“We’re friends,” she tells him, coming to stand at my side.
“You are?” He looks to me for confirmation.
“We are,” I agree, then ask, “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, Aunt Selma said I had to come ask you if Max and I can have another Coke, since we already had one.”
“Are you two going to be bouncing off the walls all night?”
“Probably.” He smiles and I sigh, which makes him grin. “Tell your aunt I said it’s cool.”
“Cool,” he says, and then he looks at December. “See you Wednesday, Ms. Mayson.”
“See you Wednesday,” she returns with a smile in her voice, and I wait until he disappears around the corner then look down at her and raise a brow. “What?”
“Wednesday?”
“Wednesdays, I take my class to the high school for a mentoring program. It’s kinda like Big Brothers Big Sisters, but during school hours. My kids love it.”
“Mitch is a mentor?”
“Yeah, he and a few other kids from his grade.”
“How long has he been doing that?”
“Since the school year started,” she says, and I look toward the end of the hall, wondering why he never mentioned it to me. Then I wonder if he has but I don’t remember because I didn’t really pay attention when he brought it up.
Fuck, I need to pay more attention to my boys. Especially Mitchell, seeing how I was about his age when I started getting really interested in girls. Shit.
With a short shake of my head, I look at December. “You should get back to your family.”
“What?” she breathes.
“You should get back to your family before they start to worry,” I say then start to walk away, my mind filling with unhappy thoughts about my boys growing up and exactly what that could mean for our futures. Futures I pray are centered around sports and colleges, not picking out cribs and trying to find money to pay for diapers.
“Hold on.” She steps in front of me with her head shaking and her blonde hair flying over her shoulders as her palms come up to rest against my chest to push me back. “What just happened back there?” She waves one hand toward the wall she was up against not even five minutes ago.
“Nothing happened.”
Her eyes narrow. “Did you just say nothing happened?”
“Go back to your family, December.”
“You’re unbelievable,” she hisses loudly, shoving my shoulder.
I look to where her hand is still resting against my chest then to her eyes, and order, “Calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down.” Her hair flies again as she jerks her head from left to right. “You… you… jerk.” She points at me. “I didn’t corner you outside the bathroom, force you down the hall, or trap you against a wall, demanding to know who you’re out with.”
“I gotta get back to my boys,” I say, fighting the urge to touch her, to kiss her, do something, anything to quench the need growing inside me that has everything to do with the insane pull I feel toward her.
“You are really something else.” She lifts up on her tiptoes, bringing her gorgeous mouth closer to mine. “You said you didn’t have time for games. Obviously, that was a lie, because you seem like you’re a pro at playing with my fricking emotions.” She falls to her flat feet then shoves both her hands against my chest with more force than before, making me take a step back. “Now that I know exactly the kind of jerk you are, I’m going back to have dinner with my family, and seriously, I hope I never see you again.”
“Ember.” I grab hold of her before she can walk away, and her eyes narrow on my fingers wrapped around her wrist.
“Do not call me that.”
“There are things about me, things about my life that you don’t know.”
“Yeah.” She shoves the fingers of her free hand into my chest, and snaps, “You know what? There are things about my life that you don’t know either, because we don’t fricking know each other. Now let me go.” She tugs to get free.
I keep my hold tight and counter her pull, forcing her a step closer to me. A move that makes her eyes flare and pupils dilate. “I have two boys.”
“Yeah, I know that. Remember my cousin lives across the street from you? She told me about them. I just didn’t know that you were you or that Mitch was one of your sons.”
Why the fuck didn’t I think of that? I should have known Harmony would have told her about me, Mitchell, and Max. Shit. “I also have an ex.”
“Yeah, that kinda goes with the territory of having kids. I’m not a flipping idiot, jerk,” she seethes, tugging her hand and trying to break free.
“Don’t be ugly.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” she counters, still struggling with the hold I have on her.