Page 23 of Uproot

She looks back over at me, finally. "Have you had lunch?" I ask, and she nods.

"I did at home, yes," she says, walking beside me to the door.

We all walk outside together, and step out on the sidewalk. Edison goes over to the wall next to the diner where someone has painted a nice mural of kids playing, looking it over.

"Who was he?" I ask Selah, stepping into her space.

She tilts her head up to look at me, "Who? Oh! Joey? He's a friend of mine," she says innocently.

I study her face and realize that she has zero clue that Joey's intentions aren't as pure as she is.

"He wants to fu..date you, Selah," I inform her, watching my words.

She pouts her full lips at me, and my dick twitches in response. "Wh-n-no he doesn't! I mean, he did ask me out once after we first met, but I declined and he respected it. We've been just friends since," she quickly explains.

"He won't be doing that again," I inform her.

She raises her eyebrows, "Excuse me? Why?"

I look over to Edison as he runs over and takes my hand, giving us a curious look. I decide to pocket my sudden possessiveness.

For now.

I look back at Selah who is still staring at me, surprised by my statement. I decide to move on, "Come to the park with us."

She smiles, her shoulders relaxing, "Oh, ok! Are you going to Felix Park? That seems to be a popular one with kids around here," she says, pointing down the road. "It's just a short walk from here."

Edison tugs on my arm eagerly, "Can we go to that one?PleaseUncle Beckett?"

I nod, "Of course we can. Let's go," I agree.

I finish off my espresso and toss it in the trash outside of the diner, and we all head down the sidewalk. Edison talks to Selah about his ice cream sundae as we make our way past Reece's Grocery and keep going. I finally see the park across the street and stop at a crosswalk.

I reach over and take Selah's hand along with Edison's. Selah looks down at our hands and a soft smile grows on her face. I take my time to look both ways before I pull them along with me quickly across the road.

As soon as his foot touches the other sidewalk, Edison lets go of my hand and runs ahead of us to the playground.

"Be careful!" Selah calls out after him, biting into her bottom lip as he takes off.

The two of us walk over to a bench close to the playground and sit together. She looks down and realizes that I'm still holding her hand securely in mine, but I don't move it, acting like it's natural.

Her hand is where it should be.

I look around the park and feel myself relax for the first time all day. The air is warm and filled with the sound of children yelling, and laughing as they enjoy a late Spring afternoon. I spot Edison playing with two other boys that look his age, climbing on a rope structure together.

"Oh that's Franklin and Gunner!" Selah chirps, waving over to them. "They are both in my class too."

I nod watching Edison run off with them to a play structure with slides. I glance around and notice a few moms are looking in our direction, talking to each other. Selah sees them too, and she slowly slips her hand out of mine, pushing the bottom of her dress down until it covers her knees again.

I frown seeing her reaction, not happy with how uncomfortable she suddenly seems.

"Do you get along with most of your students' parents?" I ask.

She shrugs, playing with the lid on her coffee cup, "Most of the parents are great, but some of them can be..I don't know. A little judgmental I guess. Just the moms," she admits.

I narrow my eyes, looking back over at the women on the other side of the playground. I'm not surprised that the fathers have no issue with Selah, considering how freaking gorgeous she is. So I can guess why some of the moms might be a bit catty towards her, even though it's ridiculous to judge someone that way.

I reach over and tilt her chin up until she meets my eyes, "You don't have to put up with anyone making you feel like less than who you are, sweetheart. You know that right?" I advise.

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