I sighed. That was not the message I’d hoped he’d give.
“Mr. Fletcher,” I said sharply.
He swung around, giving me a sheepish look. “Uh… I mean… Don’t fight. Bullies aren’t worth the jail time.”
“Oh my god,” I groaned. I regretted inviting him here now.
To both our surprise, Jasper snickered at my reaction and when I looked at him, he no longer looked ready to hurt himself or someone else. He looked a little tired, which was normal after an adrenaline crash, but better than before. It was a small improvement.
“Well, as I’m sure Jasper explained to you, I caught him having a confrontation with another student today. It took some doing, but I managed to keep him from being expelled or suspended for the time being. I won’t be able to do it a second time, so I need you to take this seriously, Jasper. If someone angers you to the point you want to hit them, walk away. One more fight, and you’ll be removed from the school. Understand?”
His expression clouded, but he nodded in agreement. “Yeah, okay.”
I chose to believe he was being truthful, but added just in case he didn’t realize how serious his actions were today, “I’m going to ask that your guardian join us for the rest of the week. You were warned of the consequences of your actions the last time we had a meeting like this. A few days with your guardian shadowing you seems like an apt punishment.”
Jasper’s head whipped up, eyes wide with horror. “Wait. What?”
Elias nodded slowly. “I can pull that off. The jobs I’ve got for this week are all for guys on my crew, and they aren’t gonna give me bad reviews if I postpone. Can I bring Isla or do I need a sitter?”
Jasper gaped at his cousin, like he hadn’t truly thought Elias would follow through. “What?”
“A sitter might be best,” I replied, pressing my lips together to hide my smile when I noticed the twinkle in Elias’s eyes. He thought the punishment was funny. It would certainly be one for the record books.
“Hold on,” Jasper spluttered. “You were serious about that?”
“Serious as a live wire, my friend,” Elias said, a sly grin spreading across his face. “Haven’t been in school for a long while. Do I gotta raise my hand to ask questions?”
“Yes, same as everyone else,” I replied, chuckling when Jasper groaned and slumped against his desk. That, at least, was normal preteen boy dramatics. He’d get over it.
“You’d better brush up on your math skills, Elias. You aren’t exempt from classwork either.”
That made Jasper sit up, a wicked grin spreading across his face. Meanwhile, it was Elias’s turn to look horrified. Maybe this punishment would be more fun than I expected.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ZERO
I took Jasper home early after our meeting with Simone. He was beat and I could tell the shit the bully said ate at him. I wasn’t sure what exactly bothered him most, but I didn’t see the harm in taking the afternoon off. I brought him with me on the afternoon job I had lined up, figuring he could play with Isla while I worked. Besides, the job was at Butch’s place, and he needed to meet the man and Skylar since she’d be the one I’d be asking to watch Isla while I followed Jasper around school.
Pulling into the shop parking lot, I twisted to look over my shoulder at him. “I got a job to do. After that, we’ll head home and you can have a break, yeah?”
He seemed too worn out to fight me like usual. He just nodded, unbuckling a sleepy Isla and pulling her into his arms. I bit back a smile. Pretty sure he’d be pissed if he knew how cute I thought it was whenever those two cuddled. I kept those thoughts to myself.
I grabbed my tools and the diaper bag, leading the way into the shop and holding the door open for Jasper as we steppedinside. He looked around warily, but there wasn’t anything to see. It was a mechanic’s shop. We went in through the front, where a few customers were sitting around waiting for their cars, and through the window to the shop floor were guys working on cars. Nothing to worry about.
“Come on. Mama Bear is in back. Pretty sure there’s a couch in the office she uses for nap time. We can put Isla down for her nap.”
Skylar ran the books for Butch’s shop, kept shit organized, that kind of thing. I was pretty sure she did the same for a few of the other guys’ businesses. I’d yet to ask her to do mine, I didn’t have so many clients that I needed the help, but when I stepped into the back office, I couldn’t help the low whistle that escaped me.
“Damn, Mama Bear. You know how to whip a place into shape.”
She looked up from her desk, a smirk on her face. “It's what I do. Need me to watch the little one while you work? Ryder is with Butch so the portable crib is free.”
I glanced at the corner of the office, which was all baby shit, including a playpen that doubled as a crib. I hadn’t expected that, I figured I’d put Isla on the couch and have Jasper sit with her so she didn’t roll off. It was a convenient set up.
“That’d be nice, yeah. It’s nap time for her.”
Mama Bear nodded. “We just finished nap time ourselves. Go ahead and lay her down. I’ll stay back here with her.”
