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“Damn, look at you,” Kon murmurs. “You look like you’re gonna be sick. If it’s that bad, why don’t you just leave? Just let her do what she wants to do and come back home. She’s obviously happy.” He shrugs. “Maybe you should let her be.”
Chase makes a loud sound of disagreement. “I say, fuck that.” I dart my eyes to his just as his lips tip up. “Why should she get to be happy when you’re so fucking miserable?”
“I’m not–”
“You are, and don’t interrupt Daddy when I’m speaking—”
“Don’t call yourself Dad—”
“As I was saying,” he slowly hisses. “Don’t leave just to make her life easier.”
I roll my eyes. “Then what would you suggest?”
His grin is maniacal, reminding me so much of his sister. “Stay and make her life harder.”
“No,” Kon starts. “I don’t think that’s a good—”
“When will you all start learning not to interrupt me when I’m speaking? So rude.”
He jumps to his feet, tears a few hundreds out of his wallet and tosses them on the table.
“Thought they were paying you to eat here,” I scoff.
“Yeah, but the food sucked, and you talked about fucking your sister for an hour. They deserve some compensation.”
“She’s not my sister—”
“Anyways,” he waves me away, dismissing my protest, “I say, we make her life really fucking uncomfortable so she can know how it feels.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
I can’t believe I’m entertaining him, but the thought of Eve being uncomfortable and miserable makes me oddly giddy.
Chase grins and waggles his brows. “Let’s throw a party in Divinity like the good old times.”
“Come on, Clo,” I murmur. “You’ve got it.” I trace the numbers on the paper, watching her lips move as she silently tries to figure it out in her head. “Write it down.” She sighs, but lifts her pencil to scribble the problem down, her tongue slipping between her teeth as she concentrates.
Leaning back, I tug my fingers through my curls, catching tangles the entire way down. Clover usually isn’t here this late, but with Willa working overtime, she has no one to pick her up, and I’d rather her not walk home at night. Even if Divinity is a small town, it’s not immune to creeps. I should know that better than anyone.
So, I’m waiting until I’ve worked up the courage to ask Roman to take her home. Her foster mother will have a heart attack if she finds out that Clover was riding on the back of a motorcycle, but, apparently, he doesn’t have a car. And since I don’t have one, I can’t drive her.
Maybe I can call Oli and ask her.
“I got it, Ms. Evie,” Clover quietly says, drawing my attention. I blink, realizing I’d been staring at the wall.
“Sorry,” I mutter, giving her a guilty look. “My mind is all over the place tonight.”
“It’s okay.” I smile. She’s too sweet for her own good. I quickly scan the paper, double checking her work before nodding proudly.
“You might not need tutoring anymore if you keep this up.” I tap on the paper, and a hidden smile curves her lips. “Or maybe you’ll take my job.” Leaning toward her, I bump her shoulder with mine, letting out a small laugh so she knows I’m teasing her.
“Don’t know about that,” she says, tucking her hair behind her ear. As soon as she got here, I took her braid out, letting her scalp have a break. I’d never seen anyone look so grateful, and it broke my heart.
I don’t know how to help her, how to get her away from that woman. I don’t know what all goes on at her house, but I can imagine it’s not good. If Willa is as bad as she is in public, how is she at home, when no one’s watching? How that woman ever became a foster parent is beyond me.
I make a mental note to talk to Isaac about it. He’ll know what to do.
My heart dips at the thought of him. I haven’t talked to him much since he’s been gone. He doesn’t like texting, and he’s always too busy to talk on the phone, so our conversations are brief, if they happen at all.
