Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 67553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
I glanced toward the back of the room and saw Roslyn Petrov hunched down so far that she was trying to disappear into the hole of her hoodie.
“What about?” I asked protectively.
He smiled at me, noting the mama bear protectiveness.
“Actually, I’m just here to drop off her phone,” he said. “I know that’s not allowed, but I didn’t want to give it to the office lady and have her say that she couldn’t have it because they’re not allowed in school. I’m just here to drop it off directly to her. But I lied and said I was having lunch with her.”
My brows rose. “Are you her brother?”
He shook his head. “Godfather.”
Disbelief must’ve been all over my face when I said, “Really?”
He looked toward Roslyn, who was now very much aware of who was at the door.
She smiled at him and got up out of her chair.
“Uncle Shasha,” she said as she shouldered her backpack. “What are you doing here?”
He pulled out her phone, which was indeed very much girly and definitely not his, and handed it to her.
She squealed. “He was able to fix it?”
“Dima said the screen was easy to replace,” he answered.
“Did Dad get you to do this because he was leaving?” she asked then, losing some of her excitement.
“He’s headed down to Houston to check on a few things,” he admitted. “But Alexi said that your mom was on her way home.”
My brows rose at that.
From what I knew, Roslyn’s parents were very much divorced.
In a ‘they’ll never be happy in the same room together ever again’ kind of way.
Why did I know that?
Because at the beginning of the year last year, I’d been front row and center next to Rupert when Roslyn’s mom came in and threw a horrific stink about her father, Alexi, having access to her child’s school information.
Alexi had arrived, along with the police because Roslyn’s mother was making such a stink, and it’d just been…bad.
Really, really bad.
To hear that her mother was coming home literally made my stomach sink for her.
“Great,” Roslyn said sarcastically.
The bell rang, and the students from inside the classroom spilled out, forcing the man to come into my classroom to get out of the way of the hallway door next to mine slamming open. Rupert’s classroom.
I heard his voice drone on, and I wanted to insert the Sharpie in my pocket into my eardrum so I’d never have to hear him again.
“Bye, Uncle Shasha,” Roslyn said. “Thanks for doing this. I know you’re busy.”
“You’re welcome, kitten,” Shasha drawled.
Roslyn slid into the throng of people like she was made to do it.
A shiver of awareness slid down my spine at Shasha’s words.
I knew they were innocent and directed at a child at that, but shit.
Why was him saying “kitten” sexy as hell?
The slide of students through the hallway had the sexy man beside me chilling, watching and waiting.
I stayed at his side, also watching.
“This normal to have this many kids in the hall at once?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered. “Like a bunch of ants, huh?”
“Yes,” he said. “The high school I went to was much smaller…and private.”
He did strike me as a rich dude.
I wondered if he was like Frances when he was growing up.
Maybe there was hope for the kid yet.
“I…” I trailed off when a familiar blonde started making her way out of her classroom.
She looked happy.
I instantly felt the pain in my chest start to swell.
Nobody ever tells you how hard it is to lose a best friend.
I mean, logically, losing anyone from your life that you’ve had there for most of it sucks.
I got that.
Losing Rupert was one thing. We’d been dating for four years. I thought I’d loved him.
But losing Jolessa?
I felt like a piece of my soul had left me the day that I found out she’d been cheating with Rupert.
We’d grown up together.
She still lived in the house next door to McCoy where I grew up.
Her parents were still on my mind every single day.
I still loved her nieces and nephews.
I still wondered what she was doing and how she was.
I still ran every Wednesday and Sunday and wished that she was there.
I still got excited for Thursday take away because we’d enacted a take-out day the day before Friday so we could unwind before the last day of the week.
We’d gone to college together. We’d been in band together. We’d run marathons together.
And now she was just gone.
Like a piece of my entire life was no more because of the decisions that she’d made.
Seeing her was both welcoming and overwhelming at the same time.
On one hand, I wanted to go up to her and tell her about how sexy the man at my side was.
On the other, I wanted to turn my back on her and hide the pain that was caused just at the sight of her.