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The moment I made it to my afternoon class, I knew the day was only going to get more complicated.
“Hey, Lena,” Jackson greeted me, a wicked grin on his face.
Freaking great.
18
JACKSON
Something is wrong with her.
I couldn’t put my finger on what it was—and maybe it was just that she wasn’t stoked to see me in her classroom again—but still, Lena was acting…off. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes, and the way she moved around the classroom made it seem like she was carrying a ton of bricks on her shoulders.
“Are you gonna sing us another song?” one of the kids called out to me, a big smile on his face. “I like it when you sing us songs.”
I shrugged, looking over to Lena. “You’ll have to ask Miss Harris.”
She smiled. “Sure. If he’d like to play a song, then he’s more than welcome to.” Lena addressed the little boy rather than me.
I nodded, grabbing the guitar from the stand. “I’ll play you all a song. We’ll give Miss Harris a break from all the hard work she does.” I shot her a smile, but she didn’t return it. Instead, she just kind of didn’t frown and made her way back to her desk, leaving me with a group of twenty little humans.
Cool. She’s definitely having a bad day.
I took a deep breath, trying not to stare at her ass in those black skinny jeans as she walked away. I turned back to the kids, smiling. “So…how’s your day been?”
The group, all sitting cross-legged on the carpet, began to talk at one time—and I couldn’t make out anything they were saying. But damn, it was so endearing to see them so excited to talk about their day.
I bet it’d be fun to have kids.
The thought was startling, so I cleared my throat and pushed it away. “So, what song do you want me to play? And raise your hand to answer. I’ll call on you.”
I swear all the hands went up in the air, and I chuckled, ignoring the camera right in my face. They’d sent me here with just one cameraman—and that was a relief, though what I had to talk to Lena about…
Yeah, that was not a relief.
“I think you should play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” a blonde-headed girl said in the back row. “I’ve been singing that song for, like, ever.”
“Alright, I’ll keep that one in mind,” I said, then pointed to the next kid. “What about you? What do you think I should sing?”
“I think you should sing that song with Miss Harris again.” The little boy beamed. “It was just so pretty. My dad thinks Miss Harris is a really good singer and she’s hot too.”
I blinked a couple of times. “Okay then.” I glanced over my shoulder at Lena, who was only shaking her head. I bet she got that a lot from the dads in the school. She was fucking drop-dead gorgeous…even when she was having a bad day.
“Can we sing something fun? Like Barbie Girl or something?” A girl chimed in from the back.
“Ew, no!” A boy beside her nearly fell over. “He’s not gonna sing that. That’s a girl song.”
Oh shit. Don’t argue.
“Let’s just go with Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” I said quickly, warding off the fight before it ever began. I didn’t know how to handle kids going at it. That would end in a disaster…
And Lena would probably laugh the whole time.
Then again, I wasn’t sure anything could make her laugh.
“Thanks for coming again today,” Melissa said to me hours later as the cameraman packed up his gear. “You’re welcome back anytime—and we mean that.”
“Yeah, for sure. I really enjoy it,” I admitted, not even having to lie. My eyes drifted toward Lena, and I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “Is she okay?”
