Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
“Fair enough.” Yikes. “But I still want to know what you said to Brooks.”
“And I told you, Spitfire. Guy stuff. You ever grow a dick, you’ll get it.”
“Ew.” She wrinkled her nose.
“Did you just say ew?”
“Um, yeah. Dicks are kind of ew.”
He rolled his eyes heavenward, which she thought seemed overly dramatic. “Did you hear that? She thinks dicks are ew.”
“Do you believe in God?” she asked.
“I believe in something. Maybe not God.”
“You talk to him.”
“Gotta pray for some patience. Maybe he’ll grant me some.”
“Are you saying you need patience to deal with me?” That seemed awfully rude.
“Yep.”
“Hey! I’ll have you know I’m a very sweet, nice person. I never rock the boat. I never make people angry or upset. Basically, I’m Switzerland.”
“Switzerland?”
“Yeah, the peaceful spot in the middle.”
“In the middle?” For some reason, his voice was strangled and he was pretty sure that she had that saying a bit wrong.
“Right. In the middle. Switzerland is landlocked, right? I wasn’t very good at school, so maybe I’m wrong.”
She was wrong a lot.
“Baby, I don’t know who is telling you that you’re like Switzerland, but they’re lying to you. Because you’re trouble. Pure and simple. But if you want to be in the middle . . . I’m down with that.”
“In the middle of what?”
Her phone ringing interrupted him. “Uh-oh.” Drat. She should have turned it to vibrate.
He stared down at her phone. “Uh-oh? What is uh-oh?”
“Um, well, it’s Grady. And I think he might be mad. Because I’ve already had three missed calls on top of this one.”
“Three missed calls? Really.” He looked thoughtful. “We’ll get to Grady in a moment. First, we’ve got to talk about a few things.”
“Like what Brooks said to you? Has he been having trouble with the principal? Those boys? Are they bullying him? Oh my God! They’re bullying him, aren’t they? I’m going to have to call their mothers.”
Shoot. Effie wasn’t good at this sort of thing. But she had to do it. This was Brooks. He was hers and she had to protect him.
“You’re not doing anything. I’m taking care of it. And you don’t need to worry about Brooks. He’s a good kid.”
“You’re taking care of it?” she asked with alarm.
“Yep.”
“Uh, Steele, I really hope you won’t take offense at this . . . but I’m not sure this needs your brand of taking care of things.”
“Just what do you think I’m going to do? Order a hit?”
She sucked in a breath, feeling her eyes going wide. “That would be bad.”
“Baby, I’m not going to do that. I’m just going to have a chat with those little assholes’ dads. These kids weren’t born being shitty humans, that’s got to come from somewhere. I’m just going to let it be known that you and Brooks have someone at your backs. Well, in your case, I’m at your front.”
“My front?” she asked, confused.
“Yeah, because if there’s any trouble, you will be behind me. Understand?”
Not really.
But she just nodded. Because it seemed simpler.
“Now, we’ve got to go before Grady’s head explodes.” He reached over and did up her seatbelt. She should protest that she could do that herself.
But she didn’t say anything. Because it felt good to let someone else take care of her. He’d had her back in there. He’d had Brooks’ back. Even though he hadn’t had to do much, hadn’t really thrown his weight around, she knew he would have.
“You would’ve waded in, wouldn’t you?” she asked.
“Hmm?” he asked after knocking on the privacy screen to let Raul know they were ready to go.
“You would’ve waded in to help Brooks. You didn’t really have to because of those slightly terrifying boys. But you would’ve, right?”
“Of course I would have.”
Of course he would have.
“I don’t need to know what you said to Brooks. Or what he said to you.”
“You don’t?” Now, he gave her a curious look.
“Because you had my boy’s back. Nobody . . . nobody since Joe has done that for us.”
His face softened. “Baby.”
“I’m gonna bake you a cake. A red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.”
“Baby.”
“Might sound odd, but it’s delicious. And it’s all for you.”
“I don’t need a whole cake.”
“Well, you get one when you have my boy’s back,” she told him.
“I’ve got your back too.”
She sucked in a breath and barely held in her tears. “Right.” She turned to look out the window, blinking away tears.
“Although I’m not happy with you.”
“What?” She turned back to gape at him. “Why not?”
“What happened when we arrived at the school?”
Umm. She searched her brain for the answer to his question. What happened?
They’d arrived, left the car, and she’d forgotten where the admin building was, so he’d had to guide her there.
“Oh no, did I stand on your foot?” she asked.
“What?”
“Did I stand on your foot? Or did I not answer when you asked me something? That happens when I’m in a panic. I get caught up in my own head. I didn’t mean to ignore you.”