I arch a brow at her and then flex my pecs.
Fuck, really, Rhonan? Some might call that flirting, which is a far cry from trying to ignore the woman like you planned on.
“Daddy?” Ellis calls from a few feet away, but I’m still staring at my neighbor, a problem that’s getting worse with each passing day.
“Yes, Ellis?”
The hose turns on again and hits me square in the face. “I will never surrender!” she screams as her laughter rings out again.
And even though I’m back to fighting for my life, I can’t stop thinking about the way Vienna was looking at me.
How the hell is that supposed to help me keep the distance between us when I’m the one who insisted on it in the first place?
Chapter 10
Vienna
Memories, Gossip, & Rocks
“Ms. Lewis!” Kara, one of the girls in my class, comes running up to me on the playground. “Johnny won’t stop chasing me.”
I look over at the blacktop where Johnny is waiting for Kara to return. From what I’ve seen, he seems to love pushing the other kids’ buttons. Focusing back on Kara, I crouch down so we’re at eye level. “Maybe you should trynotrunning from him.”
She looks at me quizzically. “Why?”
“Because if you don’t run, then he can’t chase you.”
Her head tilts to the side as she ponders my advice and then she shakes her head. “No, that sounds boring.” Before I can reply, she takes off and races right past Johnny, leading him to chase her again.
Stacey—the only person I’d consider a friend that I’ve made in this town so far, mostly because we see each other every day at work—walks up to me, playing with the lanyard around her neck. “Was Kara telling on Johnny for chasing her?”
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Oh, it’s their routine. I’m surprised you haven’t gotten a glimpse of it sooner.”
I think back to the past few weeks, but much of it has become a blur. Between teaching, trying to train Roscoe, and attempting to ignore Rhonan but failing miserably, I’m running on fumes. “Well, now that you mention it, I do think I remember a similar exchange last week.”
“I’m telling you, she’ll come up to you again at least one more time before the week is over complaining about him chasing her, only to go right back to running around with him.” Stacey shakes her head. “Some girls get sucked into patterns at a young age, I guess.”
Part of me wants to snap back at Stacey for her judgment, but that would mean opening up about my own toxic patterns and how hard I’ve fought to overcome them. Instead, I shrug. “They’re only kids.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. But I just think about how many times I was told as a kid that if a boy is mean to me, that means he likes me. If I only knew what a crock of shit that was back then, it could have saved me a few bouts of heartache, you know what I mean?”
Sighing, I nod. “Yeah. I really do.”
Ellis walks up to me now, holding several rocks in her hands. “Ms. Lewis?”
“Yes, Ellis?”
“Can I put these in my backpack, please?”
“Um, you still have about seven minutes left of recess, sweetie.”
The rocks tumble from her hands and onto the blacktop beneath her. “Can I leave them here with you, then?”
“Why do you need all of these rocks, Ellis?”
She smiles up at me. “They’re for my daddy.”
