Unlikely Hero (Atlanta #1) (29 page)

When they got back to the Erin’s house, Mrs. Connor invited them for iced tea on the back deck again. Mr. Connor was out there waiting. Marcus took a deep breath and sat down across from him, staying right next to Erin.

“I owe you an apology,” he said. “I don’t like to admit when I’m wrong, but my wife seems to think I do. I shouldn’t have jumped to any conclusions about you. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok, Mr. Connor,” Marcus said. “I’m sure in your shoes I wouldn’t want to see my daughter with a janitor either if I didn’t know anything else about him.”

“Exactly. So I’d like to know more. Like why didn’t you get an education?”

“Dad!”

“No, Erin, I’d like to know. I’m trying very hard to reserve judgment. If he doesn’t want me jumping to conclusions, then I need to hear for myself. I trust you, Erin, but I’ve never been one to let someone else do my thinking for me.”

Erin shook her head. “Dad, this isn’t necessary. Please, trust me?”

Marcus shook his head. “No, it’s ok. The reason I don’t have an education is because of my family. I pulled myself and my twin sister out of an abusive home on our eighteenth birthday. I went to work immediately to put her through school so she would be able to rely on herself.
 

“I didn’t want her latching onto some drunk bastard like my father just because it’s what she was used to. I know most abused girls become abused women and I never want that to happen to Cassie.
 

“She’s worked very hard for five years waitressing and taking one or two classes at a time. I’ve put all my energy into her future. I knew I’d make my own once she was settled. Now she has her own house and she just started her first job at a children’s clinic. As for my future, I already have a specific career set out, and a legal partnership agreement included.”

Erin’s parents both looked taken aback by his story. Erin’s dad obviously had no idea what to say.
 

“So if you’re worried about my future, I can’t promise you anything but the same dedication to your daughter. I love her just as much as I do my sister. If she has a need, I’ll make sure it’s filled. As far as I’m concerned, it’s that simple.”

He looked over to Erin and saw her eyes blinking back unshed tears. He squeezed her hand and looked at her straight in the eyes to make sure she knew it, too.

Erin’s mom finally broke the silence. “I couldn’t ask for more than that.” She looked over to her husband with a pointed stare.
 

“I had no idea,” Bob Connor said, trying to maintain some sense of decency after the undeserved ugly tone of his interactions with Marcus thus far.
 

“Daddy, I wouldn’t bring home just any guy,” Erin said lovingly, trying to let her dad off the hook. “Now can we just have a nice evening? Please?”

“Of course, sweetie,” he said, finally softening and letting go of all the tension. “You’re right.”

“Good,” Erin said, satisfied. “Now I was thinking about coming to visit you at school tomorrow morning before we fly back to Atlanta. There’s a few of my old teachers I’d like to say hi to.”

“That’d be great,” Mr. Connor said. “Did I tell you that Sara Green is our phys-ed teacher now?”

“Are you serious? That’s great! How’s she doing?”

The conversation moved back to Erin’s high school years and Marcus felt better than he had all weekend. He didn’t even need to hit the gym. The moment he realized that, Marcus smirked at himself.
 

Night had gotten chilly around them before Erin got up to smile and say goodnight. After hugs all around, she took Marcus’s hand and looked her father right in the eye.
 

“Daddy, don’t get upset, but Marcus is going to stay in my room tonight. I’m all grown up and making my own decisions. You didn’t raise me to let people do my thinking for me, either. Please don’t take it out on him if you’re angry.”

Marcus tried to remain composed when all he wanted to do was scream at her to stop. He’d finally won over her father. Bob Connor didn’t need a new reason to get upset.

Erin’s dad looked at her appraisingly. She kept her shoulders back and her head high. Marcus saw his eyes soften a little more. “My little girl’s not so little, I guess. Seems like I don’t have a choice but to say goodnight and remind your boyfriend that I have a gun.”

Marcus saw a twinkle of amusement in his eye when he said it. He looked proud of his daughter for standing up for herself. Marcus smiled and said goodnight to her parents and followed Erin into the house. The got ready for bed quietly, but when they finally settled into the covers together, Marcus let out an exasperated laugh.
 

“Woman, are you trying to get me killed?”

Erin smiled at him in the dim glow from the window. “He already caught us anyway. I didn’t see the harm. Plus, I really wanted to sleep in your arms tonight. Hold me, please?”

“Of course I will. I’m glad you stood up to your dad, but wow. I thought I was going to stroke out when you said that.”

Her suppressed laughter shook the bed a little. “I can’t believe I said it either. I feel like a completely new person.”

Marcus leaned in and kissed her lovingly. “You’re the same person. You just finally figured out how strong you are. Like I said, you’re a badass.”

She smiled at him again. “Maybe I am a badass. But I still want you to hold me. Can I be a badass and still need to be held?”

“I am,” Marcus said with an ornery grin. “But if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll deny it all day long.”

“I won’t tell,” she whispered conspiratorially. She settled into the crook of his arm with her head on his chest. He rested on his back and laced his fingers through hers on his chest. Erin whispered to him again. “Hold me tighter?”

“Are you ok?” he asked as he drew both of his arms around her.

“Yes, but I’m kind of freaked out for talking to my dad like that, plus this is all still so new. I mean, I have a boyfriend, brought him home to my parents, got caught fooling around, and then flat out demanded I sleep in the same bed with him. If you’d have told me six months ago this would happen, I’d have locked you up in the crazy house.”

Marcus chuckled at her and kissed the top of her head. “Maybe you
should
lock me up in the crazy house. I’m in bed with a girl whose father just threatened me with a gun.”

They both started chuckling, and soon began outright laughing at their situation.
 

“I think we’re both nuts,” Erin finally said.
 

“Maybe that’s why we fit so well,” he agreed. Marcus pulled her in for a long, loving kiss. He moved his lips against hers for a long while in the moonlight. “Good night, baby.”

“Good night. I love you.”

Mr. Connor was already at school by the time Erin and Marcus woke up on Monday morning. They had a nice breakfast with her mom and then went upstairs to get their things together.
 

“Marcus, will you pack everything in the Buick? After we visit my dad, my mom is going to drive us back to the airport,” Erin said.

“Sure. It’s going to be strange seeing you at your school. My high school career was full of suspensions and detentions. I still managed to graduate, though. You were probably valedictorian.”

“Who told?”

He smiled. “I knew it.”

They laughed together and shared a few kisses before Marcus moved the bags downstairs and to the garage. By the time everything was set, Erin was hugging her mom and promising to be back in time for the drive to Indianapolis.
 

Marcus drove her mom’s car through town and pulled into the visitor spot by the main office.
 

“Well, this’s one promise I’m breaking to myself,” he said.

“What’s that?”

“That I’d never set foot in a high school again. And this time I’m dating the principal’s daughter. I’m expecting to get called down to the office for a lecture,” he grinned at her.
 

“You better be careful. I’m planning on dragging you all over the building without a hall pass.”

“You’re going to be the death of me, Erin,” he laughed.
 

They walked in and Erin was immediately hugged by a smiling teacher. She was greeted in Spanish and Erin returned conversation almost fluently, apparently introducing Marcus. He shook hands with her and offered an awkward
hola
with his smile.
 

Erin grinned at him back and walked him further down the hall. “We’ve got to go to the gym. Sara Green, the one we were talking about last night, she graduated a year after I did. We were on the track team together. This is her first year teaching here. She’s going to be surprised to see me. I haven’t talked to her in years.”

Marcus and Erin walked down to the gym and through the wide door. Erin laughed when she saw the teenage girls’ reaction to Marcus. A few jaws dropped and a few giggles sounded. He squeezed her hand and rolled his eyes. He looked across the gym floor and saw a few wrestling mats.
 

“Sara! Oh, sorry…Miss Green!” Erin squealed as she hugged her old friend. Sara introduced her to the class and allowed Erin to tell an embarrassing story about her to the juniors and seniors in the room.

“And who’s this?” Sara asked, talking just to Erin and Marcus again.

“This is Marcus Walker,” Erin said with a wide grin.
 

“Hi, nice to meet you. I see you’re eyeing my wrestling mats. Did you wrestle in high school?”

“Not officially,” he smiled.
 

Sara looked confused and Erin laughed. Just then her dad came in.

“Señora Rosen said you’d come down this way. What do you think of our new gym teacher?”

“Good choice,” Erin smiled. Marcus was watching two boys start to wrestle on the mats while the other adults were talking together. The two boys were obviously members of the school’s wrestling team. They knew some strategy and a few decent moves. He saw a third boy, probably a senior, watching them with a keen eye. He was dark-haired, tall, muscular, and obviously an athlete.

Avoiding the chit chat about people he didn’t know, Marcus walked over to the boy beside the mats. “You wrestle too?”

“Team captain. Ryan Perry,” the teen said reaching to shake hands.

“Marcus Walker,” he said, shaking his outstretched hand.

“You look like you were a wrestler,” Ryan said.

“Not in high school. I fight MMA,” Marcus said. “These two seem decent. How’s your team looking for this year?”

“If these two idiots would focus we’ll do ok. MMA? Where?”

“Atlanta.”

“So what are you doing here?”

“I’m dating Mr. Connor’s daughter. We’re here for a long weekend. Want to show me some of your moves? I saw you watching these two. I’ve got you pegged for a strategist.”

“You’re dating my old babysitter? HA! Seven-year-old me is jealous.”

Marcus laughed with him and looked up to Erin watching them with a bemused look on her face.
 

“Ok, you’ve pegged me for a strategist. So how about you give me a fighting chance and knock these two down so I can watch before I mop the floor with you,” Ryan said with a grin.
 

“Done.”

Ryan called to his friends and introduced them to Marcus. Marcus was first pitted against a stocky junior named Sean. They squared off and Marcus had the kid pinned on his back in a submission hold in about three seconds flat. All the girls cheered and Marcus grinned and helped Sean up.
 

“Not bad,” Marcus said. “But you let me get my shoulder under yours. Keep yourself lower and you’ll keep your balance better.”

Next was Dylan, a senior like Ryan, but much more wiry in his build. He had obviously listened to Marcus’s advice and kept himself low. Marcus, however, easily compensated for the move. He got up a little higher and purposefully bear-hugged over the kid’s back and threw their bodies sideways. One quick maneuver later and Dylan was pinned.
 

“Don’t keep yourself
too
low,” he grinned. “Be ready to adjust.” He helped Dylan up, too. Dylan did a ‘bow to the master’ move, obviously a bit of a class clown.

More cheers erupted from the students and Dylan grinned and shook his head. Marcus looked up at Erin smiling at him. He shrugged his shoulders and turned to Ryan. “Enough info for you?”

“If I win, do I get your girl?”

“Nice try. So you said something about mopping the floor with me?”

“Scared?” Ryan asked with a good-hearted albeit arrogant grin.

“Only of Erin’s dad,” he returned.

“That makes two of us,” he said as he took his place on the mat.

Marcus crouched down and lunged for Ryan when Sean barked out the start of the match.
 

Ryan easily avoided Marcus’s opening move and rolled to the side, hopping back on his feet in a quick second.
 

“Nice,” Marcus said as he regained his footing and watched the boy move with an appraising eye.
 

Ryan was the first to lunge this time. He attempted to wrap around Marcus’s knees and lift his legs from under him. Marcus used his momentum against him and lifted Ryan upside-down. He held on and twisted to the side. Both were on the floor in no time.
 

Ryan countered quickly, catching Marcus off guard by twisting toward him rather than away. He got out of Marcus’s grip and kipped into a standing position. Cheers and bets were shouted from the teenage crowd around them.
 

Marcus, not to be out done, kipped up right after him. He was grinning a mile wide and pacing around, looking for his next opportunity. “See? I knew you were a strategist. Nice move.”

“Give up yet?” Ryan asked with a grin.

“And lose my girl? Not a chance.” Marcus stood up a little more, feigning a break in the match for the purpose of conversation and waited for Ryan to make his next move. “I’m just watching how you think.”

Ryan grinned and lunged at his legs again. Marcus, ready for him, leaned into the attack and picked Ryan up again. This time he flipped him up into the air and brought him down hard on the mat, directly on his back. Just as quickly he was over top of him, pulling his arms and shoulders in a practiced grip and pinning him quickly to the floor.