At least if we’re watching a horror movie I’ll be so busy rolling my eyes at the plot holes to look at her—plus it’s dark.
I’m not sure why Chrissy chose a horror movie. She nearly threw her popcorn when the first jump-scare scene hit. I saw it coming a mile away. The movie was some sort of slasher film with a villain that could appear and disappear without explanation, despite being a normal guy with no sort of supernatural power. Chrissy didn’t seem to be bothered by the parts that didn’t make sense. She grabbed my arm a few times and once, she even dug her nails in—which made me laugh under my breath. I finished my Scotch long before the final scene was over, and it was wearing off when the credits rolled.
“That was so good!” Chrissy turned towards me once I hit the button to slowly illuminate the room.
“Was it…” I shrugged slightly.
“You don’t like horror movies do you?” She narrowed her eyes at me.
“No.” I shook my head back and forth.
“You could have told me…” She gave me a slight nudge with her hand. “We could have watched something you like.”
“It’s really not a big deal.” I leaned forward and started to stand. “I like sports movies.”
“You like movies about your job?” She stood up and laughed. “I bet your favorite movie is Jerry Maguire…”
“No, that was your father’s favorite movie.” I turned towards her. “My favorite movie is Rudy.”
“That was—Dad’s favorite movie?” She started to blink several times, and I saw a hint of tears. “Mom never told me that…”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up something that would upset you.” I immediately felt shitty—I had processed losing my best friend, but it was much different for a child to lose their father.
“No, it doesn’t bother me. I like hearing things like that…” She looked down and I saw her swallow hard.
“Your father was a great man.” I felt a strong urge to hug her, not because of attraction, but because it looked like she needed one.
“I wish I would have known him…” She exhaled sharply.
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know—well, almost anything.” I offered a hug and she stepped into my arms. “There are a few things I might have to sanitize—for young ears.”
“Ugh, there you go with that kid crap again.” She leaned against my shoulder and laughed slightly before a sob took it away.
She cried a little bit while I hugged her. I didn’t mind. I understood why. It was a tough situation all around. When she finally broke from my embrace, we went back upstairs and sat down in the living room. I spent a couple of hours telling her stories about the man I remembered—the good parts at least. I left out the time I saw him snort so much cocaine I had to drive him to the hospital because I thought he was going to overdose and the time I had to stop him from dishonoring his marriage because he was so drunk that he was actually tempted to do more than look. Chrissy didn’t need to hear any of that. She just needed to hear about the man who cried the day she was born—the man who made me swear to look after his family if anything ever happened to him.
And that’s a damn good reminder that I can’t give in to any sort of temptation. Chrissy is his little girl. It doesn’t matter if she’s all grown up now…
I stayed up later than I normally did, but it felt good to talk about Sam. We met after I graduated from college and moved to Chicago. I was looking for a fresh start, and while my Rugby career was short, I still got recognized pretty often in London. Sam and I originally bonded over the fact that we both went to USC, which was a big part of why he pushed the agency he worked for to hire me. He hadn’t been there long himself, but he had five years of experience—and I was a sponge that wanted to soak up everything he could teach me.
I had a lot of guilt left behind when his vices finally devoured his soul. I left Chicago, and in a way, I felt like I abandoned him. I just—couldn’t watch the downward spiral, and I was starting to pick up a few of his vices myself. The most important thing he ever taught me was that I didn’t want to end up like him, even if he was a great man before he took his first hit in the morning.
“Okay…” Chrissy wiped her eyes. “I guess I should go to bed.”
“Yeah, me too.” I nodded and started to stand.
I didn’t offer the second hug, but I wrapped my arms around her when she walked up to me. The door in my head was closing. I was starting to see that the girl in my arms was just that—a girl that was much too young for me, despite her generous curves. I just had to keep reminding myself that she was Sam’s daughter, and that touching her would be the ultimate betrayal of his memory. I couldn’t do that. He was too good of a friend—never asked anything of me except one thing—to take care of his family if anything happened to him. I had done my best to uphold the request, and I would have done a lot more of Chrissy’s mother would have let me.
I watched as Chrissy went upstairs to her bedroom and decided to fix one more drink before I retired for the evening. I was exhausted enough to fall asleep, but I didn’t want to go to sleep thinking about Sam. That would just make me toss and turn all night. I had enough of those nights after he passed away when the guilt really took root in my heart. I didn’t think I could have actually saved him if I was there, because I tried that before I left, but it didn’t stop me from wondering if I could have done more.
I’ll try to make up for that by keeping my hands off his daughter, because I’m way too fucking tempted, despite knowing that I shouldn?
??t even think about it.
3
Chrissy
The next day