Page 60 of Wild About You
“I’m sorry. I’ve been busy.”
“If I had known you were going to disappear forever, I would have told my sister to find somewhere else to crash.” Heather sticks out her bottom lip. “I miss you. You know you can still come by the apartment and hang.”
“I miss you too. I was trying to give you time with your sister. How are you?”
“Beatrix is driving me crazy, but otherwise good.” Her grin widens and she tells me about all the things they’ve done this week.
The doors to the school slide open and my gaze snags on the four hulking figures walking through them. Tyler, Ash, Declan, and Jack are so out of place, and yet they walk in like they own the place.
“Heather, I’m sorry, I have to go,” I say, cutting her off. “I’ll call you right back.”
I hang up and walk toward them. Tyler sees me first and slows his gait.
“What are you guys doing here?” I ask.
“Yelling at some teenagers,” Declan says quietly.
“Nope. No.” Tyler shakes his head and holds out a hand to keep Declan from charging forward. “We are just here for Everly. Do not talk to anyone. You promised.”
Declan grumbles.
“Well, I didn’t promise shit,” Jack says, and goes into the gym.
Ash and Declan follow him. Tyler hangs back, shooting me a nervous glance. “Hope this doesn’t backfire.”
Their strides are confident as they move to the front, stage right. I’m not sure what they think showing up is going to do. Or I wasn’t until every eye in the gym turns to the group of guys in front of me. Even Mr. Hall stops and stares.
I step to Tyler, my shoulder brushing up against him and whisper, “Now what?”
His fingers lightly wrap around mine. He doesn’t face me, but his mouth curves up. “This was the whole plan, Pipes.”
If my body weren’t fighting to hold in the reaction of his touch and the old nickname, I might laugh.
“Maybe you should at least sit down. They aren’t finished and your sister looks horrified.”
“Gentlemen, this is a closed rehearsal. Can I help you?” Mr. Hall addresses them as he takes one tentative step their way.
“Sorry for the interruption,” Jack says in a charismatic voice that I’m confident lets him get away with all sorts of things. “We’re here for Everly Kent. We can wait if you’re not finished.”
Mr. Hall is quiet as he stares at Jack like he’s trying to figure out how to respond. Finally, he nods and turns to the kids on the stage. “We’ll stop here for the day. Good job, everyone.”
Instead of rushing off like they did last time, the kids are slow, moving while keeping their gazes locked on Jack, Declan, Ash, and Tyler.
The only one that does hurry, is Everly. Her face is red as she grabs her backpack and jogs down the stairs.
“Hey, Little Sharpie.” Ash throws an arm over her shoulder.
“I am so embarrassed,” she says in a hushed tone. She tries to run away, but Ash keeps her by his side.
“We wanted to see our favorite high schooler.”
“I tried to come alone,” Tyler tells her.
Everly glares but the corners of her mouth lift a fraction.
A few of the bravest kids come up to the guys.
“Will you sign my backpack?” one asks and holds out a pen to Jack.
