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She had time for something like that? I didn’t know her schedule, but she was the headmaster.
Brielle started to say more, but her phone rang. She had it clipped to her hip, and though she checked it, I noticed she didn’t answer it.
She silenced it once before it rang again, and this time, she unclipped it.
“Unfortunately, I find myself trying to balance two gigs at the present,” she said, silencing it again. She merely clipped the thing before it was ringing once more, but this time, she didn’t even look at it. Her head tilted. “But I would like to speak with you again and help. I have to pull an early day today due to my other job, but let’s make an appointment for you to come by the headmaster’s office. I’ll pull your file, and we’ll go over things. Come up with a plan for you?”
That sounded really cool actually. I hugged my sketchbook. “Sure. And thanks.”
“Of course. Tomorrow. First period? I’ll make sure you have a pass with whoever your teacher is. I’ll pull that off your file.”
Sounded good to me.
I said that was fine, and when her phone rang between us again, she ignored it and took my hand.
“Good to meet you, Sloane.”
“Good to meet you.”
“Yes. Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Perfect.” Her hand easing out of mine, she smiled quickly at Dorian. “See you.”
He lifted a hand to her, the woman stepping away. With her phone ringing, she finally answered it, and the door closed on her conversation when she slipped into the hall.
“No idea how she’s balancing it all.” Dorian pocketed his big hands. “I’m sure the mayor’s office needs her more than we do.”
“The mayor’s office? What does she do there?”
Dorian swung smoky irises in my direction. “What does she do?” he asked, laughing. He directed a thumb toward the door. “Uh, Brielle is the mayor of Maywood Heights.”
Um, what?
“Wolf didn’t tell you?” His chuckle hit the air. “You both spent all that time painting, and he never, not once, mentioned his mother was the mayor of our city?” His eyebrow arched. “Fucker gloats about that shit. Thinks it makes him king of the world.”
Or at least the prince of the city.
These boys really were royalty. I frowned. “We painted more than talked.”
“I guess so.” He weaved our fingers together. “Anyway, Brielle is here because she’s babysitting. After everything with Charlie, she wants to make sure we’re all okay, but she doesn’t have time at all to be here.” He shook his head. “But that’s how she is. She’s stubborn, and though my buddy won’t admit it, the apple doesn’t fall far.”
He didn’t need to admit it. He showed that shit. Once Ares put his mind to a thought or belief, that tended to be what stuck.
It had benefited me recently.
Dorian ran his hands down my shoulders. “You really haven’t thought about college or anything? What were your plans after you graduate?”
I was kind of focused on his hands on me. They made it hard to think, and I was definitely aware we hadn’t spent time in close proximity together since this last weekend. It’d been on purpose, excuses on my part. We had a lot of weight between us right now and…
My knuckles touched his chest. “Like I said, Bru and I moved around a lot. Didn’t think college was possible. We were poor. At least before Callum.”
Even then, his money wasn’t ours.
He checked in with my brother and me a few times a week, and though he was moving closer to us, we couldn’t forget our place. The man wasn’t our father, and regardless of how he’d been good to us.
Dorian’s hands left my shoulders after what I said, and his jaw shifted before he tipped my chin. “Well, I’d start thinking about it. This is your home, Noa Sloane, and you’re not going anywhere.”
