An Aces Christmas (The Aces' Sons)

“I know,” I replied, dropping my head to rest on his shoulder.

He held me like that for a few minutes, his hand rubbing my back with long, slow strokes.

“You better get your shoes on if you don’t wanna be late,” he finally said, patting me on the ass.

As we hustled to get out the door, I wondered if my man was right—if our grandson had been in love with Kara. He’d always been so hard to read. Had I really never noticed it? Was he still in love with her?Chapter 8KaraPast

As we strode toward the baseball diamond, I scanned the familiar faces for Curtis. A lot of the team was already there, but the coach hadn’t showed up yet, which made my stomach churn with anxiety.

“Most of us have gym last period,” Draco said, glancing at me. “Makes it easier to get here on time.” I nodded and gave him a small smile. I wasn’t sure if he thought I cared about why the guys were there so soon, or if he was just trying to distract me with a little small talk, but it worked. Knowing he and Charlie had my back bolstered me a little.

“There he is,” Charlie said under her breath.

I snapped my head to the side to see where she was looking. As I followed her gaze, I realized she wasn’t talking about Curtis. She was staring at Travis.

I tasted bile in the back of my throat. He looked normal. He looked like the kid that I passed all the time in the hallways at school—just another boy that talked tougher than he was and thought he had more game than he actually did. He was immature and sometimes mean, but he wasn’t a monster.

The monster in this scenario was the huge number of kids that had seen photos of me topless and out of control and laughed at me instead of asking me what happened.

My steps slowed, but Charlie’s and Draco’s didn’t. They moved forward with purpose.

Where was Curtis? I scanned the team again.

“He’s not here,” I said, hurrying to catch up to them. “Let’s go. He’s not here.”

“No,” Draco said, not even bothering to look at me.

“That motherfucker,” Charlie said, disbelief making her words come out breathy.

As I looked over her shoulder at the guy we were moving toward, I felt my stomach drop. He was laughing, showing someone his phone. I knew exactly what they were looking at. Even after the photos had spread like wildfire at school, he’d still found the one person who hadn’t seen them and needed to make sure he did.

We reached them before I was ready. I wanted to sink into the grass and disappear as Travis glanced up and sneered.

“Hey, Kara,” he said, smirking. “Nice shirt. Liked the prom dress better, though.” He hummed deep in his throat.

I was completely stunned.

The next few seconds passed by so fast they were almost a blur. Charlie stepped forward, flipping the bat again, but before she could even get close, Draco had shoved her back and snatched the bat from her fingertips.

Later, I would wonder if Travis had a death wish. If he’d even looked past me and realized that Draco was there. If he had underestimated the boy I’d grown up with, or just assumed that he’d get away with what he’d done.

With one more step, Draco twisted and swung the bat low, hitting the back of Travis’s knees with a thunk that made me wince.

Travis dropped like a sack of potatoes, and before he could get off his knees, Draco was on him. I lost count of how many times Draco’s fists made contact.

I was numb as I watched. Horror and fear played somewhere in the back of my mind, but I don’t think I was able to even fully comprehend what was happening. I’d never seen anything so brutal.

“Fuck,” Charlie spat as she hurried toward the boys on the ground, circling them.

“Hey!” someone yelled from behind me. “Break it up. Harrison, what the hell are you doing?”

“We gotta go,” Charlie yelled, jumping onto Draco’s back. The slight weight of her was enough to shock him out of his fury, and he paused long enough for her to whisper something in his ear. With a nod, he rose to his feet as she slid off his back.

“Jesus Christ,” the baseball coach said, his breath coming out in heaving gasps as he came to a stop beside me. “The hell did you do, Harrison?”

“Ask Sholes,” Draco said, taking a step backward.

The coach looked back and forth between Draco and Travis, who was rolling around on the ground, moaning. He sighed, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose.

“Get home,” Coach quietly told Draco. “Straight home and give your parents a heads-up. I have to report this.”

“Thanks, Coach.”

“Don’t thank me. Goddamnit, Draco. I hope it was worth it,” Coach said somberly.