Bradford's Orders Book Two The Third Generation Series

Chapter 6

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Chapter 6
Holly

It had been a week since the game. A week since Zane called me. A week since Bradford kissed me. If I think too much about that moment, I can still feel my lips tingling. I'm trying not to think about it but seeing him every day has made it hard.

So I've avoided him as much as possible.

I don't come out of my rooms until I know he's gone out to the field or down to the gym. I changed my schedule, kept Tempest as far away from him as possible, and even resorted to eating meals in my room. Lowe has already asked me if I'm sick, Easton has been watching me closely. I know I can't hide forever, especially living under the same roof. But this place is almost big enough that I can just about manage it. Almost.

This morning I assumed everyone was up and out of the house early, everything was much more quiet than it usually is for the middle of the week. Without worrying about running into anyone, I got busy and started my work. Cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, getting dishes loaded in the dishwasher, wiping down counters and putting away the groceries when they were delivered.

Going upstairs, I began working my way down the hall, straightening up one room after another until I heard voices at the end of the hall. No one should be there. But I can hear Tempy talking to someone. Quietly I hurry down the hall to see who she is talking to. When I peek around the door I see my baby sitting in Bradfords lap, watching the last game with him.

"Why did that man knock you down? He's a bully!" Tempy said when the linebacker tackled Bradford on the screen.

"That's his job. He has to stop me from throwing the ball to my receivers and getting a touchdown. See? He tackled me before I could throw the ball, that's because my O-line weren't in place to protect me. We have to change that so it doesn't happen again." Bradford patiently explained to her.

"Mommy says that hitting someone is wrong. But when Billy got punched at preschool and got a bloody nose, he tackled Timmy, who hit him, and he never did it again." Tempy told him something she hadn't shared with me.

"Fights happen. And your mom's right, you never swing first but you always finish it so it doesn't happen again." Bradford encouraged her to stand up for herself.

"Girls aren't supposed to fight," Tempy told him as she sat up straight in his lap.

"You do if you don't want to be walked on, used or taken advantage of. You have to be strong, kid. You have to know when you're right and stand up for yourself. Don't let anyone push you around or bully you." Bradford gives her advice that makes me think he does have a soft spot for children.

I've seen him play with his nieces and nephews, he's good with them but that's family. He seems to like Tempy. He lets her ask questions, invade his room when she feels like it and bother him while he's working. He doesn't yell at her to go away or tells her to leave him alone. That holds a lot of weight with me. The respect and courtesy and kindness he shows her is very special.

"Mommy did. That man, the one who keeps calling her, he's a bully." I stepped back and leaned back against the wall as my breath hitches in my throat. I didn't know she heard those calls.

Bradford paused hearing this. "Do you know what he's said to her?"

Tempy nods, "He yells at her and calls her names. He made her cry."

Oh no!

There's a brief flash of anger in Bradford's eyes before the shield drops and he hides his emotions. If Tempy was watching it would have frightened her, but she wasn't, she was looking at the television.