Please, tell me your side of the story. You wouldn’t want me to write a report based on what Mrs. Razor said, would you?”

Behind him, a group of other reporters approached.

“Please, Ms. Jackson. Tell me your story,” he begged.

I froze in place as the other reporters and their camera crews set up their shots. I made a huge mistake. Now, I had to call E.J. to tell him. I dialed as fast as I could.

“Hillary? Why did you hang up on me?” E.J. asked.

“I need you,” I said, my voice shaking as I made my way back to my apartment.

“Well, why didn’t you say so the first time?” E.J. sounded pleased.

“No, listen to me. There are reporters here.” I started to cry. “They’re asking me questions about your ex. They have cameras and…”

He interrupted me. “Lock the doors. Don’t let anyone in. We’ll be right there.” He hung up.

“We?” I repeated his words as I stepped back into my apartment.

Edge was talking to someone on his cell phone. As I walked in, he said, “She’s back. I have to go now.”

“Who were you talking to?” I asked.

He put his head down. “My mom.”

Oh my God!
“What? How? She has your cell phone number?” I asked, trying not to sound too alarmed. I didn’t want to frighten him. “Does your dad know that?”

Edge looked at me like horns had come out of my head. “No,” he said defiantly. “It’s a secret. You’re not my boss.”

I didn’t have time for snark. I was in a huge conundrum here.

“Yes, but I am the person taking caring of you right now. I guess, I didn’t know you were keeping a secret from your dad. Can I see your phone, Edge?” I hoped my voice didn’t reveal the stress I was under. I had to do something to gain control of this situation, without letting him know how much trouble was brewing behind the scenes.

“Is my dad coming back now?” Edge asked, his eyes guarding me as I moved about the apartment, closing all the blinds and windows.

I noticed him put the cell phone down on the table in front of him. “Your dad will be here any minute. Can I have the phone now?” I tried.

Edge shrugged. “No, it’s mine. He’ll take it away from me. I think, he’ll probably be here in two minutes or twenty years.”

I grinned. Either option was a moment too long. I needed him here now before something else went wrong.

Outside, there was a commotion. It sounded like rustling through leaves, but when I peeked out, there was an all out brawl taking place in front of my building.

“What in the world?” I blurted out.

Edge rushed to the window. “What is it? I want to see.” After a second, he screamed, “That’s my dad! That’s my dad! You have to help him!” With that, he ran out the door and headed straight down the stairs to the front entrance. I barely had time to turn around before he’d nearly made it outside.

“Stop! Wait! Don’t go out there!” I ordered him.

He kept running.

Shit!

Out of breath and out of options, I finally made it through the gathering crowd, right in between E.J. and the reporter he was tussling with. “Stop it! What are you doing, E.J.?”

He was too angry, too caught up in the emotion of it all, that it was like I wasn’t there, like I hadn’t attempted to intervene. He was looking through me, not at me.

“E.J.!” I tried again as he lunged for the bloodied reporter again. Cameras were catching every horrific moment of it. “Edgecott! Stop this now!” I screamed again before being knocked down to the ground in the melee.

Police arrived within seconds. E.J. was still throwing punches. This time, they were aimed at everyone around him. I clutched Edge, trying to remove him from the situation, but he fought me at every turn, kicking, punching, and trying to bite my hands to loosen the grip I had on him. Soon, the police officers were caught up in the middle of it, trying to pry E.J. off the reporters and stop the mayhem.