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It was hard to be in the shadows, looking in while everyone else moved to a different beat all around you.
I couldn’t tell you how many times that I’d wished it was me sitting beside Ezra and not the captain of the cheerleaders, Sonny Sharlin. I’d watched them go to prom and homecoming. I’d watched him give her a massive mum and her wear it with pride. I’d been that weird girl that sat outside to eat her lunch—if she even ate at all.
So yes, I knew that Morgan felt like an outsider. I saw the girl that sat on the stairs during lunch instead of joining the kids at the picnic tables in the courtyard.
I was them not so long ago.
“If you need anything, or think he needs to talk to a man…you can let me know. I’m more than willing to help.”
I smiled a little bit sadly. “I’ll be sure to let you know if he ever requests it.”
Which he wouldn’t.
I’d be lucky if Morgan ever said a word to me about anything that was concerning him.
After today, I knew that I was going to have to watch him a little bit better, too.
I didn’t trust that look in his eyes.
Not even a little bit.
“Okay.” He smiled and finally let go of my wrist.
I looked down at my hand and wondered if the feeling of heat and comfort surrounding that small part of my body would ever feel the same again. I was betting not.
I was touched, willingly, by Ezra McDuff.
I would’ve snickered had that not been my fantasy.
The poor guy had no clue that he’d just given me the world.
He was paying attention to me, and I wasn’t embarrassing myself—being the reason he was paying attention.
Win-win.
His eyes changed. “Do you want to…”
“Hey, Coach!” Coach Casper called from the break room. “Do you want some coffee to go?”
When Ezra turned, so did I.
Who was I kidding? I’d never be anything more than a last resort.Chapter 5I’m into fitness. Fitness taco into my mouth.
-T-shirt
Ezra
“You do know, right, that the teacher that took over your sex-ed class is absolutely terrified to be in there with us, right?”
I looked over at my nephew. “No. What are you talking about?”
“Just come watch her today. You’ll see. She’s like a tiny mouse in a room full of tomcats.”
I frowned as I poured my coffee, wondering what exactly he was speaking about.
She’d been covering my sex-ed class for a while now. Months. And she still hadn’t gotten used to it?
“Okay,” I paused. “Are you planning on taking your gear or do you want me to bring it with me like I did last time?”
Grady came into the kitchen before Johnson could answer and glared at me. “I made that coffee for me, fucker.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s my coffee pot.”
Grady grunted and then pulled the coffee pod out of the Keurig and tossed it into the trash at the end of the counter. Moments later, he took another fresh pod out of the stand underneath the coffee pot and inserted it before turning to me.
“If you don’t want to bring his gear, I will,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “I have to come pick up Moira from school around three, and then I can drop it off.” He leveled his son with a look. “If he’s got it ready to go that is.”
Johnson set his bowl down into the sink. “Of course, I have it ready to go, Dad.”
Then he calmly walked out of the room.
I snorted.
“Ten bucks says he hasn’t even pulled it out of the washer yet,” I commented.
“Ten bucks says it’s still just as dirty right now as the day he took it off and threw it on the floor in his room after his game,” Grady countered.
I snorted.
He was going to lose that one. Mostly because when I’d seen my sister pick up his room, I’d given her my laundry to do, too.
“I saw his mother picking up his floor for him,” I explained.
“What’s this hullabaloo about a teacher being a chicken and your sex-ed class?” he asked, sighing when his cup of coffee finally finished brewing.
I took a sip of my own coffee. “I asked for my sex-ed class to be taken over due to them tossing more responsibilities when it came to field maintenance on my shoulders. They found another teacher to take over the class. Johnson was saying that she’s scared to teach it.”
Just saying it sounded as ridiculous as it was.
Who would be scared to teach a sex-ed class? It was basic. Something that every single person in the world should know, even young, stupid kids in high school.
“Who is this teacher?” he asked.
I found myself smiling. “Her name is Raleigh…”
“Crusie,” Grady finished for me. “Holy shit. I haven’t heard about her in a long time. Since when does she work at the school?”
