Page 109 of You First
Gray could only grin. “Watch out. It could happen to you one day.”
Rolling his eyes, Dré guffawed. “While I’ll concede that if it could happen to you, then no man is safe, but this job is first. And no woman wants to be second.”
His words gave Gray a check. A few weeks ago, the only thing that had mattered to him was writing. He’d been terrified of a life that didn’t include his work. And he still carried that terror, but he carried now, too, the mysterious assurance that if he lost writing but had Meredith, life would still be good.
But he didn’t want to think about life without Meredith.
As though his thoughts summoned her, the front door opened, and she called softly down the hall. “Gray? I’m back.”
Gray got to his feet and shot his friend a glare. “Be nice to her,” he whispered. “Or that shiny head of yours is going through the window.”
Dré, stood, hitched his shoulders, and ran a palm over his clean-shaved head. “My head’s not shiny. That’s my glow.”
Gray’s old friend followed him into the kitchen, and both men stopped at the sight of her.
“Meredith. Your lip,” Gray said, unfreezing and crossing to her. “It looks worse. What happened?”
Meredith raised a hand to her mouth and blushed. “Oh, I covered it with make-up this morning.” She ran a finger over the now purplish mark, looking horrified. “It must have worn off. I’ll be right back.”
She started for the bathroom when André stopped her. “Hold on a minute,” he said, stepping forward and extending his hand. “I’m Dré Washington, Gray’s attorney.”
Gray watched him shake Meredith’s hand, but his friend never took his eyes off the mark on her face.
“Hi, nice to meet you,” she said, squirming just a little under his scrutiny.
“Don’t cover that up. We need to take pictures.”
“Oh,” she covered her mouth again, and her eyes went to Gray’s. “Where’s Oscar?”
“Mom took him to Girard Park. They’ll be back soon. I hope that’s okay.”
She gave a weak smile and nodded. “And are you feeling alright?”
Gray wanted to take her in his arms and reassure her. “I’m fine.”
When she looked back at André, Gray read the hesitation and shame in her eyes.
“Why do we need to take pictures?”
Gray searched his friend’s face, but he could find no hint of suspicion or doubt, only determination. “Because somebody hurt you, and we need to make sure he doesn’t do it again — to you or anyone else.”
Meredith shook her head. “I don’t want to cause any trouble. I hate him for what he did to me, but he’s still Oscar’s father,” she said. “I don’t want to be the one to send him to jail.”
Dré shook his head. “We don’t have to send him to jail. We just need to send a message.”
She searched his eyes for a moment, and when Gray stepped beside her and took her hand, she squeezed back.
“Okay, what can we do?”
IN THE END, Meredith wound up filling out a police report for assault and battery and filing a restraining order. And the whole time, André treated her as if she were made of glass, speaking softly, smiling easily, and calling on a buddy from the LPPD.
The officer came to the house to take a statement and document Meredith’s injuries. The whole process took a couple of hours, but they managed to time the officer’s visit around Oscar’s nap, so the child had absolutely no idea of the crime his father committed. And since Meredith had not accused Jamie of sexual assault — of which he was absolutely guilty and should be known for it for the rest of his life, as far as Gray was concerned — she did not have to worry about Oscar having to claim a father who was a registered sex offender.
By the time Dré left, Meredith wore a smile, and she laughed at the jabs he and Gray traded back and forth. Oscar sat in her lap, laughing when she laughed, even though he couldn’t have understood any of their inside jokes, and his giggles made them all hysterical.
Gray walked his friend out to his car and shook his hand. “Thanks, man. I owe you big.”
Dré grinned at him. “If you don’t make me admit I was wrong, we’ll call it even,” he said shrugging. “Meredith’s quality. I shoulda known, even with a cracked head, you wouldn’t pick anything less.”
