Hissy Fit (Southern Gentleman 1)

I would’ve dared him to squeeze it had my laughter not garnered Mrs. Sherpa’s attention.

“Ms. Crusie, Coach Allic, Coach McDuff,” Mrs. Sherpa said, making me glance in her direction. “Is there something you would like to share?”

I looked pointedly at Coach Casper’s boob that was still in ‘Coach Allic’s’ hand and shrugged. “We were talking about a funny story that related to the state test.”

“Oh, please enlighten me of this funny story,” Mrs. Sherpa said.

“It involves bathroom humor,” Ezra drawled, clearly noticing when I needed some help.

Mrs. Sherpa snorted. “Young man, I’m a mother of four, a grandmother of fifteen, and a great-grandmother of two. Trust me when I say that I’m more than capable of understanding and tolerating bathroom humor. So please share.”

Ezra’s eyes met mine, and I had to bite my lip to keep from bursting out laughing.

“I…”

The fire alarm went off before Ezra had to make up some random ass story about state testing and anything to do with the bathroom.

“Everyone remain calm,” Mrs. Sherpa said.

Not a single teacher had risen out of their seat.

I looked over at Ezra again. “No freakin’ out, Coach Duff.”

He flicked my nose with his pointer finger. “What am I going to do with you?”

Allic groaned, and I realized that Coach Casper had finally moved her breast from his hand.

“You’re going to just love me,” I suggested. “And put up with the rest.”

He linked his hand through mine, and then stood up when the alarm continued to go off. “Probably should get out of here, Mrs. Sherpa.”

Everybody followed suit, and I was sad to realize that Coach Casper followed close behind us.

God, what I wouldn’t give for that woman to take a flying leap off a tall building. Preferably somewhere where I would never have to see or hear from her again.

Just as I had that thought, I tripped on the seat in front of me, catching the toe of my foot on the metal rim, and pitched forward.

Luckily Ezra didn’t even break stride as he caught me up in his arms and continued to walk as if he didn’t just save me from taking a header into the older than dirt auditorium floor.

“Jesus Christ,” Coach Casper muttered underneath her breath. “Drama queen much?”

I tossed a glare over my shoulder at the woman who had come up to Ezra’s other side.

“Are y’all going to teacher night tonight at Poison Jacks?” she chattered as she walked along with us.

I gritted my teeth and started up a conversation with Camryn, who’d come up on the other side of me.

She’d arrived late, and Coach Casper had taken the spot that I’d saved her next to Coach Allic. Coach Allic, who had a major crush on my best friend and could barely speak when she was near.

It was honestly quite cute and made me feel bad that Camryn only had feelings for my brother—feelings that my brother most assuredly didn’t return.

“Hey, did you get assigned a new room like she said you might?” Camryn asked.

Thankful for the break in having to listen to Coach Casper’s annoying voice, I chattered with Ezra and Camryn as we made our way out the auditorium door.

The moment we were outside, I started for the usual area that my class was assigned to go to during emergency drills but came to a standstill when Ezra came to a bone-jarring halt—me being forced to stop as well or risk losing a limb since my hand was still in his.

“What are you doing?” I asked, confused.

That was when Ezra stopped and curved his arm around my neck, pulling me into his chest.

Camryn came to stand on my other side before Coach Casper could insinuate herself into the spot, and I was thankful that my best friend knew me so well.

“Coach Casper said that Poison Jacks was really good. Do you want to go?”

I could’ve happily killed Ezra in that moment.

It hadn’t escaped my knowledge that that woman was poisoning everything I’d worked so hard to achieve.

Not only was she after Ezra—a man that I’d had my eye on for so long that it should be weird how much I adored him—but she was now after not only my job but my life.

I couldn’t prove it, but I felt like something was off.

She was the sweetest person she could be when other people were around, but the moment that you only had Coach Casper—aka Crazy Cunt—she turned into the antichrist.

Seriously, there wasn’t a single redeeming quality about the woman that I could find.

“You did not just say that to me,” I growled.

Ezra’s brows went up. “I didn’t say that?”

“Ezra,” I breathed in and out deeply, trying to calm myself. “I freakin’ asked you to go there, and you goddamn said that it didn’t look like ‘your kind of place.’”

Ezra’s face cleared. “You said it was some pirate place.”