“Thank God.” Mr. Broom panted and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “I’ve been looking all over for you two. The buses are getting ready to leave.”
“Oh, sorry. We got cut off from the group on the trail and I wanted to show Roman the view from the overlook,” I said in an apologetic rush.
Mr. Broom’s gaze flicked to the view behind us and he blew out a breath. “Well, okay. At least that’s all you were doing. Can’t blame you. It’s a beautiful view. You’re probably the only two students who’d appreciate it,” he grumbled, turning and motioning for us to follow him. “Two students were caught in flagrante delicto and it’s been a mess. So when I realized you two were missing…”
Roman and I frowned at each other.
“What the…?” he mouthed to me.
“Sex?” I whispered back and shrugged.
His shoulders shook with laughter.
Like properly chastised puppies, we followed Mr. Broom all the way back to the buses.
“Oh! I left my bag and everything by the pool!” I lunged toward the gate.
“Vienna has your things,” Mr. Broom assured me.
Sheesh. How long was everyone looking for us? My cheeks burned hot as we approached the buses. Kids hung out of the windows to heckle us and make obscene noises.
Mr. Broom stopped in front of our bus. “Due to the circumstances, boys and girls are being separated. Girls on the left, boys on the right.” He stepped aside so we could climb the steps.
“Great,” I muttered.
Roman kept his hand on my back. I glanced over my shoulder and caught the defiant lift of his chin and rigid posture. It helped me lift my head and not worry about the whispers and stares as we shuffled down the aisle.
Vienna bounced in her seat and waved to me. When we got closer, she pointed at the bench across from her where Stubby was holding a seat for Roman.
“Thanks.” I slid in next to her, noting my tote bag stuffed on the floor under her legs. “Thank you so much for grabbing my stuff.”
“I got you, girl.” She flashed a wicked smile. “Where did you two disappear to?”
“We explored this cool cave and then walked down to the overlook.”
“Uh-huh.” The skeptical lilt to her voice wasn’t lost on me.
I leaned in closer to her. “Who got caught having sex?”
She burst into giggles. “Diane and Brody.”
“Oh,” I said, relieved it wasn’t Chloe and Jameson.
Roman stretched across the aisle and brushed his knuckles over my leg. “You okay?” he asked in a low voice.
My heart melted at the sweet way he always looked after me. “Better than okay.”
It was too noisy to talk much. I spent the rest of the trip back to school staring out the window, listening to the chatter around me. More than ever, I didn’t want to go home. I wished I was back in the cave with Roman. Just the two of us. Alone and together.
Chapter Nineteen
Roman
The buzz from my day with Juliet lasted until I returned to the home.
I pushed open the bedroom door and found Pip curled in a ball on the floor.
“What’s wrong, Pip?”
It wasn’t unusual to find him huddled in the corner of our room or even wedged into our tiny closet after school. On those days I knew he’d either had a rough day or I was about to whoop someone’s ass in this house for picking on him.
He glanced up at me with red tear-streaked cheeks. “Where were you?”
“We had that field trip today. The buses got back late. Why? What happened?”
“Nothing.” His gaze darted to the open door. “Evie. Stay away from her, Roman.”
I crouched down next to him. “What do you mean?”
He wiped his cheeks and stared at me with glassy eyes. “I overheard her talking to Janet. They want to get you in trouble, so you get sent away. Squire’s in on it too. But Evie, man. She’s pissed you have a girlfriend.”
Shit. I thought Evie had finally gotten bored with me and latched onto Squire. Figured they’d both leave me alone if they were busy with each other. I should’ve known two unhappy souls couldn’t comfort one another. It was more fun for them to spread the misery.
I swallowed hard. I hated lying to people I cared about. “I’m not going anywhere, Pip.” I had no business making that promise. I had no control over my life or what happened to me.
“But you are. Once you graduate, you’ll have to move out. Then I’ll be here all alone.”
It wasn’t like I hadn’t considered that before. As much as I worried about where I’d end up, I also feared what would happen to Pip once I moved on.
“We gotta bulk you up a little, kid,” I teased, reaching out to squeeze his bicep.
He shrugged away from me. “I don’t wanna bulk up. I just wanna be left alone.”