It was Butch’s idea to switch to paper for a while. He mentioned it at the BBQ when I started complaining about howbeat I was. He somehow managed to keep his head on straight with four kids and continue with his job as sergeant at arms, so I figured it was best to do whatever he said. He had a lot more chaos in his household than I did.
Speak of the devil, my phone rang and his name popped up on the screen when I fished it out of my pocket. I put it against my ear, using my shoulder to keep hold of it while I put away the leftovers.
“Yeah?”
“Hey. Got a minute?”
He sounded serious, so I excused myself and stepped into the backyard, leaving the door cracked so I could hear if Isla started fussing while giving us some privacy.
“What’s up, man?”
I really hoped he wasn’t about to demand I go to the clubhouse. Jasper wouldn’t allow me to bring Isla and after overhearing his plan the other night, I wasn’t comfortable leaving the two of them alone. I understood he was just trying to protect her, but if he got it into his head to take her now and try to make it on their own, he could put them both at serious risk.
“We’ve got trouble brewing. Wraith is pretty sure he caught a partial on one of the guys in the crew causing trouble. Looks like Battle’s crew.”
Sucking in a breath, I straightened abruptly. “What the hell? Why would he be here?”
“Don’t know yet. Could be that he wants to cause trouble in retribution for the insult of Prez turning him down. Might also be that they want to chase us out. Either way, it’s not good. I know you’ve got a lot on your plate right now, but keep an eye out. And maybe make sure your kid knows who to avoid. He hasn’t been introduced to the whole club yet, and Battle strikes me as the kind of asshole who wouldn’t think twice about using a little kid to cause trouble.”
My stomach twisted at the thought. Hopefully, Jasper would avoid anyone with a vest thinking he was avoiding my crew, but I’d need to be upfront with the kid. He was already in trouble at school. I didn’t want him getting anywhere near Battle’s crew too.
“Thanks for letting me know. Do I need to come in?”
“Nah. You’ve got enough to deal with right now. I’ll have Rooster keep you updated, but I figured it was better coming from me than him to start.”
Yeah, no shit. I might’ve thought he was screwing with me if Rooster had called. Little shit couldn’t stay serious to save his life.
“Got it. Let me know if you need anything from me. I’ll talk to Jasper, make sure he steers clear.”
We hung up after saying goodbye and I stepped back into the kitchen just in time to watch Jasper growl and shove the papers away from him. “Why does it fucking matter? This is stupid!”
For the first time since we met, my patience wavered. “Hey! We don’t talk to women like that,” I snapped. “You can do that shit with me all you want, but you show your teacher some respect.”
“Or what?” Jasper challenged.
I narrowed my eyes. I wasn’t going to threaten him with a belt or something like my old man did, that wouldn’t do shit to help us get on even ground. I wouldn’t lay a hand on him anyway, so the threat would be empty and he’d figure it out pretty damn quick. But I couldn’t let him keep acting like that either. I didn’t want him to end up getting kicked out of school. There was only one in the damn town and I couldn’t homeschool him. There’d be a lot of shit that would happen if he got kicked out, none of it he’d like.
“You either start acting right, or I’m becoming your new shadow. Everywhere you go, I’ll be right there. No more lockingyour door or spending time alone. School? I’ll be sitting right beside you. I don’t care how embarrassing it’d be. I’ll be on you like white on rice until you shape up and start acting better. It’s your choice.”
Jasper’s jaw dropped. My response wasn’t what he expected. Hell, I basically came up with it on the fly. I couldn’t take his phone, not when it made him feel better about being away from Isla. I couldn’t ground him to his room, he basically lived in there full time if he wasn’t at school. What other kind of punishment was there? I figured it’d embarrass him enough to have me follow him around that he’d second guess acting like an ass.
“You wouldn’t,” Jasper tried, though some of the fire had left his tone.
“Try me,” I shot back. I was fully ready to follow through too. I’d strap Isla to my chest and follow him around for however long it took to get him to realize I was serious. And if I couldn’t be there, I’d send one of the guys to take my place. He’d figure out sooner or later that I wasn’t going to back down.
Jasper’s eyes darted to Simone, like he was looking for backup from her. She just raised her eyebrow in response. “It’s allowed. I’m sure Principal Montenegro would be glad to have him if it meant keeping you out of trouble. And it’s entirely up to you. If you don’t want him there, you know exactly what you need to do to prevent it.”
He was trapped and he knew it. Either he cooled off and started acting right or he accepted my presence. Either way, I wasn’t going anywhere.
With a frustrated growl, he slumped in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. Simone didn’t let his mood bother her, using her pen to drag the papers back in front of Jasper and tapping them lightly.
“Start from the beginning, Jasper. I think you understand it more than you believe.”
He grumbled and growled through the lesson, but eventually finished the assessment. He was out of his chair like a shot when Simone released him, only pausing long enough to grab Isla when she reached for him before storming off. I watched him go with a sigh. That kid had walls higher than the great wall of china. These next few years were going to be insane.
Simone hummed, drawing my attention back to her. She was looking over Jasper’s paper and the look on her face made me curious.
“What?”
