Page 5 of Romeo

I pulled into the Rosewood High School parking lot just as the first bell rang. Students hurried toward the red brick building in groups, backpacks bouncing and phones still in their hands until they reached the doors.

I should’ve been back at the resort.

Better yet, I should’ve been enjoying breakfast somewhere before the wedding festivities swallowed another day.

Instead, I’d spent half the night thinking about Joseph Higgins.

Mostly his face.

I didn’t know what the little bastard looked like yet, but I had plenty of imagination.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Fiona on that couch again. She hadn’t been furious; though, anger would’ve been easier. She’d simply looked hurt and confused, still trying to understand why someone she considered a friend would deliberately humiliate her.

That bothered me.

I parked the bike, removed my helmet, and looked toward the school.

Going inside to terrorize a teenage boy was not among the wiser decisions I’d made in my life.

Still going.

The La Croix curse might’ve decided Fiona belonged somewhere in my future, but she had no idea that had happened. At seventeen, she damn well shouldn’t. Whatever came later could wait.

Joseph Higgins, however, had already made her cry.

That required a conversation.

I walked inside and immediately regretted how much schools apparently smelled the same everywhere. Floor cleaner, old books, teenage body spray, and whatever questionable breakfast the cafeteria had served.

A girl with purple streaks in her hair stood at a locker near the entrance. She glanced up as I approached, her eyes moving over my cut before settling on my face.

“Excuse me, darlin’. You know Joseph Higgins?”

Her eyebrows rose. “Why?”

Smart girl.

“I’m a friend of a friend. Need to speak to him.”

She looked me over again, clearly deciding whether helping me was going to create a problem she didn’t want.

“He’s usually in the senior hallway before first period.”

“Which way?”

She pointed down the corridor. “Right at the end.”

“Much obliged.”

I gave her a smile and headed that way.

Joseph wasn’t difficult to find. A group of boys stood near the lockers, laughing over something on one of their phones, and the name Higgins carried clearly enough when one of them called to him.

Tall kid. Athletic. Clean-cut. Probably handsome enough by high school standards to have gotten comfortable with girls wanting his attention.

He noticed me approaching and slowly lowered the phone in his hand.

“Joseph Higgins?”