Page 11 of Unexpected Love

I can’t help but smile when I turn to look at her. “You sound like my brother.”

“I’m going to take that as a good thing.”

“Oh, absolutely. I love my brother. Like you said yesterday, he’s a good man.” I turn back to the photos on the walls again and mumble the next part. “Better than most.”

“Everything okay?” I hear the concern in her voice, making me smile again—she really is just like Declan.

“There you go, sounding like my brother.”

The bell rings, signaling the end of class and saving me from her response.

“That’s lunch.” Quinn hops down from her desk, grabbing something from a drawer. “Did you bring something with you?”

“Yeah.” I hold up the bag I brought with me from the house. “Where do you normally eat?”

“Your brother normally meets me here, but we can head to his classroom.”

Before we have a chance to turn for the door, Declan comes barreling around the corner, heading straight for Quinn. “Okay, I’ve calmed down, but it took way longer than—” Declan stops talking abruptly when he sees me in the room with Quinn.

“I’m sorry?” A brief feeling of confusion flashes through me, but the second Quinn starts laughing and a look of horror passes over Declan, I know something is going on between them.

“Nothing,” he mumbles. “I didn’t know you were coming to the school today,” he says louder, pulling me into a hug.

“Yeah, I finished writing the return suit and filed it this morning, so I thought I’d come bug you for lunch before I look for something else to occupy my time,” I say a little flippantly. It’s a brush-off, and we both know it.

“You wrote and filed a court document all in one morning?” he asks in disbelief.

“Well, I wrote the brief last night, but I had to wait for the courthouse to open this morning to file it.” I avoid looking at him. I know he can see right through me, but I’m still not ready to talk about everything.

“You wrote it last night? You must have been up all night.”

I hear Quinn shift from her spot by her desk, but I don’t look at her—or Declan. “I haven’t been sleeping well, so I figured I would just get it done.” I finally look at him, trying to silently tell him to leave it alone.

“Ava, I don’t?—”

“Big brother,” I interrupt when he clearly doesn’t receive the message, “I told you yesterday I didn’t want to talk about it.”

Quinn walks up to Declan’s side, placing her hand on his back. He startles slightly, glancing at her before turning back to me. “You’re right.” He studies me for only a moment before turning back to Quinn and kissing her lips quickly. “Let’s sit.”

I follow Declan to the table placed in front of Quinn’s desk and take a seat across from the two of them.

“How’s your morning been?” Quinn asks Declan, changing the subject for me.

“It was good. Nothing out of the norm to report.” He glances at Quinn out of the corner of his eye, and she laughs, making me wonder exactly what I’m missing.

“What am I missing?” I ask out loud.

“Nothing,” Declan rushes to answer, and I think it might be better that I don’t know. “How was your morning?” he asks Quinn. “Anything else from Tyler today?”

“No, he wasn’t in class. I checked and he was marked absent from school today.”

“Weird. I don’t think he’s ever missed a day of school.”

“Tyler’s the kid you told me about?” I ask. “The one who acts out a little in class?”

If I’m right, Tyler is one of Declan’s favorite students, and while he’s always had a bit of a rough home life, he’s always been a good kid. This year, though, things have changed for him. Tyler’s become more withdrawn and acts out in class—things he’s never done before.

“Yeah. It’s normally not serious, but he was a little more disruptive than normal on Friday,” Declan tells me.

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