Highest Bidder

21. Myles

21

MYLES

“Dude, come on. You look like someone ran over your fucking cat,” JT says while we’re walking into our Wednesday morning sale in Orlando.

I haven’t been very good company recently. Hunter’s only been gone for six days, and I’ve turned into a miserable sap. Although, I wasn’t much company before that either. I at least went out with the guys and hung out at JT’s. This week, I’ve jetted home after work to make sure I was available for Hunter’s calls. The guys would have my balls if they knew. I’m guessing they’re getting close to putting the pieces together. I want to make sure I’m there for Hunter. She’s going through a hard time, and not only that, but I can tell it’s taking a toll on her. She hasn’t shared much about how her mom’s treating her while she’s there, but I know it’s not good. Every time I ask, she brushes it off and makes it sound like she doesn’t see much of her. I know she’s there for her dad, but her mom is in the same house. She has to see her often enough to make an impact.

“I know, man. I’m tired,” I lie, not wanting to tell him the real reason.

“Ha. Yeah. You can say that all you want, but I know you. I know what you look like tired, angry, hungry, and this is none of those things. Is someone missing a certain lady I like to call Fun-Size?” He gives me a knowing look.

Sometimes I hate how well he knows me.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” I roll my eyes. “Let’s get to work, asshole.” I walk faster into the office to get away from him, but his laughter invades my ears, making me clench my teeth. All the young women in the office turn their heads to look at him. We usually get a lot of looks when we show up to work. Most of the dealers are men. The same is true for ringmen and auctioneers, but most of the office workers and block clerks are women. It’s not unheard of for relationships to form here, because we all see each other often. I have no desire to be with anyone else, but that doesn’t stop JT from flirting his ass off. Jess sits behind the counter, and I wave at her before going to our meeting even though I’m early. Knowing JT, he’ll hang back and talk to any girl that piques his interest.

I grab some breakfast and coffee in the cafeteria before the meeting. I’ve been wanting my own lane for longer than I can remember, but it doesn’t change the sinking feeling I have now that Hunter isn’t here. I check my phone and go back and forth, deciding if I should call her or not. I know she’s used to waking up early, but she doesn’t seem like a morning person. Since she’s been gone, she usually talks to me later in the day or night. Not that I mind, but I wonder if she's awake right now. After going back and forth, I finally say to hell with it and call her.

“Hello?” Hunter answers, her voice groggy with sleep.

“Hey, Hershey. I’m sorry. I should have texted to see if you were awake.” Now I feel like shit for waking her up. I’m selfish for wanting to hear her voice to start my day.

“No. It’s fine, Myles. Is everything okay?”

Sheets rustle on her end, and it only makes me wish we were cuddled up in bed together. I can only imagine how gorgeous she looks with her hair a mess and a baggy T-shirt on .

“Yeah…” I pause. We’ve had tons of great conversations, but I don’t want to scare her away by coming on too strong.

“Yeah? What is it?” I hear the concern in her voice.

“I wanted to hear your voice before my day got started,” I finally admit.

She lets out a sigh. “I’m glad you called.” My shoulders relax, and I smile.

“Yeah? Even though I woke you up? I’ve noticed you don’t seem like much of a morning person.” I laugh.

“No.” She laughs with me. “I’m definitely not, but…” She pauses then, and it makes me stiffen.

“What is it?”

“I’m ready to come home.” She sighs.

My shoulders relax. “Did anything happen? Is your dad doing better?” She’s always sounded a little off while she’s been away, but she’s never sounded this down before.

“Well, kinda. My mom is pushing my dad to go to this function. He can’t go, but since he doesn’t want to disappoint her, he asked me to fill in. I hate these things, and my ex is going to be there. My mom won’t stop trying to push us back together. Then, to top it all off, my dad has always had my back with this stuff, and now it feels like he doesn’t,” she blurts out fast.

I’m sitting straight and stiff now. I don’t like to hear her like this. I want to hold her and protect her. But what makes my blood boil is the mention of her ex and her mom pushing them together. What is that about?

“Hey. Calm down and take some deep breaths.” Once I hear her exhale a few times, I go on. “Just don’t go. Your dad definitely shouldn’t go, but that doesn’t mean you have to take his place if he doesn’t. But if you need backup, I’ll be on the next flight there to go with you.” Where the fuck did that come from? But I would if she wanted me there.

“You’re the sweetest, Myles. But, no. It’s okay. He just isn’t a good guy, and I’d like to avoid him as much as possible. My mom doesn’t understand or want to believe that he’s the main reason I moved.”

Taking my hat off, I rake my fingers through my hair. “What do you need? I want to make sure you’re safe.”

“I think I just needed to rant. You’ve been the bright part of my days while I’ve been here. Thank you for calling.”

Her voice sounds lighter, like she needed to talk to me just as much as I needed to talk to her.

“I feel the same.” I look up and see JT signaling the meeting is about to start. “Hey, I’m sorry. I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later?”

“Yeah. Have fun on my lane.” She laughs.

I can’t help but smile. “It’s not the same without you here. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

Her voice sounds so small. It’s not the headstrong and sassy girl I know. She’s been sounding less and less like herself, and it makes me worry about her. But now, I’m worried she’s going to be around this ex of hers whom her mom loves. I can’t get that out of my head. I should have asked more questions, like what kind of function is this? Will there be a lot of people so she can completely avoid him? Do I need to come and punch him or talk some sense into her mother? At the airport, I told her to go and make sure this is what she wants, that I am what she wants. But everyday we talk, I feel it. We are more, and I have to protect her.

My body hums as I storm over to JT with all these thoughts swirling around in my head. My blood pressure rises as my ears start to burn. I swear steam might come out of them. I thought calling to hear her beautiful voice would make my day better, but now all I picture is her being around that piece of shit. Even though Hunter says he’s a bad guy, she must be really downplaying it. He did something bad enough to make her move, not just hours away, but states away from him.

“You okay?” JT whispers to me once I reach him.

“Yup.” I pop the p .

He smirks. “Yeah. You look it.” I glare at him, and he covers his mouth to hold back his laughter. It only makes me scowl more. I catch sight of Jess walking by, and I immediately get an idea. Our meeting ended quickly since there wasn’t anything different for today. I jog over to my lane, and Jess is setting up the computer. I see her grunt with a frustrated look on her face. When I’m right behind her, she bends over to reach for something on the ground, still sitting in her chair.

“Hey, Jess!” I say, a little louder than I intended to.

She gasps and startles, making the chair fly out from under her. She falls right to the ground. My shoulders meet my ears as I cringe.

“Ouch!” Jess rubs her hip and looks over at me. “What the hell, Myles! That fucking hurt.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you fall. I just wanted to talk to you.” I take my hat off and rank my fingers through my hair, then reposition my hat.

“You couldn’t have gotten my attention at a normal volume?” She glares while getting up.

I rush over and pick up her chair. “Sorry. I’m a little off today.” That’s an understatement, but I’m not going to admit that to her.

She looks at me and squints, which makes me square my shoulders more under her assessment. Her shoulders slump. “You heard.”

My eyebrows shoot up.

“Yeah. I know. She told me she’s going to be around her ex. Your face is easy to read. Your friend is like Fort Knox.” I see her eyes flash to JT, who is walking across the lanes before sighing. “I’m worried about her, too.”

I decide to let that last little tidbit go about JT. “Can’t say that I like it.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “No. She won’t get back together with him, but that doesn’t mean her mom won’t try hard to make it happen.” She fidgets with her shirt. “I know she’s ready to come home, but she promised her dad she would go with her mom to the gala tomorrow.”

My eyebrows draw in. It’s a gala?

“She’s going shopping today for dresses. I’m excited though. I’m making her send me the pictures so I can help her pick one out.” She smiles and goes back to the computer to get it ready for the lane to start.

She’s about to buy a fancy dress and go to an event that her ex is also attending. Her mom’s going to push them together, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I want to go to Oklahoma, bring her home, and keep her away from that guy. I’m ready for her to be back. Fuck.

I’m staring blankly at the TV screen, trying to watch the last episode of the first season of Game of Thrones . My phone rings, and I smile when I see Hunter is calling. I’ve had a rough day ever since I heard the news that she’ll see her ex again tomorrow. I couldn’t focus, and I’ve been racking my brain all day, trying to figure out what to do to help her.

“Hey! How was your day today?” I say when I answer the phone.

“It was good. Dad’s making a lot of progress walking around the farm. Pretty sure he doesn’t need my help anymore. He barely needs the help of the nurses that come, either.”

I sit up straight. “So you’re coming home soon?” I try not to sound too hopeful, but I don’t think there’s a way for me to hide that.

“Yes, and I’m bringing you a new hat.”

“Yeah, I’m not changing my hat.” It would be hard for me to switch hats even if she was the one to get me a new one .

“What’s the story with it, anyway?” It’s been fun that every day we’ve been able to uncover more about each other.

“Well, when I was younger, I didn’t have a dad to show me how to fix things or anything, really. My mom was always at work, so I was at home a lot by myself. I had a neighbor, Mr. Arnold, who didn’t have any family close by. He was a handyman, and he hated that his grandkids weren’t around so he could teach them different odds-and-ends jobs. He noticed I was by myself a lot and didn’t like that I didn’t have a male figure in my life. So he took it upon himself to teach me. I basically went to his house every day after school.”

“Wow. That was nice of him. I’m glad he could teach you. Were you like an adopted grandson to him?” she asks.

I smile. “Yeah. He always called me that. He said he adopted me, and I didn’t have any say in the matter. I was stuck with him. I think he only said that to make me feel better about going over there. He knew I wanted to, but I didn’t want to upset my mom and make her feel like she wasn’t doing enough. So he would tell her he needed my help for things.” I miss the old man. He was grumpy, but he meant the world to me.

“How long did you know him for?”

“I started when I was about nine years old, and he passed when I was fifteen. I would have had to stop going over there, anyway. That was when I started working to help my mama.” I sigh and scratch the back of my neck. “He left me something in his will, and his family knew about it. They weren’t upset, but they weren’t exactly happy about it either. I didn’t even go to the lawyers to see what he left me. I told his kids that he gave me enough, but I only wanted his old hat. They, of course, had no problem giving it to me. So I’ve been wearing it ever since.”

“Wow. You must have meant a lot to him. He sounds like an amazing man.”

The entire day, I have thought about Hunter, and her going to this fancy event. Jess hinted at Hunter needing to stay away from her ex. I have to know why. I have a sinking feeling that something bad happened, and I’m too far away to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I rake my fingers through my hair.

“Hunter, tell me about your ex.”

She sighs. “That’s a long story, and a complicated one. I met him at work. He buys cattle for a big company, so he would kiss my dad’s ass trying to get a better deal. My dad treated everyone the same, never showing favorites, but that didn’t stop Steve from trying to get on his good side. One day, Steve started paying me more attention, and I thought it was harmless. We ended up dating, but slowly, I stopped recognizing myself. He made me feel as if I wasn't important and only his wants and needs were. Eventually, I believed I was there to please him, but no matter what I did, he was never fully happy with me. One night, we went out on a date, and he drank too much. I didn’t order what he wanted me to order for myself, and he backhanded me as soon as we were alone in the parking lot. I stood there, shocked, as he drove off. He had been a little too handsy or tightened his grip on me a little too hard in the past, always apologizing later, but this was the first time he physically hit me, drawing blood. I called my dad, barely able to talk through my tears. I’ve never seen him so angry as when his eyes landed on my bloody lip.”

“Hunter.” My voice barely comes out above a whisper, while my body aches to hold her.

“My dad wanted to press charges, but I knew I wanted to leave, had to leave. My dad respected my wishes and helped me find a job far away. I know it killed him to have me go, but he has always supported me above all else.”

“I’m so sorry. You should have never had to go through that.” I sit on the edge of the couch. “Hunter, I don’t want you around him. I’m not saying that to tell you what to do, but I’m worried about you. Your dad won’t be at the function to help you, and it doesn’t sound like your mom will be much protection. ”

“It’s okay. It’s a large event. I’ll make sure to never be alone with him. He wouldn’t do anything in front of people.”

I can hear her yawning. “You should get some sleep.”

“No, we just started talking.” She whines a little, making me chuckle.

“Yeah, but I woke you up early this morning. You missed out on some shut-eye, but I’m here for you. I would never lay a hand on you. I just want you to know that.”

“I know you wouldn’t, Myles.”

We continued to talk for a while until we both physically couldn’t stay awake any longer.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Get some sleep,” I say through a yawn.

“Okay. Good night.”

“Night.” I hang up the phone, turn off my TV, and get ready for bed. I don’t know how she does it. Even though we had some intense topics of conversation, we were able to end the phone call on a good note. I can feel that she will be coming home soon, and I can’t wait.