Page 13 of No Place Like Home

I couldn’t help shouting, “Why is his tongue black?!”

That seemed to be enough to evaporate the tense mood we had found ourselves in.

“Simba’s a Chow-Chow. They have black tongues.” Quincy dug into the pocket of his shorts, pulled out his phone then showed me a picture of what a Chow-Chow was supposed to look like.

“That’s much cuter, like a marshmallow,” I told him.

“That’s not manly.”

Whatever.It wasn’t my dog. I didn’t have to like it.

“You want to pet him?” Quincy asked me again.

“Thanks, but I already had to deal with Pukefest. I ate grass. My day is kinda shitty. I don’t want to tempt it, so I’ll pass.”

“Pukefest?”

“My kids. One of them puked on the other, and the other got so grossed out, they puked; it was a domino effect.” I realized I was waving my hands all over his space trying to explain. “…Yeah, it was gross.”

“You have kids?” Quincy’s eyes roamed my body again, this time lingering on my midriff.

I crossed my arms, feeling uncomfortable.

“My students…” I stopped, realizing he didn’t know shit about me, but everyone knew everything about him. “I teach kindergarten.”

His eyebrows shot up. I hated this part. I had Avery’s niece in my class this year. When she found out I was the teacher, she’d asked for her to be changed because of our religious differences, stating I was “Satanic.” Too bad there was no one else to teach that class. Just me. People tended to judge me based on my DNA. Some felt sorry, but then there were the few that made staying in this place worthwhile.

“I can see that. You were always amazing with Rosie, and she looks like she turned out okay,” Quincy told me, and something in me warmed.

“I’m the best,” my sister quipped, still petting the dog.

I knew she was absorbing as much as she could of grown-up talk. Later, when I got her alone, I had to make sure she didn’t go snitching to Juliet.

“Well, it was nice seeing you, Quincy. I have to take Rosie for pancakes and then drop her off so she can do homework.“

I gave him a smile and gave his dog a wide berth before I grabbed Rosie's arm and dragged her with me.

I needed to tell Jake that they were forbidden from getting a dog. We were not dog people.

CHAPTERFOUR

25 years old

“You guys mindif I tag along?” The words were out before I could stop them.

Rosie looked at me with wonder, while Jess looked alarmed. I ignored both of their looks and took a step forward, my eyes going to the way Jess automatically tried to shrink back.

I loved Sunny Pines; it was my hometown. People usually left me alone here. To them, I was family. In this little corner of the world, I was another local—a famous one, but a local nonetheless.

Yet Jess couldn’t have cared less that she was just talking to the number one quarterback in the country. Or the fact that my contract made headlines for a rookie. If anything, she looked like she was ready to bolt. I wasn’t that much in my head to not feel guilty about what went down at her mama’s funeral. That shit was fucked up. So, I guess she had way more shit to deal with than to go dumbstruck with the famous quarterback.

“Um…I guess,” Jess answered hesitantly.

“What do you say, Rosie Posie?” I asked Jess’s sister; she looked like she could be swayed to my side.

The little girl gave me a glare. Damn, females learned to give attitude at a young age.

“Onlymy family calls me that.”

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