“We don’t know that, Dad,” Will says.
Dad looks like a predator.No.Worse. He looks like a scavenger. A vulture.
“Oh, but I do. You know how I know?” He doesn’t wait for an answer. “Because I knowpeople. You don’t stay mayor of a town like Blue Ridge for decades without understanding how people work. Their desires, their dreams. More importantly, their fears.” He turns to Will. “You’d do well to remember that if you want to keep your position, Son.”
I shake my head. “You sound like a comic book villain right now.”
“Ridiculous,” he announces with a sweep of his hand. “You’re a Strong. We’re the heroes in this town. It’s in your blood. You lost your way, but you’ll find it again. All you have to do is tap into that person before you left. The one who knew people like I do. You knew how to work that girl like a puppet, didn’t you.” His chuckle is cold.
“Are you listening to yourself right now?” I push mychair away from the table and toss my cloth napkin onto my untouched food. “This is something you’re proud of me for? Being an asshole to a teenage girl?” I lean forward, meeting his eyes. “The worst parts of me are all your doing.”
“Watch your tone.”
I laugh, standing up. “Or what? You’ll cut me off? Deny me my inheritance?Disownme? You’ve played all your cards. You have nothing left.”
“Sawyer,” Will says as I round the table.
“Sorry, Brother.”
When I leave, I don’t give my dad the satisfaction of hearing me slam the door.
CHAPTER 21
BRIE
Alright.Fine. I might have accused Sawyer of something he didn’t do. Jumped to a conclusion. Treated himvery slightlyunfairly because of it.
But how was I supposed to know this was the first time ever when he wasn’t the asshole?
Dev confirmed Harvest asked him for Sawyer’s number. Not the other way around.
(Which is, by the way, extremely rude and insensitive. How she had the tits to ask a guy she’s dating for another guy’s number, I don’t know. But Dev has a heart of gold and when I asked him why he gave it to her, his white teeth appeared in his thick beard and he said, “Who am I to stand in the way of love?”)
However!I can say with a hundred percent confidence that Sawyer is still an irritating ass.
He’s in a bunny costume right now, talking to my students in a stupid voice, completely ignoring me.
Andyes, I know how that sounds. But he is absolutely one-hundred-percent, no-doubt-about-it ignoring me.
When I offered to offload the box of fidget toys fromhim, he turned his head away from me, and proceeded to fumble them in his bunny paws instead of accepting my help. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I justknowhe was looking at me when I offered—I could sense it.
What’s more, when he asked if anyone had any questions, and none of my students raised their hands, I spoke up and asked one to get the ball rolling. Like anice supportive teacherwould. Andonce again, he looked at me with those vacant bunny eyes before turning back to the students without answering the damn question.
It’s fucking infuriating!
I’m fuming by the time the Funny Bunny presentation is over and the final bell rings.
My rage fuels me as I wave the kids off at the pickup line, Funny Bunny doling out hugs at the far end.
And I am apoplectic as I trail through the empty school, smiling stiffly as the last teachers wave their goodbyes. Even the promise of meeting Tess at Jolly’s for a drink isn’t enough to cool me down.
So when I return to my classroom only to find him there, still in the stupid costume, gathering the props he left behind, I turn rabid.
“Hey!” I call out.
He freezes, just for a second. But it’s enough. I have him. He can’t pretend he didn’t hear me this time. I see him take a deep breath through the suit as he turns around to face me in the empty classroom.
Voice muffled, he says, “How can I help you, Ms. Casey?”
