“You are not taking anything,” I grumbled. “She would not even want you.”
“Damn. Watch out, EJ,” Deke called before settling into the driver’s seat of his car. “Javier might fight you over that, seeing as he secretly wants her to himself.”
“I do not.” At least, I didn’t think so ...
Yes, Octavia was beautiful. Only a fool would deny that. I loved her hair—locs, as she called them—and how she styled them in a differenthairdo every other week. And I would never admit this, but I looked forward to seeing which style she wore next.
There was something fascinating about it, especially when she put those little hair jewels on them. Some days the jewels were gold. Other days they were silver. Either one made her brown skin pop. Made her seem ethereal, angelic.Untouchable.
Yes, untouchable.
Because shewasuntouchable.
She was my daughter’s nanny. There was no crossing that line. Ever.
Deke closed his door, then started the ignition of his Ferrari, causing it to growl to life. He crept forward in it, rolling his window down and looking between me and EJ. “I’ll see y’all later.”
“At the party, right?” EJ asked.
“No!” Deke said, then he peeled off and left the parking deck.
EJ twisted around. “Javier, my boy. Come to the party. Just this once. I promise it’ll be worth it.”
“Goodbye, EJ.” I gripped the handle of my car door. “I will catch you later.”
“Y’all never have any fun, man.” EJ scoffed and walked away.
I’d have felt bad for him, but nothing seemed to bother that guy. And it didn’t matter, because he spotted the next targets to harass about his party, our teammates Jacobi and Brantley.
As I drove out of the parking deck, my phone chimed in my pocket. I dug it out at a stoplight and saw a text from Octavia.
Octavia: Aleesa bumped heads with a classmate during dance. Big knot. Icing it now. She’s still a little upset.
“What?” I hissed.
Below her text, an image appeared of Aleesa’s forehead, with a raised red bump on the center. My heart dropped.
I dropped my phone into the cupholder and pressed my foot on the gas, hurrying home.
Five
Octavia
“Does it still hurt?” I removed the ice pack from Aleesa’s forehead, and she looked up at me with big green eyes.
She was in the process of eating a Popsicle, which was the only thing that had calmed her down when we made it home. She smiled up at me, licking away, and you’d think the accident had never happened.
When it did, though, my heart had sunk like a rock to my stomach. I saw it coming from a mile away but figured their instructor would catch the girls before they clashed. Unfortunately, this was one of those incidents where you can see something happening but by the time you react, it’s too late to prevent it.
“Not hurting.” Aleesa licked the Popsicle.
“Good. I’m just going to keep ice on it for now. Okay? You finish your Popsicle.”
“’Kay.”
I sat on one of the barstools as Aleesa remained perched on the island counter, still dressed in her white tights and black leotard. She looked so cute ... minus the knot.
Moments later, I heard the door to the garage open and then slam shut. Javier’s footsteps were heavy as he stepped around the corner, eyes wide and swimming with concern.
