“You and James going steady?”
Rolling her eyes, she took a sip of her milkshake. “How old are you?”
“I’m being serious.”
“So am I. How old are you? We’re ‘going steady’? We’re having some fun, and that’s all you need to know.” Picking up her burger, she saw Ryan come out of class with his head down. She frowned, wondering what was wrong with him. Hanging around James, she’d come to know Lucy and the kids really well.
“You’ve been with James a lot. You’ve been blowing me off,” Stacey said. Her back was to Ryan.
“What about Leo and Paul? I thought you were dating them or something.”
“I’m not dating anyone.” Stacey wrinkled her nose.
Cora was about to open her mouth when she watched three of the jocks swarm around Ryan. She kept her gaze on him, and when she saw the tall one sucker-punch Ryan, she was out of her seat.
“Get Sharon now,” she said, shouting to Stacey.
They caught the attention of passing students. Ryan and the three boys were oblivious to the attention they’d gained. She saw Ryan slam his fist in the other guy’s face, but then he was held, and they all started to pound on him.
Cora kicked off her heels and ran over the ground, pulling the kids off Ryan.
“Hey, get off. You’re on school property, and we do not accept that.” She shoved each of the boys off them.
They all went to hit her, but stopped when they saw it was not a fellow student. Cora wasn’t a teacher, but she was the adult present.
“Miss Short,” one of the guys said, trying to come across all nice. “Ryan was pushing his luck.”
Stepping up to the man, she glared at him. “Don’t even try to lie your way out of this, Stuart. Your ass is mine now. I saw everything.”
“Not like he can do anything. He’s a fucking pussy.”
“Your father works in the state right?” Cora asked.
“Yeah.”
“He does deals with the local MC?”
Stuart stayed silent, but he no longer looked smug.
“I take your silence to mean yes. Ryan’s part of that MC. I think you need to think about that,” Cora said.
Sharon came rushing out of the high school. “What is going on here?”
Cora filled Sharon in, and with the help of Stacey, they walked them to the principal’s office.
Sitting at her desk with her arms folded, she kept her gaze on the boys. Sharon was inside her office with Stuart. Ryan was slumped on a chair with a shiner.
“Who do you think she’ll call?” Stacey asked.
“Their parents.”
“Lucy’s working at the bank today. I bet James is going to come and handle it.”
“Will you stop?” Cora asked. “We’re grownups. Nothing is going on other than having some fun. What about that don’t you get?”
“The part where you’re looking happy, and you’re pretty much dating.”
They were talking quietly to each other.