Page 51 of Everlasting Love

“Okay, but I can drop you back here.” She nods once, then heads for the door with me hot on her heels. And even though she’s in full mama bear mode, I would say she’s even sexier now than she was when she was smiling coyly at my door less than ten minutes ago.

We climb in her car and within seconds, Violet’s pulling out of the parking lot and onto the road, and I briefly wonder how I missed her car at the far end of the parking lot. “What do you think’s upset her so much? She doesn’t come across as a kid who cries for no reason.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen her cry. Oh, there was that one time when she fell and skinned her knee when we were all at the park, but I’d expect her to cry when she fell over.

Violet shrugs. “I have no idea but it must be something serious to make her cry like that.”

If someone hurt my angel, I’ll make their life a living hell. I don’t care that they’re possibly five years old. We pull into the parking lot, quickly climb out of the car, and make our way to theoffice to sign Jasmine out of class. When we finally reach Jas’s classroom, Mrs. Diamond steps out to speak with Violet.

“I’m so sorry I had to call you. No matter what we do, we can’t get her to settle, and she’s too distressed to tell us what happened. She doesn’t appear to be injured because we’ve checked her carefully.”

“That’s okay. Today’s my day off, and I wasn’t doing anything important.” My eyebrows shoot up. Fucking around with me isn’t important.Good to know. I stop myself from taking her words personally. Nothing would be more important to Violet than getting to her daughter, and that’s one of the reasons I find her so damn appealing. So I swallow down my hurt ego and tune back into what’s going on right now. “So what was happening when she started to cry?”

I don’t know how Vi’s being so calm. I just want to get to my girl and make sure she’s okay. To see for myself that she’s not injured and to find out what’s gone wrong.

“It was lunchtime. The kids were playing.” The teacher looks at a loss.

“Can I see her, please?”

Mrs. Diamond nods and steps back to open the door. Violet steps inside, and I’m unsure if I should wait outside or go in with her. She’s so focused on getting to her little girl and doesn’t give me any guidance.

“Are you coming in?”

My attention snaps to Jas’s teacher. “Is it okay if I do?”

“Of course. If your name is Shane, she talks about you all the time. I gather you’re very important to her.” My heart swells from her words, and I tip my head and move inside. Violet’s crouched down holding Jas close, but as soon as Jas spots me over her mother’s shoulder, she escapes her hold and makes a beeline straight for me.

“Shane!” she sobs. I bend down and scoop her into my arms. I hold her close and study her puffy red eyes and runny nose while I gently stroke her sweaty hair away from her face.

“Who hurt you, Angel?” I ask as I make my way out of the classroom. Vi says something to the teacher, and then we make our way to her car. Jas’s little body shudders in my arms and my protectiveness over her roars to life.

Vi opens the rear door and I dip down to situate Jas in her car seat, but her hold on my neck tightens so I stand back from the car. “I was hurt,” she stutters.

“Where?” I run my hands over her arms and legs but can’t find any injuries.

She holds her hand over her heart. “Here.” My body locks into place and I look squarely at Violet who sucks in a sharp breath and places her hand gently on her daughter’s back.

I tighten my hold on her. “Is your heart still hurting.” Shit, should we go to the hospital?

She pulls back from me and looks me square in the eyes. Her puffy eyes break my heart. “It feels better now.”

I turn to Vi, who’s paler than I’ve ever seen her. “Should we take her to the hospital?”

“What made it hurt?” Vi asks her gently.

“When I was hanging upside down on the monkey bars, Jason pulled my hair and told me that I don’t have a daddy because I’m ugly.” She sniffles and swipes her hands across her rosy cheeks.

Every muscle in my body locks tight, and I want to spin on my heel and go back to Jas’s class and have a word with Jason. I don’t fucking care that the kid’s five. I catch Vi’s eyes and she subtly shakes her head at me so I draw in a deep breath and blow out the anger that’s pounding through my system ready to explode. I guess I should be thankful that her heart’s fine, it’s her feelings that are hurt. “You’re not ugly,” I say through grittedteeth. “Not on the outside and not on the inside. You have a beautiful heart which makes you beautiful all over. If anyone’s ugly, it’s Jason.”

“Shane!” Vi glares at me.

“You think I’m beautiful?” Jas says at the same time.

I smile at Jas. “Yeah, I do.” Then I frown at her mom. “What?”

She tilts her head to Jas and widens her eyes slightly. “We don’t speak ill of peers.”

I blink at her, then realize she was trying to speak to me in a way that Jas wouldn’t understand but I would. I tip my head to acknowledge her. I guess it doesn’t really set a good example if I say negative things about other people to her.See, shitty parenting right there.

“How about we grab a milkshake?”

---