Page 104 of Stealing Sunshine

She releases it and taps a finger beneath my chin. “Those noises are only for me.”

“I missed you today,” I tease, ignoring her comment.

Eyes fluttering open, I notice hers are already watching me, the fluorescent lights above us intensifying their blue.

“I missed you too.”

“Say hi to my friend, Frosty.”

She scowls. “I want to take you somewhere.”

“You can take me anywhere after you say hi.”

Delaney clears her throat behind me, and I giggle at the deeply etched scowl lines that appear on Bryce’s face.

While we break apart from the intimate hold, she refuses to let me out of her arms completely. As if I wanted the space in the first place.

“Hello, Delaney,” Bryce mutters, her hold on me tight enough that concern slips through the shine of bliss.

My friend stares at Bryce and offers her a weak smile. “Bryce.”

“Della was just inviting me to lunch tomorrow,” I put in.

Bryce’s fingers splay wide over my hip, and her thumb strokes the bare skin beneath my shirt. She keeps Delaney pinned beneath a distrusting stare. “What grade are you teaching?”

“Third.”

Bryce nods, relaxing a bit. Her attention falls on me, and I soak it up like a cat beneath summer sun rays. “Ready to go?”

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

“No.”

Pouting, I break free of her hold and reach for my book bag. She beats me there, hooking it over her shoulder and jutting her chin toward the door.

“Don’t pout. You’ll like where we’re going.”

“I’m sure I will,” I agree with a sigh.

Bryce shakes her head, the ghost of a smile toying at her lips.

The three of us step into the hall. It’s empty now, all of my students’ cubbies bare and lockers shut. I take Bryce’s hand in mine and settle between the two women.

Awkward silence falls when neither Bryce nor Della makes an effort to speak. To one another or to me. It’s obvious there’s something going on there, but I don’t think it’s directly between them. Her reaction to Darren the day we met has always left me unsettled, and now, maybe it makes sense after all.

“So, we’ll talk in the morning, Della?” I make the effort to speak when we exit the school.

Delaney breaks off from us and starts in the direction of her car. With a brief look over her shoulder, she says, “Yeah. Bye, Daisy. Nice to see you, Bryce.”

It’s an obvious lie, but I appreciate her at least trying to be cordial.

Bryce doesn’t reply, so I pinch the back of her hand. She jumps but catches my drift.

“Yeah, same.”

We watch Delaney get into her car and then start toward Bryce’s. As if she weren’t being thoughtful enough these past few days, she’s taken to driving me to and from work every morning. All it took was me complaining about parking once, and she had her mind made up.

I wait until we’re both buckling our seat belts and Bryce starts fiddling with the music on her phone before bringing up my suspicions regarding Delaney.

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