Free Saving Lawson (Loving Lawson Book 2) by R.J. Lewis Page A

was hopeful there was room yet for our own relationship to blossom. See? I was fighting my pessimism because nobody likes a Debbie Downer.
                  “Hey, pretty lady,” came a familiar voice.
                   Jumping, my head shot to the side just as a big frame slid into the empty seat next to me. I stared up at Matt’s smiling face and my body instantly relaxed.
                  “Jesus, you scared me,” I said with a relieved smile.
                  He shot me an apologetic look. “Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
                  “It’s not your fault. I was lost in thought.”
                  Eyeing the backpack, he asked, “Just come back from school?”
                  I nodded. “Yeah, a whole morning of classes. On my way to my mom’s now to pick up Kayden.”
                  His eyebrows shot up. “Wow, didn’t know you guys were cool after… you know.”
                  I shrugged. “Can’t say we’re perfect, but she offered to look after Kayden some days. Beats putting him in day care.”
                  “I take it day care is killer on the wallet, huh?”
                  “Yeah, but I also trust my mom to look after him more than I trust anyone else.”
                  “Trust is always an issue,” he agreed thoughtfully. My eyes jumped from his tired face and down his body. He wasn’t his usual pristine self. His clothes were dimpled and messy, like he’d been in them for a couple days. He didn’t smell bad, but that was probably because he’d drowned in cologne, concealing the smell of faint alcohol.
    “What about Heath?” he then asked. “How’s he doing?”
                  “He’s good,” I answered. “He’s been doing a lot of overtime, so he’s pretty tired a lot of the time.”
                  “I’ve been meaning to catch up with him, but I haven’t seen him fight. The last one was him and Marko, and he was too concerned about getting out of there than stopping for a chat.”
                  His fight with Marko… That was a fortnight ago. “No,” I disagreed, “he fought last week too.”
                  Now Matt looked confused. “Last week? You sure?”
                  “Yeah, he won, too.”
                  “Huh, must have missed it or something. And of course he’d win. That guy’s unstoppable. Unless he’s against Marko, of course, then it’s hard to know for sure.”
                  I resisted rolling my eyes at the mention of Marko. I didn’t like the guy. He gave me the creeps. There was something very off about him, and I wished Heath stopped spending so much time with him outside of work and family time. They’d been inseparable, and I was paranoid Marko was going to bring Heath down in some way. Sometimes you could tell who the bad apples were, and my bet was he was a rotten one.
                  “Do you like Marko?” I asked him inquisitively.
                  He thought about it for a moment before shrugging. “I can’t say I know him on a personal level to say for sure.”
                  “But looking at him, what do you feel?”
                  He chuckled, catching onto my disdain. “He’s pretty weird, I guess. I get a very off vibe.”
                  I nodded immediately, looking out the window, muttering, “Me too.”
                  “You worried about Heath spending time with him?”
                  “Yeah,” I admitted, glad I could actually bring this to someone. “I don’t want Heath getting caught up in some kind of bad because of him. It’s just the feeling I get when I look at Marko, like he’s using him or something. It’s silly, I know.”
                  Matt nudged my