Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
“He’s still your dad.” Sadie rubs her hand up my arm. “Like Fischl is my mom and always will be and she never carried me like she did Van, but I know she doesn’t love me an ounce less. It’s the same with Uncle Coop.”
I inhale. She’s right, but I’m not there yet. “I just got to work it out in my head.”
“And it’s not Van’s fault he’s the bio kid. He’s got to work it out in his head too. Don’t talk with your hands with him, okay?” She gives me a pleading look, and it’s one that I know I’m going to be giving in to a lot in the future.
“Yeah, okay.”
Her smile turns brilliant, and my heart flips. “Good thing we’re at school,” I growl in a low tone. “Or you’d be on your back with my face between—”
“Dunc? I have something to tell you.” Rose appears at my side, her hand coming up to touch my arm.
“No touching the merchandise.” I stare at her fingers until she drops them with a nervous laugh.
“I’m sorry. I just needed to get your attention.”
I start to say something cutting and then remember that we’re throwing Sadie a birthday party. “Sure.”
Sadie makes an odd noise at the back of her throat, but a quick glance in her direction doesn’t give me any hints about what that means.
“Maybe you could come with me.” Rose tries to tug me away from Sadie.
I don’t move. “You can say what you have to say here.”
Rose flattens her lips. “Fine. I tried to be nice about it, but since you want to stand out here in the middle of the hall instead of going somewhere private, I’m just going to say it. She’s a bully.” Rose points her finger across my chest.
I follow the line of sight past Sadie and spot Fleur Benson, a tall redhead with a sharp tongue. “Fleur? Who you bothering these days?”
Fleur points at herself. “It’s easier if I list the people I’m not bothering, but this morning I made Van curse at me. Am I in trouble?” She flutters her eyelashes.
I burst out laughing. “Nah, you’re obviously doing the Lord’s work. Keep it up.” I give her the thumbs up.
“Not Fleur,” interjects Rose. “Her!” This time it appears that Rose is pointing at Sadie.
Fleur saunters forward and slings an arm around Sadie’s shoulder. “This little thing? She couldn’t bully a hive of bees, let alone other kids.”
“That’s not what her old school says.” Rose shoves her phone in our faces. “I got the whole story last night. She was awful to other girls. Constantly engaged in slut-shaming them. Would call the girls who didn’t have money DRGs for Dirty Rag Girls.”
I cough to cover a laugh because that sounds frigging dumb as hell. I glance down at Sadie so she can join in the hilarity, but she’s ghost white.
Rose isn’t done. “She had an initiation ceremony every year and would pick one or two girls to be her school servant. That person would have to get her lunch every day, do her homework, sometimes even rub her feet, and if they didn’t do it, she’d beat them.”
“Rose, you should stop right here before you embarrass yourself any further. No one believes you,” I say quietly. I draw Sadie away from Fleur and tuck her close to my side. Her body is trembling like a leaf.
“You should. I have evidence.” Rose flicks something on her screen, and a video begins to play. I pluck the phone out of Rose’s hand and hurl it down the hall. It clatters about the same time Rose screams. “What the fuck, you asshole!” Rose yells, running after the phone.
“Come on, let’s go eat lunch. And don’t tell me you’re not hungry because that’s not what we’re going to lunch for.” I jerk my head at Fleur. “You’re coming too.”
“Yessir.” She salutes me but not with a lot of sass.
Sadie stumbles, and I haul her upright. “Stiff upper lip, babe. The wolves can scent blood.”
“Isn’t it sharks who scent blood?” Fleur says.
“Are you saying wolves can’t smell blood?”
“No, but the saying is sharks smell blood in the water.”
“I can make up my own saying.”
Sadie releases a soft laugh. “I can see why you and Van were fighting, Fleur. He’s wrong like this, too.”
“Oh, girl, I can see we’re going to be best friends.”
Between Fleur and me, we get Sadie through the lunch line and find a table in the corner. As soon as we sit, I say, “Spill.”
CHAPTER 20
SADIE
“There isn’t anything to spill. I didn’t do those things.” I take a bite of the pizza Dunc put on my tray. “Do you really think I can eat this much?” I try to steer the conversation in a different direction.
“I can.” Fleur takes a giant bite of her cheeseburger.