“Hey, Tommy. What happened?”
Tommy said in a wobbly voice, “I got into a fight…”
Ryleigh hugged Tommy tight and dared a glance over his blonde hair. Worry creased across Keenan’s face. Bree gave her a soft smile and said, “Okay, see you next week, Tommy.”
“Next week?” She glanced from Bree back to Keenan. His cold eyes staring back at her shocked her.
Tommy hiccupped in her arms and said, “I’m suspended. They don’t want me at school. And Jeremy can go to school. A-And he started it.”
She caressed his golden hair and kissed his temple. “It’s okay, sweetheart. We’ll work it out.”
“There’s nothing to work out, Ry. You showed him how to fight. And this is what happened.”
She gasped but refrained from answering him in front of Tommy and Bree. She straightened and said, “Shall we talk about this later?”
“Fine. Bree, thank you for being there for us,” Keenan said.
“Sure, Keen. And please take it easy on both of them.”
Ryleigh stepped into her old beat-up car, and like she needed another setback, the secondhand car she’d recently bought wouldn’t start. She slammed her fists on the steering wheel and shouted, “Aaargh!”
Knocking on her windshield made her bump her head to the car’s ceiling light.
She rubbed the top of her head and opened her door for Keenan.
“Come with me,” he said.
“But I have to call—”
He opened her door even further and said, “We don’t have time to wait for a tow. We have Tommy’s mess to deal with and I’m not leaving you at this parking lot. So please, come with me.”
“Since you asked so nicely.” She couldn’t help being snarky.
She locked up her car and got into the passenger side of Keenan’s truck. She turned in her seat and tried to give Tommy a reassuring smile. He returned it with a watered down smile.
Keenan closed his door and buckled in. He started the truck in silence. She took a few deep breaths and tried to think of anything to say when finally Keenan broke their silence.
“I can’t believe I had to come and pick you up today. Do you realize you’re in a world of trouble?”
Tommy sighed and said, “Yes.”
“I just don’t understand. Is it because you learned how to fight?”
Ryleigh blinked before she realized what he’d implied.
Keenan mumbled, “I knew I should have listened to my gut. This fighting business brings nothing but trouble.”
Her body tensed, and she grounded her teeth. She counted to ten before she’d tell him off in front of his son. And wasn’t that exactly the crux?
His son.
She had no say in any of this.
Tommy pounded his little fist next to his thigh. “You don’t know what they say to me.”
Keenan shook his head and adjusted his speed before they stopped for a red light.
“We already discussed—“