“I’ll be right back,” I tell Parker as I shoot to my feet. I can’t stride out of that stuffy auditorium fast enough. Once I hit the lobby, I pull in a deep breath of air, glad I’m not that close to the one outside source that confronts me. Too bad I can’t escape the truth so easily.
CHAPTER11
Kirsten
Jack grins as he brings the Volvo to a stop alongside the drop-off curb.
“Nice,” I say, unbuckling the passenger-side seatbelt.
“I didn’t bump the curb this time,” he says, “but I’m close enough that cars can pass us in the turning lane.”
“Exactly,” I applaud. “How does it feel, driving yourself to school?”
He nods. “Nice. It’ll feel better when I…” He glances at me, and I can sense that he doesn’t want to hurt my feelings.
“When you don’t have your mommy with you?”
“A little.” He laughs, flicks his bangs from his eyes, and unfastens his seatbelt. “But I’ll miss talking to you on the way to and from, for real.”
“I’ll miss it too. For real.” My eyes sting with the sudden emotion the topic stirs in me. “Well, you’re stuck driving with me for another ten and a half months,” I tell him.
“Yeah.” Jack climbs out and snatches his backpack off the back seat. I climb out too, meeting him in back of the car.
“Love you,” I say. “Have a good day.”
“You too.”
I spot Lenny heading up the walk. He lives across the street from the school, which would make picking him up pointless. But inwardly, I wonder how I can help him get his driving hours before he turns sixteen.
“Hey, Lenny,” I hear Jack holler as I climb in behind the wheel. “Dude,here comes Parker in his fancy Benz!” he says next.
I shoot a look at the rearview as a dart of discomfort rips through me.Not today, Wheaton.I reach for the pedals but fail since Jack has the seat back. Curse him and his long legs at this moment. I hunker down, lift the lever, and fling myself as far forward as it goes which is, as it turns out, way too far. Who cares? I just need to fasten my seatbelt and—
A round of knocks rap on my window.
A curse slips through my lips.
I glance up to see a hulking Beau standing outside my car. I give the down lever for my window the teeniest tiniest tap. It cracks open the slightest bit.
“Hmm?” I urge.
Beau gives me a flat look and tilts his head to one side. A minivan maneuvers around him. “You’re supposed to drop them off and leave,” a woman yells from her cab.
Beau blinks, refusing to speak until—I assume—I roll my window down more.
I do. “Yes?”
His brow furrows as his gaze fixes on my chest or the steering wheel; I can’t tell which.
“Can you even breathe with the wheel that close?”
I fish for the seatbelt but keep coming up short. Beau snags it and puts it in my hand.
I don’t thank him, only shift the clip to my right hand and attempt to shimmy the strap between my chest and the wheel. Trish’s double Ds wouldn’t allow her to even get this close. I manage to fasten my belt, but since I’m too proud to scoot the seat back in front of him, I look up like everything’s normal.
Beau leans down a little. “There’s something going on with your brake light. Pull into Sliders’ parking lot, and I’ll take a look at it.”
I give him a questioning look. “Why?”
