“Fuck a duck,” I muttered.
“That’s one way of putting it.”
He tossed his apron aside and then clasped my hand in his.
I didn’t bother telling him no.
I sat alone in the passenger seat of the truck, my phone pinging with texts that I refused to answer.
Archer had clocked me—completely and without smugness.That’s what pissed me off the most.And the fact that it hadn’t taken any time at all before my heart had gotten involved.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t blame my vagina.
This was all my heart’s doing.
I had feelings for Archer.And I was terrified that if I spent any more time around him, I’d no longer be able to pretend to be in the wading pool of emotion.No ...if I spent any more time around him, I’d dive right into the deep end ...
And drown.
The door to the school opened and Archer and Lenni strode outside.He carried her yellow backpack in one hand and with the other, he had his arm wrapped around her shoulders.She didn’t push him away.Instead, she stared down at her feet as she walked.
He opened the back passenger door, and she climbed in.Archer set her backpack down on the seat next to her and then closed the door.
I unbuckled my seat belt and turned so I could face her.She was staring out the window.Lenni looked pale.Paler than I’d ever seen her.
Archer climbed into the driver’s seat and lowered the heat.
“Someone want to tell me what’s going on?”I asked.
“The school suspended Lenni for a day,” he said.“She can return to school next Monday, after the long weekend.”
“So, what happened?”I asked.“Lenni?”
She sighed.“Some kid was teasing me.”
“About what?”I asked.
She was silent for so long that I thought she wasn’t going to say anything.“Uncle Brooks,” she said finally.“The kid was calling him all these ugly names and telling everyone in the class he was an ex-con.”
I winced and shot Archer a look.His expression was carefully neutral.
“So, then what happened?”I asked turning my attention back to her.
“I told Robby that he was a liar and that if he didn’t shut his mouth, I was going to shut it for him.He said he wasn’t scared of a girl.”She looked at me.“He is now.I gave him a black eye.”
“I see,” I murmured.
“I just couldn’t let him get away with badmouthing Unc like that,” she said.
Archer let out a slow exhale.“Fuck.”
Lenni’s eyes widened.
“Okay, so here’s the thing,” Archer said as he peered at his daughter.“Robby wasn’t lying.Your Uncle Brooks did time in prison.”
Lenni’s mouth gaped.“For what?”
“Christ,” Archer muttered.
