by Rayne, Piper
He stands. I forget how tall he is when he’s sitting. “Thank you. Honestly, you owe me nothing and the fact you’re willing to do this for me—”
“And Elijah,” I add.
He nods, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “And Elijah. After everything…”
“It’s all right. You might be the class clown, but your heart is in a good place.” I stand and walk around the side of my desk.
His eyes fall to my chest. I’d never admit this to anyone, but I purposely wore a tighter blouse today. I have no idea why. I mean, Lake Starlight will be in both our rearview mirrors in a few months.
“Thanks, I think.” He smiles. “Okay, so do you want to meet somewhere or at your place tonight to go over test scores and papers?”
I wave him off and almost touch his arm when I do, but I retract my hand quickly. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll handle it.”
“No.” His eyes widen as he steps closer to me. “I’m going to help you. We have baseball practice until six, then I’m free.”
“Well, um… okay. Why don’t we meet at Lard Have Mercy? Or…” Shit, that damn Buzz Wheel blog. The last thing I need is Mrs. Andrews seeing a picture of Austin and me together. “I’ll text you my address. Park down the road.”
“I’ll run over or ride my mountain bike.”
I laugh and shake my head. “This seems ridiculous, like we’re two cheating spouses sneaking around.”
“Welcome to Lake Starlight.” He rocks back on his heels. “I’ll see you tonight then.”
“Yeah. I could maybe make us dinner, or we can order in?”
He smiles. “You’re doing me the favor. I’ll have something delivered. My treat.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to.” His hand is millimeters from touching my upper arm when a knock bangs on the glass door.
Austin tenses, and our eyes search out the source.
“Hi, you two.” Fay pops her head in the door and smiles and waves. “There’s a situation in the courtyard.”
We look at one another, then Austin heads out the door and jogs down the hall. I follow him, my heels making it impossible to match his pace. When I reach the courtyard, I find a crowd of students have formed a circle, and a girl is screeching from the outside of the circle.
“Stop! Oh, Coach Bailey, stop them.” The petite brunette weaves back and forth wanting to get in the middle.
Austin pushes through the students. “What the hell are you guys doing?” He grabs JP’s sweatshirt and pushes him aside before walking a red-faced Elijah to the other side of the circle.
The students clear a path for me, and I see Elijah’s eyes laser-focused on the brunette, who I presume is Becca, staring at the ground. He tries to fight his way past Austin, but Austin holds him in place.
JP straightens his sweatshirt with a cocky grin. “Remember, Elijah, you’re the one who went up into that bedroom with Sara.”
My attention moves to Becca. She’s staring at Elijah with tears streaming down her face. Elijah looks at her. I never believed in finding your soul mate in high school, but whatever is between these two is a helluva lot more than puppy love.
“Stay the fuck away from her!” Elijah screams.
“Relax,” Austin tells Elijah. “The rest of you, get inside.” Austin points toward the doors of the school.
There I am, standing like an idiot in the middle of it, saying nothing rather than taking control of the situation. “JP, get to my office.”
“No way! I didn’t do anything. He threw the first punch. He’s the one who should be expelled.”
“Go,” I bite out through clenched teeth.
The crowd disperses and JP follows them inside, but a dark-haired girl lingers.
“Please head to your first period class,” I tell her.
“Go, Phoenix,” Austin says to her.
Austin has Elijah sitting at a picnic table, where he’s lecturing him about cooling his temper and how he can’t do this stuff next year. I approach, and Elijah looks up first.
“I’m going to have to see you too,” I say, crossing my arms.
“I might’ve thrown the first punch, but JP’s trying to piss me off. He never wanted Becca. He always used to make fun of her, tell me I was wasting my time, and now that she broke up with me, he’s constantly all over her.” His hands cover his head and his back heaves from his heavy breaths.
“I’ll bring him right in, okay?” Austin asks me.
I nod, shooting him a look to say I can’t sweep this under the rug. He appears to share the same thought.
“Five minutes,” he says.
“Okay, I’ll deal with JP first.”
Walking into the school, I find the same dark-haired girl in the hall, staring at me.
“Phoenix, right?” I ask.
She nods.
“You need to get to first period. No worries, we have it all handled.” I place my hand out for her to walk with me down the hall.
She glances out the window one more time before reluctantly falling into step with me.
“Bye, Holly,” the girl sneers before sliding into a door halfway down the hall.
“Bye.” I head to my office, the realization she called me by my first name hitting me just outside my office.
JP is sitting in front of Fay, looking as though he’s trying to charm her. That’ll do him no good with me.
“JP.” I hold my hand out for him to head into my office. “No interruptions, Fay. Coach Bailey will be bringing in Elijah. Have them sit in Vice Principal Ealey’s office. He’s sick again today.”
She cringes. “Sure thing.”
“Thank you.”
When I walk into my office, I find JP relaxed in the chair Austin was sitting in moments ago, his feet propped up on the desk and the blueberry muffin Austin brought me half eaten in his hand.
I stop and stare. I’ve dealt with a lot of assholes, but high school is a whole new level of adolescent bullshit. I grab the muffin out of his hand when I walk by and drop it in the trash.
“Sorry, I thought this was a new thing. You serving breakfast.”
“Remove your feet from my desk.” I sit down in my chair.
He smirks but lowers his feet to the floor. He remains slouched in the chair like the delinquent he is. “Call my mom.”
“I don’t need to call your mom.”
“Then call the cops. I want to file charges.”
“There will be no charges. We’re going to hash this out here. Regardless if Elijah threw the first punch, you engaged, which means you’ll be getting detention.”
He rolls his eyes and sits up straight, resting his elbows on his knees. “Let’s just call my mom.”
The more he asks, the angrier I become. I lean over the desk, eyes locked with his. “I’m not going to call your mommy for you. You have detention for the rest of the week.”
“Coach Bailey isn’t going to like that. We have practice.” He shoots me a look to suggest I’m an idiot. “We both know how you like to please Coach Bailey. Tell me…” He leans in closer. “Was it your handprint on his Jeep window or his?”
What I’d give for it to be fifty years ago so I could smack this kid over the hand with a ruler. “That’s two weeks. Want to go for three?”
“For what?” he yells. “It’s the truth. The pictures show it.”
Austin and Elijah enter the office, Austin beelining it to my office until Fay directs him next door.
“I am your principal, Mr. Andrews, and I will be treated with respect. What I do after hours is my business, not yours.”
“Same here then.”
“Fine, then conduct your fights off school property.”
He narrows his eyes, clearly upset he isn’t getting his way. No way Miranda Miller let this kid use his mother as a threat.
“Fine.” He stands. “Expect a phone call in about five minutes. I’m pretty sure this is a black eye.” He points at his face.
“Then stop at the
nurses’ station, but I will see you after school today for detention.”
He doesn’t turn around as he walks out of the room, waving.
“Little piece of shit,” I mumble.
Austin comes in, leaving Elijah in Vice Principal Ealey’s office.
“They’re both in detention for the week. JP is for two weeks.”
Austin opens his mouth to interrupt.
“I’m sorry, I know they miss practice, but I have no choice here,” I say.
“No, I was going to agree.”
“Really?”
He chuckles. “Yeah. I told you I don’t give my boys free passes.”
My shoulders relax. Since when do I worry about what others think? I mean, who cares if Austin would’ve been upset that I had to give his two players detentions? “Okay, good. Send Elijah in.”
“You got it, boss.” He smiles, walking out.
My stomach somersaults as I watch his backside leave. Damn, he’s hot, especially when he agrees with me.
Seven
Austin
“Francie told me you played the white knight this morning.” Jack hits balls to the guys from home plate while I stand off to the side. “No, Jaden, throw the ball to your cutoff man.”
Jack shakes his head at me. We’re fortunate we have Elijah this year, so we don’t have to rely on our fielding.
“Don’t believe everything you hear,” I say.
“Like I shouldn’t believe what Buzz Wheel said?” He raises a brow.
“Fucking Buzz Wheel. I stopped reading it years ago.”
Jack tilts his head, questioning my truthfulness.
“I did. I’ll take that as you still do?”
He shrugs. “Francie reads it to me at night.”
I imitate a woman’s voice as I say, “‘What a great bedtime story, Jackey.’ Does she give you a glass of warm milk too?”
“I’m sure Principal Radcliffe wouldn’t mind tucking you in.”
I shoot him a death glare and shift my vision to the guys in the field. Luckily they’re all razzing Jaden for missing three in a row and not paying us any attention.
“Be professional,” I remind him.
“Sorry.” He cringes, but I know Jack and he doesn’t care. “So, Elijah and JP are in detention?”
“Yeah. I mean, would we have let a chick get in the way of our friendship back in the day?” I drop the clipboard on the bench and sit down. “Let’s call practice. My balls are about to freeze off.”
“Run your laps and head to the showers,” Jack announces, throwing the bat in the bag.
The players pick up their equipment and head to the track to run ten laps apiece.
I laugh. “Don’t have to tell you twice.”
“My blood hasn’t thickened back up yet.” He puts on his hat and gloves, sitting next to me. “Back to your question. You know as well as I do this is JP, not Elijah.”
“Can’t say that for sure.”
Though he’s probably right. JP walks around like an entitled little prick most of the time. And we all know it’s his mom’s fault.
“I know. But going after a friend’s girl? I mean, could you imagine if you would have gone after Francie?”
I laugh. Francie’s a great girl, but she’s not really my type. “I would never.”
“I know.” He smacks my shoulder. “But Coach wouldn’t have let us mess up our friendship over a girl either.”
“Yeah.” My gaze falls to my hands clasped between my legs. Sometimes I feel as though I can never live up to my mentor.
“Come on, Francie’s cooking poppy seed chicken tonight.” He stands, eager to get home to his wife.
I’d probably take him up on his offer, but I have more than my two teenage sisters to entertain me tonight. “Thanks, but I have papers to grade.”
See what I did there? Jack expects me to tell him everything, but I didn’t even have to lie to him to keep my whereabouts tonight a secret.
“You work too much.”
I chuckle as we follow the boys into the locker room. “You work seven days a week.”
“Nope. I just hired Jaden for Saturday and Sundays.”
I smack him on the back. “I sure hope he can figure out the difference between a nail and screw better than he can a curveball and knuckleball.”
We laugh, walking into the halls that were ours once upon a time.
* * *
My phone rings as soon as I climb into my Jeep. Savannah’s name flashes on the screen, so I switch her to Bluetooth.
“Hey,” I answer.
“You’re never going to believe what that slimeball at North Forest Lumber Company did!”
“Calm down.”
“He tried to poach Ventures Housing from us.” I hear something smash in the background. Savannah has a little bit of a temper. She wouldn’t actually hit a person, but coffee mugs are fair game when she’s mad.
“Did he succeed?” I ask, turning a corner.
“I swear I’m going to burn down that place.”
“Jeez, Sav, let’s hope the line isn’t bugged. Now answer my question.”
“I mean, we’ve been around for how many years? He comes up here from God knows where and thinks he’s going to take over our clientele? The clients that Daddy and Granddaddy fished and hunted with? I bet he thinks I’m weak because I’m a woman. Well, he’s about to find out that I will not roll over.” Another smash echoes over the speakers.
“Sit down for a second.” I bring the car to a halt at a stoplight.
“No! How can you be so calm? This is our family legacy. The business that affords us what small luxuries we have. It’s my future, Austin. I get that you want to hightail it out of this town as soon as the twins cross the stage with their diplomas, but this is it for me.” The anger in her voice fades and she sighs. “Sometimes I think I’m disappointing Dad.”
The key with Savannah is to let her anger burn out on its own. There’s no reason to rush her to come to the right conclusion. She usually will on her own after a good fight with herself. Not that I don’t understand her feeling that way. I was just on the bleachers, thinking the same thing.
“You’re not. Dad would be so proud of you. Just ask Grandma Dori. Speaking of, have you asked her for advice on this?”
“No. I want her to be assured that I can handle these things on my own. If she’s ever going to hand the company over to me completely, I need to be capable.”
The light changes and I drive slowly through downtown Lake Starlight. The green-and-white banners with the Bailey Timber Corp logo decorate the light posts for the upcoming Founder’s Day.
“Well, here’s some good news for you. I’m driving through downtown and everything is looking good.”
“Really?” she asks, a chipper tone overtaking her stressed-out one. “That’s one thing, I suppose.”
“So back to this other issue. What have you done so far to fix it?”
“I’m having dinner with the Venture reps tomorrow night. They want to renegotiate the terms. Said that asshole Clint’s offer was five percent less.” The tapping of a pen on her desk echoes through the receiver.
“There you go. Why are you calling me? You’ve already got this handled.”
She laughs. “I needed to vent, and I have no one but you.”
“Jeez, thanks.”
“You know what I mean.” She sighs. “Do you ever think it’s sick that we only have each other? Here we are, almost thirty—well, you’re already over that hump—we’re pseudo parents to our siblings, and we’re both single?”
I can tell from her voice that she needs to be lifted up once more.
“You could get a husband if you wanted one,” I remind her, slowing for another stoplight.
She laughs. “No one wants to date a woman who runs a company.”
“Sure, they do.” I slam on my brakes when two guys jump in front of my Jeep before I’ve come to a complete stop. “Fuck!”
“What?”
&nbs
p; I look up after my whiplash. My brother Denver and his friend Liam laugh and smack the hood of my Jeep. “Our dipshit brother and his best friend just ran in front of my Jeep.”
Denver’s been gone flying supplies up north for the past few months. He must just be back in town today.
“See?” She releases a breath. “Immature. The guys around here can’t find their way out of a wet paper bag. What is it about this town and all the men who are incapable of growing up?”
“Hey!” Denver bangs on the window.
“Hang on a sec, Savannah.”
“Who are you talking to?” Denver asks me through the window.
I roll it down, and the cool spring air wafts into the Jeep. “Savannah.”
Liam hops in the passenger seat without warning and rifles through my glove box.
“Hey, Savannah. Miss me?” Denver asks.
“No,” she deadpans.
“Come on. I’ve been gone a long time. You weren’t worried about me?”
“Oh, Denver, I only worry if your health insurance covers STD examinations.”
Liam laughs. “Good one, Savannah.”
“Oh great, your sidekick is there too. Gotta go.” Savannah clicks off before anyone has time to say goodbye.
“She’s so uptight. If you weren’t her brothers, I’d suggest someone loosen her up.” Liam smirks at us.
Denver narrows his eyes at Liam. “She’s my sister, dude.”
This is where Denver and I differ. Savannah’s my sister and I hope she finds a better guy than Brooklyn has, but I don’t really give a shit who it is as long as he treats her well and she loves him. She definitely needs a guy who can handle her outbursts of doubt though. We’ve both given everything to this family, so I would never give her shit for anything.
“Your older and hot sister,” Liam says.
Denver tries to climb through the window over me, his arms outstretched. Liam laughs, snatching something out of my glove box, and opens the door.
“Hey!” I say.
“I’ll return it.” Liam yells, holding up my tire pressure stick, turning around.
