“Yeah. I get it.” He pushed to his feet. “You’ve been fair. Thank you.” He stuck out his hand, and she shook it firmly.
“Connor’s waiting in the atrium. I can take you there.”
“I know the way. Thanks.”
When he reached the high-ceilinged greenhouse down the hall—all glass and flowering plants and even a tinkling fountain, Logan found Connor tossing stones from a rock garden into the pool of water. Two stone fish were twisted together in the middle, water spouting out of their open mouths.
Connor didn’t turn, instead plonking a rock right at one of the fish heads. His navy uniform jacket was stretched tightly across his narrow shoulders, gray pants a bit too short.
If he gets kicked out, I guess I don’t have to pony up for new uniforms.
That wasn’t much of a silver lining. “Hey,” Logan said, jamming his fists in his pockets. Shit, he never knew what to say to this kid.
Connor ignored him, bending to scoop up more rocks. Logan stood there and let him finish that handful before he said, “Are you going to knock off the crap you’ve been pulling? You’re smarter than this.”
Another rock dinged off the stone fish’s head. “You don’t know anything about me. You’re not my father.”
“I know. But I’m…” Logan didn’t know. In the eyes of Ms. Patel, he was a single dad, and he felt like such a fake. But he was all the kid had left.
“You’re just the asshole loser my mom married because she hated being alone.”
It shouldn’t have hurt, yet Logan’s chest tightened the way it did when he exerted himself too much, his breath coming short. Right now it was completely in his head, and he reminded himself of that as he forced in a gulp of air. He was sorely tempted to leave Connor to his sulking misery, but he had to be the grown-up.
“You took forever to show up.” Connor turned, narrowing his dark gaze. The kid was maybe five-two, a full foot shorter than Logan and probably a hundred pounds soaking wet. Still, he internally cringed as Connor sized him up. “Bet you were hungover.”
Logan breathed out evenly, ignoring the tug in his chest. I’m the adult here. He doesn’t really know me at all. “I wasn’t hungover. I had to borrow Jenna’s car. Mine’s in the shop.”
“Sure. Bet you were out late screwing sluts, just like you were before my mom died.”
“Hey!” Logan clenched his jaw, imagining they were being watched through all the glass windows, the heat of hidden eyes crawling on his skin. He gritted out, “First off, don’t use that word. Second, I never cheated on your mother. Never.”
Connor muttered, “Yeah, right.”
“I didn’t.” Christ, he’d barely jerked off since she died. Didn’t even wake up to morning wood anymore—even his dick knew how useless he was. “Listen to me—”
“Why?” Connor’s sandy hair was a shaggy mess over his ears, which was probably a dress code violation or something. Was Logan supposed to take him to get his hair cut?
Connor’s lip curled as Logan stayed silent. “You’re such an idiot. No wonder you barely graduated high school.”
Logan didn’t argue for his own intelligence since the kid had a point. Look at the mess Logan had made of his life. But he was all Connor had, so he stood there and took it.
Veronica had loudly questioned his faithfulness a few months before she died. Logan didn’t really blame her—he’d stayed out later and later to avoid their fights about everything from doing the dishes to which way to put the damn toilet paper. She’d assumed the worst about his absences, although he wasn’t a cheater.
In the small house, of course Connor had heard all their shouting matches. Logan wanted to comfort Connor in his grief—their grief—but everything was poisoned between them. He had no clue how to fix it.
Summoning patience, Logan unclenched his hands. He spoke calmly but firmly—the way the parenting vids he’d watched on YouTube advised. “Listen to me. They’re going to expel you.”
Connor rolled his eyes. “They won’t go through with it. No way.”
“They will. You’re here on their good graces, and they’ve had enough of your shit. Ask Ms. Patel. You could have put that kid in the hospital with your prank. Why would you drop your bag like that?”
With a jerk of a shrug, Connor said, “Dunno. To see what would happen.” He added defensively, “No one was down there when I let go! Then stupid Tim walked out.”
“You know it wasn’t his fault. But listen—Ms. Patel told me you’re out if you don’t get a B on your exams and stop acting up. This is serious. They’re going to expel you. She told me to look into other schools.”
Connor’s perma-scowl evaporated as his brown eyes went wide. In a heartbeat, he looked so fucking young, his voice breaking. “Really? She said that?”