Page 125 of Outcast

"I know." I nodded.

Esteban stepped up behind me, cupping my hips. "This is just the beginning."

Oh yeah, it definitely was. I knew the first major change I was going to make too.

EPILOGUE

ESTEBAN

"You're sure those bastards are fine with this?" I asked, walking alongside Rita as we headed into the school.

She'd tried to get me in a school uniform. Not the student's version, but dress pants, dress shirt, and a sweater vest with the school emblem on the breast.

Abso-fucking-lutely not.

I crossed my arms and stood my ground while Matías laughed in the background. He'd traded his jeans and Tee for a suit today, but he was used to this shit. He'd practically grown up in one.

I hated how the shirts choked me and I was teaching a shop class anyway. Every single piece of clothing would be stained with grease at the end of the day.

She'd relented with a dark glint in her eyes.

I squinted at her. The little witch didn't actually care what I wore, she just wanted to fuck with me.

"Are you ever going to stop calling them that?" she sighed.

Nope. "Why? Do you think they're offended?"

Cutting a quick look at me before nodding to the guard opening the gate, she said, "No. But it's rude to call our business partners bastards."

"They are bastards. They call each other bastards all the time. It's a term of endearment at this point."

Rita waved at a group of girls on the playground. They'd installed it last month, but it was more of a deadly obstacle course than an actual playground. Her and Amorette were adamant that everything available to the girls served as some kind of lesson.

"From each other. Not you."

I laughed. Last night, I'd played pool with all of them, Matías included, at one of our clubs. Next week we were going to catch Grey's fight. "I'm practically one of the guys at this point."

Pink suffused her cheeks. Not embarrassment or desire, but the way her face softened when she was happy. "I know."

Matías had changed over the last few months since he was voted in and we cleaned up all that shit with Joel. It was everything Rita wanted for him.

I hated to admit it, but he wasn't as bad as I thought he was. He was just a little more sensitive than he let on. A little more self-sacrificing than was healthy. But since we started this little trio, he seemed to lose some of that.

We'd keep plucking away at him until he was just as selfish with his own wants as he was with ours. In fact, I had a little surprise for him later.

"Ms. Aguilar!" Molly, the scrapper I'd met the first time here, grinned as she ran up. She didn't hug Rita like she usually did, but she was bouncing with so much energy, shewas practically vibrating. "I'm ready! I did all the homework Mr. Esteban gave us last time." Her gaze slid to me as her face stained red.

Now, that was from a crush.

I grinned and winked at her.

She tried to bite her lip to stop her smile from spreading wider but she couldn't contain it.

Rita chuckled. She thought it was cute, even if she got annoyed that I charmed them so much. I was a fun guy. I couldn't smile and toss winks out to everyone but little girls. That would make me an asshole.

"You'll pass the quiz?" Rita gave her a stern, yet affectionate look.

Twice a month, Matías and I had been teaching workshops. Today, I was teaching the girls how to hotwire a car, and they had to pass a quiz at the door before they could enter.

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