I bit back the, Who the fuck are you I wanted to say and glanced at the clock. It was exactly five minutes after midnight. As long as I made it home within fifteen minutes of midnight, Mike and Judy never had a problem with it.
“Sorry, my shift ran a little late.”
“Don’t let it happen again,” he barked.
I sized him up. Short but bulky. Probably in his twenties. Could already tell he had a complex and would use what power he held over me to make him feel like a bigger man.
Just what I needed.
“Yes, sir,” I said. I mentally patted myself on the back for keeping the sarcasm out of my voice. “I’m Roman by the way.”
“I know who you are,” he sneered.
Okay. “And you are…?”
“Jason. The new weekend counselor.”
Great. So I’d be seeing more of this asshole.
He jerked his head toward the stairs. “Get to bed. You need to be up early tomorrow. It’s chore day.”
“I have to work at noon.”
“Not my problem.”
Fuck him. I wasn’t missing a shift. My schedule had already been approved by the counselors and my caseworker. But I bit my tongue. No sense getting this jackass riled up now. I’d deal with it tomorrow.
“Look, it’s golden boy,” Sam taunted at the top of the stairs.
“Isn’t it past your bedtime, Squire?” I shot back.
“Was waiting up to see if the new guy reamed you out.”
I glanced behind me, sure I’d find Jason hot on my tail. He wasn’t. “What a dick. Where’d he come from?”
For a minute Sam dropped the attitude and we were allies. Two inmates vs. the warden. “Don’t know. But he’s a prick for sure. Came down hard on everyone at dinner. Sent us upstairs at nine. On a fucking Friday.”
“What bullshit,” I growled. “Who’d he replace?”
“Ozzie failed a drug test. So I guess whoever is higher up on the food chain is taking a harder look at this house now. That’s why Officer Time Clock was sent here.”
“Fuck.” Not what I needed just when I had managed to carve out such a sweet set-up for myself. I wanted to stay off this guy’s radar.
To thank him for the information, I handed over one of the two packs of Twizzlers I’d brought home for Pip and said good night.
“You awake, Pip?” I whispered as I stepped into our room.
He flicked on his flashlight, the light nearly blinding me. I shut the door behind me quickly.
“Heard it was an exciting night.”
A few sad sniffles were his only response.
“You okay, Pip?”
“Yeah,” he answered.
“Brought you something.” I walked closer to his bed and waved the candy at him.
He snatched it out of my hand, immediately tearing into the wrapper.
“Don’t you want to wait until tomorrow?”
“No. Officer Hard Ass will probably confiscate it.”
“True.”
All night long I tossed and turned, worrying over what trouble this new change would bring to my life.
Thirty-Five
Juliet
I couldn’t miss the tension in Roman’s shoulders when he finally showed up for work.
“What happened?”
“Don’t ask.” He brushed me off. Roman had never brushed me off.
“Hey.” I grabbed his arm and tried to turn him to face me, but he might as well have been made of stone. His shoulders dropped and he took a deep breath before turning around. “Sorry, butterfly.” He reached out and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “Bad night. Bad morning. There’s a new weekend counselor who has made it his mission to make our lives miserable.”
“Oh no.” Damn. Things were going so well for Roman. This was the last thing he needed. “Just the weekends, though, right?”
“So far.”
“You all right, son?” Ulfric’s big voice boomed over the parking lot. He came up next to Roman and clapped him on the back.
“I’m so sorry, sir. The house—”
“I got your message. No worries.” He nodded toward the lawn. “Grass ain’t goin’ anywhere.”
“Thanks, Ulfric. Appreciate it.”
“I feel for you, kid. Living under someone’s thumb ain’t right. Been avoiding it my whole life.”
Ulfric frequently broke into long rambles about the “outlaw life” and “riding the wind.” His were more colorful versions of the stories Uncle Dex gave when anyone asked him why he didn’t work a regular nine-to-five.
When I’d asked Roman why Ulfric ran a business if he hated rules so much, he’d explained that most likely Ulfric used the drive-in theater and ice cream shop to launder money since they were cash-based businesses.
A customer pulled up in front of the ice cream shop and I waved to Roman and Ulfric before taking off.
A few hours and what felt like a thousand sticky ice cream cones later, Roman snuck up behind me. His strong arms wrapped around my middle and pulled me against his chest. He buried his face against my neck. “Sorry I was a prick earlier,” he murmured against my ear.
“It’s okay.”
He turned me around. “No it’s not. You’re the only good thing in my life.”
“I’m always here for you, Roman. I wish I could do…something.”
“Just knowing you love me gets me through, Juliet.”
Tears pricked my eyelids. For someone so hard on the outside, he said the sweetest things.
“Do you mind leaving a few minutes early tonight? This clown busted me for being five minutes late last night. I don’t wanna put up with his bullshit again.”
“Of course.” Damn, if we hadn’t stopped to fool around he would’ve been home on time.
He didn’t send me the usual home safe text that night and I lay awake worrying until morning.
Thirty-Six
Roman
The first week of school was finally here and the home was utter chaos.
I marveled at the fact that I’d be starting the new school year at the same school that I’d ended the last one with. It had to be a first for me. Maybe I’d make it all the way through to graduation.
Maybe wasn’t an option. There was no way I’d leave Juliet.
Pip couldn’t contain his excitement. He couldn’t wait to finally start high school. He’d found a navy-blue polo and pair of tan pants that looked like a Catholic School uniform. I shook my head and handed him his new backpack.
Jackass Jason—as all the kids in the house now called him—had picked up more shifts in the house. He drove us to school on the first day.
Pip was unusually quiet on the way to school. Maybe the reality of attending a school where more assholes like Sam Squire probably roamed the halls was finally sinking in.
I leaned over and spoke against his ear. Low enough that only he would hear what I had to say. “I got your back, kid. You’re gonna be fine.”
Finally, he smiled and seemed to relax.
Juliet waited for me at our usual table in the back of the cafeteria. I kissed her senseless before setting her down and introducing her
to Pip.
He blinked up at her completely in awe.
“I’m so happy to finally meet you, Phillip,” she gushed. She reached out, pulling him into a sisterly hug, which Pip surprisingly accepted.
“All right, that’s enough of that,” I said, breaking them up.
She snorted at me and returned to her seat. I took the chair next to her. Under the cover of the table, I put my hand on her leg, running it beneath the loose dress she was wearing until I gripped her thigh. Her body automatically responded to my touch. Her legs inched apart and I dared to brush my knuckles against her core.
Her entire body quivered and she took in a shuddering breath. “Roman,” she warned in a low voice. “Don’t.”
“What are you doing?” Pip asked, ducking under the table.
“Get out of there.” I reached over and tapped him on the back.
Juliet covered her mouth and laughed.
“I need you. Soon,” I whispered in her ear.
Her lashes fluttered.
The magnetic pull to her never lessened. I’d spent the entire summer mapping the contours of her body, knowing her in the most intimate ways possible. Still, my desire for her never went away. It was always there, crackling under my skin when she was near.
Focus.
It was time to settle down and wrap my mind around school work again. For the hundredth time this week, Juliet and I compared our schedules. I wouldn’t see much of her in the morning, but we managed to have the same lunch period and shared all of our afternoon classes.
She reached over and plucked Pip’s schedule out of his hands. “Do you want me to show you where your classes are?” she asked.
Did Pip want the prettiest girl in the school to show him around? Of course he did. He slowly bobbed his head up and down.
The bell rang. I kissed her cheek and wished Pip luck before heading to my first class.