Page 47 of Cost of Courting

I grind my teeth, grab the ball, and walk back over to the group.

“Oh, we’re so glad to see you after all this time, Mael. Of course, you’ll be welcome. Selene never turns anyone away,” Peta says in the friendliest tone with a teasing glance at me.

Why did I make that rule?

And why is this neighbourhood suddenly playing matchmaker?

Mael sits down beside Cindy, smiling slightly while his damn devious eyes find me.

“So whose idea was this?” Edric asks.

“Can I pat your cat?”

I glance at the kids crowding around Kingston but just hear Peta as she spills everything to my enemies.

“Selene started it four years ago.”

The three of them look at me, their eyes wide, assessing, curious. Bailey is too busy showing Misha the tattoo’s on his hands.

I ignore them and grab a slice of pizza and walk over to where the older kids are gathered.

“Hey, Trisha, how’d the date go?”

“It went really well. He’s great. Thanks for helping me.”

Trisha is a nerdy girl with a great sense of humour and really shitty parents. She’d been asked out but didn’t know if she could trust him. I checked him out and organised for one of the older boys to be a very discreet chaperone.

I shrug. “Anytime.” I turn to Mathew, “And you, how’s school?”

“Better. Now the teacher has backed off and stopped picking on me. I actually managed to get a C on the test.”

Mathew is a foot taller than me but only just turned thirteen. His parents don’t have the time to notice that the teacher has had it out for him.

I nudge his arm. “See, I knew you had it in you.”

His smile dips a bit, and he looks down at his shoes. “Thank you, Selene.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“I know you didn’t, but all the same.”

To my surprise, this kid who hates physical touch turns and hugs me awkwardly before turning and jogging off.

I am so touched that I barely notice as Trisha waves and jogs after him.

“See ya, Selene!” she shouts.

I belatedly wave, but they’re already gone.

Clark appears next to me, sneaking up in a way that makes me think she’s going to be a pain in my ass. “Whoever beat up the teacher and got him to stop picking on our kids was a real lifesaver.”

I look at her sharply. “Yeah, they were.”

“Too bad we’ll never know who did it.”

My smile returns, and I turn back to watch the older kids jostling and teasing each other. There are nine of them in high school right now. A couple on the verge of it, but more little kids, all on the precipice of being lost.

The older kids were write offs to everyone. I haven’t done anything spectacular. I’ve just evened the odds and given them a chance at getting out of here.

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