He hands me another fry dipped in ketchup and I take it. “Because I’ve known them since I was five, and we live on the same street. Habit, I guess.” He shrugs a shoulder.
I give him a nod and we leave it at that and get to work. A half hour later and while in the middle of going over SAS and SSS theorems, we both look over when someone clears his throat. My stomach drops.
It’s JD’s dad. And he’s by himself.
Fuck.
“Hey, Mr. Hallstead.” Austin reaches over to shake his hand.
JD mentioned in one of our late-night talks that Austin’s dad and his dad were friends. That friendship never carried over to their sons.
“Surprised to see you here, Austin,” Mr. Hallstead says while looking around the diner. You can see by his slight sneer that he does not think highly of where I work. Why is he here then? Clearly not for Pete’s meatloaf special.
“Rory is my math tutor. Have to keep the grades up for football.”
The man actually smiles when Austin says that. “Good for you. I wish JD took things more seriously.” He looks directly at me. “Instead, he’s staying out all night and messing around. From the way he’s been playing the past couple of weeks, you can tell it’s affecting his game.”
I’m struck dumb when Austin comes to JD’s defense. “JD’s the best player on our team, not to mention our captain. We wouldn’t be number one in our district without him.”
Mr. Hallstead’s sneer grows as he stares at me. “Austin, I apologize about the interruption, but may I borrow Miss St. Claire for a minute?”
His sneer is contagious because now I have it. “Miss St. Claire is sitting right here, so why don’t you ask me directly?”
Oh, he so did not like that. His eyes narrow but he asks, “May I have a private word with you, Aurora?”
My first name coming from his lips has a shiver of dread racing down my spine. “I’m kind of in the middle of tutoring Austin.”
Austin gets up from the booth. “It’s okay. I need to use the restroom anyway.”
As he walks off and Mr. Hallstead sits down across from me, I want to shout at Austin to not leave me alone with this man.
Mr. Hallstead leans over the booth table. He looks me up and down. It’s not a nice inspection. He makes me feel like I’m a pile of shit that he stepped in.
“I won’t waste a second of your time. Stay the hell away from my son.”
Is this guy kidding me? “I can’t do that.”
His voice drops lower. “Youwilldo just that, Miss St. Claire.”
I very much want to correct him and say that I’m Miss Montgomery.
I lean over and meet him glare for glare. “If you think you can intimidate me, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”
“Ever since my son started seeing you, he has lost sight of his goals and his future. I will not stand by and let that happen. Trust me, Aurora, you will not like the consequences if you cross me.”
Did he just threaten me? I’m about to go off on him when Austin returns to the table.
“I guess I best be leaving,” Mr. Hallstead abruptly says, leaving my head spinning. He pats Austin on the back in goodbye and walks away. He turns suddenly before he gets to the door. “Remember what I said, Miss St. Claire.”
“Why do I feel like I missed something important in the past two minutes?” Austin asks as I look out the large diner window and track Mr. Hallstead to his Mercedes.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell him and rush to the ladies’ room.
I call JD.
“Hey, sunshine. You off work early?”
“Your dad was just here.”
