Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Ten. Your sister?”
“Nine, she’ll be ten in a couple months.”
“Who’s her teacher?”
“Mrs. McGregor.” I open the pack of gummies and take out a couple before I hold it towards him, and he shakes his head no.
“That’s Coop’s teacher.”
“Really?” My stomach twists with unease. I really hope that his son isn’t the boy that she said is a jerk.
“What’s her name?”
“Zuri.”
“Bax never mentioned that he had a sister Coop’s age.”
“She’s not his sister,” I tell him quietly, then reluctantly explain that Bax isn’t my biological brother and that my twin brother Sage and I were adopted by Bax’s parents when we were just two. Then I explain that Zuri’s mom is my birth mother, and that she and I moved here from Colorado, leaving out that the reason for the move was because her mom went to prison.
“How long have you been back here?”
“Since the beginning of summer, so not very long.”
“Did you go to school here?”
“Yes, but we didn’t know each other. I was a freshman when you were a senior.”
“Did you have a crush on me?” His smile is knowing.
“Oh my god, no,” I lie through my teeth, and he laughs.
Pulling us forward when one of the teachers comes out to move the cones that keep people from driving on the school property while school is in session.
After he parks and we pass over our cards for the kids so that they will know who we are picking up, we both get out and walk to the doors of the school to wait for Cooper and Zuri. As we’re standing there, Logan starts up a conversation with one of the dads who is waiting nearby, and I notice more than one of the moms around us who are waiting for their kids check him out. I imagine between his height and good looks, it happens often, which is probably the reason he seems oblivious to the attention.
As the doors open to the school and the kids start rushing out, I search for Zuri among them, then smile and wave when I finally spot her. Rushing towards me with her backpack, she crashes into me and wraps her arms around my waist.
“Hey, kid.” I kiss the top of her head. “How was school?”
“Okay.” She tips her head back to me and smiles. “I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving. Did you eat your snack?” I take her backpack, the thing weighs at least twenty pounds or more with her water bottle, computer, lunch sack, and books. Honestly, she is going to need a chiropractor by the time she is fifteen.
“Yes.” She leans into me as I look to where I last saw Logan and find him hugging the boy I saw him with on the first day of school. The kid is the spitting image of his dad, except his hair is dark blonde instead of riding the edge of black and long to the point of shaggy. After Logan takes his backpack, he looks over at me with a smile, and the two of them walk our direction.
“My car broke down, so a friend is giving us a ride,” I quickly tell Zuri, and she gives me a look that screams what the heck before I take my eyes off her and turn to Logan.
“Cooper, this is Nalia, and I think you know Zuri,” Logan says, wrapping his arm around Cooper’s shoulders when they stop in front of us.
“Hey, Cooper.” I smile at him.
“Sup?” Cooper says to me, then he nudges his shoulder into Zuri’s, and she rolls her eyes at him.
“Zuri, this is Logan.” I introduce her, and she gives him a shy smile and says hi quietly.
“Coop just told me he’s hungry, you two wanna stop at Sonic and get something to eat before we head to Gigi’s house?” he asks, and I feel my brows drag together, Gigi is what a few of my friends called their grandmothers.
“Yes,” Zuri and Cooper both say as we walk to Logan’s jeep where Dozer is waiting for us. The kids both pile into the back seat with him and a minute later the people ahead of us in line begin to drive off.
“So how was your test today?” I turn in my seat so I can look back at both kids.
“Good,” Zuri shrugs. “I don’t know how I did, but it wasn’t that hard.”
“We have another test tomorrow,” Cooper says, then adds. “And we have a project due in two weeks.”
“Really, what kind of project?”
“I don’t know,” he mumbles, and I laugh, hearing Logan chuckle as I look at Zuri.
“Do you know what the project is?”
“No, the paper is in my folder,” she tells me as we pull into Sonic, which is just around the corner from the school. Rather than order from the car, Logan has us all get out and order from one of the picnic benches under the awning, and brings Dozer with us. The kids both get the same thing, cheese sticks and ocean water, while I order an ice cream cone, and Logan gets some drink off the specialty menu. When our food arrives, I pay the girl who drops it off to us before Logan can beat me to it. I might have to max out my credit card to pay for my car to get fixed, but I can pay twenty dollars for after-school snacks.