So Jenny was nervous about her upcoming soccer game, it turned out. After picking her up from her last practice, he'd been jamming to rock. When she'd asked what it was and then asked him to turn it up, Garrett had surged with pride. He had himself a rocker girl. More than happy to oblige her, he did.
The next day he'd gifted her with an iPod that was already loaded with his favorite tunes - all edited, of course. She was in love with it. She fiddled with the touch screen, downloading Angry Birds and God knew what else when he assured her price wasn't an issue, and she sat in the backseat of the car doing just that on her way to the game.
As Garrett steered towards the elementary school with Selene at his side, he cast a glance at Jenny in the rearview mirror. "How's it going back there, Rockstar?"
Jenny's mouth pulled to the side. She tapped at the screen of her newest toy. "I can't get all the pigs this time. Poor birds."
Beside him, Selene laughed. "Pretty macabre game," he murmured, but didn't offer anything till they were there. He turned back to her and peeled an earbud from her ear. "We're here. You ready to own these people?"
She looked a little nervous, still. Selene patted her knee. "Just listen to your music," her mother assured her. "You won't feel those nerves as much."
Garrett grinned. "Darn right." It was still hard not to cuss in front of the little one, but he was faring well. "Blast them tunes until you get called, Rockstar. Sound like a plan?"
Smiling, Jenny put the earbud back into her ear and nodded, lost in her own world again.
-----
Garrett purchased two drinks and some snacks and brought them into the stands, handing Selene her half. From where he sat, he could see Jenny huddled in her corner on the bench, her earbuds in, her little head swaying to the beat. He straightened up when the coach wandered over and tapped Jenny on the shoulder.
She looked up, the coach said something, and he could tell by the way her body slumped forward and she offered up her iPod to the man that she wasn't being allowed to relax before the game. Garrett gritted his teeth. "The fuck was that?" he raged.
Selene grabbed his arm. "Don't."
Garrett shrugged it off. "Fists ain't gonna be swinging, Selene. I'm just gonna-"
He stopped when he caught sight of Ben on the bleacher beneath his feet, his arm around Sarah. He glanced back and gave Garrett a shit-eating grin.
"I'm starting to wonder which of my girls you're dating," Ben said, his eyes narrowing at Garrett.
Selene, who'd heard Ben's words, piped up to speak, but Garrett held up a hand for silence. He was still standing, and Ben was glued to his seat, his head a mere foot away from Garrett's crotch.
"While you're down there, sweet thing," Garrett smiled at Ben, "how's about you make that mouth useful and suck my dick?"
That wasn't what Ben had expected, clearly, nor was it what anyone in the stands had wanted to hear. He heard a few protests from people nearby holding bundles of babies in their arms. Oh, fuck them.
Having said all he needed to say, Garrett stomped off towards Jenny. Thanks to Ben's interruption, the coach was nowhere to be seen. He knelt down next to Jenny, her eyes sad, her lip trembling. Kid had a major case of butterflies.
"No tunes?" Garrett asked, his tone softening at the hurt on her face.
Jenny shook her head. Sniffled. "Coach took it away. He said it was a distraction."
Garrett sighed. "Some people ain't so nice, huh?"
Jenny shook her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get it taken away."
Garrett put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't you worry. You'll get it back." Her head was still down, so he cradled her face with the palm of his hand until she was forced to meet his gaze. "Chin up, Rockstar."
Jenny smiled. With that done, he walked off. Now that Ben had sufficiently pissed him off for the second time in a row, he had an idea. First stop was his jeep. He pulled Nine Inch Nails from the CD player and spun it around his finger, his eyes traveling the parking lot for signs of Ben's car.
Bingo.
He strode towards it, finding it unlocked and just begging to be broken into. What a dumbass. He opened the door, cranked the engine, and stuffed the CD inside. Music began to blare, and Garrett pressed through until he found Jenny's favorite. As soon as it began, he turned the volume up. Loud.
The truck buzzed from the vibrations, and the concrete beneath him shook. Grinning, Garrett watched as everyone stirred from the noise, some pointing towards the parking lot, some clapping their hands over their ears, some actually laughing. He caught Jenny's eye from where she sat on the bench, and her smile was bigger than he'd ever seen it.
He gave her a grin right back and raised his fist in the air, tucking in his middle and ring fingers and crossing his thumb over them both. She returned the rocker's gesture right back and bobbed her head.
Sure, the music wouldn't last long once the other adults found the source of it and stopped, but it did the trick. The coach, the lanky, unassuming asshole of a coach, was fuming and red-faced, demanding that the noise stop. Somebody ran towards the parking lot, shouting about a truck. The song was almost over by the time they found the source, but it was no matter. He'd locked it and taken the keys with him. They jingled in his pocket as he made his way back to Selene.
The look on her face made it clear she knew. But she smiled. An incredulous, I-can't-believe-you smile that came with a shake of her head, but it was there nonetheless. Garrett shrugged his massive shoulders and nudged her. "Pretty sure your ex is about to get kicked out," he warned her, but his smirk made it clear he was rejoicing in the idea. Selene only laughed harder, wrapped up in the moment, in the sight of her daughter spinning circles around the bench, getting lost in the blaring music.
Men approached Ben. They'd been shouting out the offending truck's license plate number, and he'd stood to claim it, confused and incensed. When he glared back at Garrett, it was obvious he knew. Garrett grinned and fished into his pocket. He tossed the keys at Ben. "Next time you might lock those doors, pretty boy," he called out, but they were already tugging him towards the parking lot.
In moments, the music quieted, but it was already time to begin the game. Garrett called out to his Rockstar, cheering her on with every move, Selene right behind him. She smiled back, reveling in the attention and the praise, and soon she turned into a showoff. Leaps, pounces, kicks that earned score after score for her team, and soon they won.
Wrapped up in the moment once she'd barreled into his arms, he'd grinned at Selene. "That's our girl," he'd said, and it had come without an ounce of thought. He'd just said it, accepted it as if she were his own, and he'd seen the hesitant smile she'd given him in return. He understood her fear and he let it slide. But he also understood that he'd do whatever he could to prove he could be this. The guardian, the boyfriend, hell, maybe even the husband. Who else would put up with him and accept him for all his shit? What other woman did he even want to try it with? None. Not a single one.
Ben had trumped back to Garrett a few minutes later, the fires of Hell burning behind his eyes. "Parking lot," he'd ordered. "Now."
Garrett had obliged him. One punch, and the man was down. He didn't go overboard. Selene wouldn't like it. Hell, Ben had thrown the first hit. It was his own fault he'd had terrible aim.
Then, an afterthought, really, he'd reached back into Ben's truck and retrieved his CD. Clutching that and stepping over Ben's body, he'd gone back to join his girls.