I couldn’t tell what was going on with her, but she wouldn’t look at me. And she was wearing sunglasses so I definitely couldn’t read her. Sister Linda’s aura was even on lockdown. She had pretty impressive shields.
Caleb tucked the disk into his pocket and took my hand.
“Do you need a drink or anything, Sister?” I asked.
“I’m fine, thank you.” She laced her fingers together on top of her notebook. “Run along. Mr. London, I see you over there. Come here and sign up for your time slot.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Hey, Mike.”
Caleb threw an arm around my neck, drawing me closer. “London.”
Mike grinned widely. “Miss Hastings, you look ethereal. Dump this chump and come away with me. I’ll treat you like a queen.”
I was close enough to Caleb’s chest to hear the feral growl.
“Back off, London.”
I pinched Caleb’s side before he strangled me. “Glad to see a familiar face.”
“I’ll save you a seat at my picnic table.” Mike patted Caleb on the arm. “I’ll even let you sit with us.”
I dragged Caleb away with a laugh. For someone who wasn’t into labels, he sure didn’t like any other males flitting around me. And for that matter, I wasn’t overly excited about how a few of the women leered at his bite-worthy butt.
He made a few introductions as we walked past the various tents. We dropped off our offering to the food gods and got a couple of frosty bottles of flavored water. There were no adult beverages at this particular shindig.
I had a feeling if Lucky had joined us, he would’ve smuggled in some and been a hit. Especially considering most of the dads looked bored as hell.
We spent the next hour chitchatting with Kelsey and Dare and a sweet younger teacher named Sister Sarah.
Most people were nice enough. Some gave me a good deal of side-eye, but I thought that was more for the belly ring than the skirt.
Caleb came up behind me and kissed the nape of my neck. “Want to go for a little walk? I’ve got an hour before I have to referee ten-year-olds.”
I tossed my bottle into the recycler. These people were no joke when it came to organizing. All the bottles would be returned for money that went into the playground fund.
They had raffle tickets at every table. I could only imagine what they did at actual student events. This was just teachers and their own families before school even started.
Caleb linked his fingers with mine. “You’ve been quiet.”
I shrugged. “This place is very impressive.”
He tipped his head. “It’s just a school. They’re good kids. Some of them are certainly in the entitled set, but for the most part, these are just families who want their kids to get the best education possible.”
“I bet the tuition here is more than a state college.”
He lifted a shoulder. “Probably. But we have lots of scholarships for people with lower incomes who really want their kids to go here.”
“I’m sure.”
“I didn’t take you for an anti-establishment type.”
“No? The witch? Really?”
He laughed. “Yeah, but you don’t really talk about it.”
“We don’t do a lot of talking.” I bumped him with my hip.
He twirled me out and back in. “We usually have more important things to do with our lips.”