Page 83 of Hot Shot

I squeeze her, kiss her hair, thank my lucky fucking stars for her and Cricket both.

But then she sighs again, and the sound drags me back to earth. “So, yeah. We argued. Cheryl warned me to be careful. The mom said we ganged up on her and told us she was going to the school board. Which, by the way, her father-in-law is the head of.”

Righteous fury flashes through me. “What the fuck? Her kid is bullying ours but we’re the bad guys? Fuck that lady.”

“I know. I just thought if I was there maybe we could work together. Support each other. We just want the best for the kids, or at least I do. Both of them. They don’t know any better—it’s our job to teach them. To help them figure it out. But all she did was say that Cricket is the one bullying Avery.”

The flash turns into a blazing inferno. “Are you fucking kidding me? That little shit has put her hands on my child?—”

“Well, Cricket put her hands on Avery too.”

I still. “Because she was defending herself?”

“Ultimately? Maybe. But no, she hauled off and pushed her this week at school unprovoked.” I’m fuming. She continues. “She’s angry and scared and hurt, and Avery has said someterriblethings.”

“What did her mom say about all that?”

“She wanted to know if I heard them myself or if Cricket told me. She literally said,I’m not taking the word of some traumatized kid with no parents.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

For a second, we watch the crew with Cricket. Jake hoists her onto his shoulders so she can wipe off as much of the sideview as she can reach, his eyes squinted against the barrage of soapy water dripping from her sponge.

“What happens from here?” I ask.

“I don’t know. We try to keep them away from each other. Ms. Panko is going to try and manage it from her end. I told Cricket to stay away from Avery. We just have to hope it fizzles out.”

“I hate it, Cass.”

“Me too. But it’ll be okay. She’s about to start therapy, and I’m at school with her. The staff is keeping an eye out. I wish we had Avery’s mom on board, but things could be worse.”

“Good. I have some news too—Tate found out from the fire marshal that the prosecutor’s complaint on Trent was made public. So we read through that earlier.”

“What did it say?” she asks quietly. Her fingers are toying with my belt loop. Neither of us has made a move to separate.

“It laid out the facts that led to formal charges. Like some doorbell camera footage, Trent’s phone records, an eyewitness account from the landlord, who lives a few houses down and across the street. Past domestic disputes between them, inferences of his guilt. It looks bad. Really bad.”

“Jesus. You think he did it?”

“The file I read was damning. I just…I don’t know. Maybe he snapped.”

“But your gut says he didn’t?”

I teeter back and forth like I have since I read it. “My gut isn’t so sure. I trust Patty and Paul when they say he has good intentions, but reading out all of it…I don’t know. I hope he didn’t, honestly. But that’s why he’ll end up with a jury to decide. See all the evidence and figure it out. They let him out on bail—the judge used to coach his little league. Trent’s been a well-known figure in the community since high school because of the ball team. Maybe not upstanding, but outside of his temper and the shit with Ashley, it doesn’t seem like he’s evil or anything. Paul says he means well, and that’s my sense too. He just ends up getting in his own way.”

“It’s scary though. What if he comes for Cricket? Like, is he stable? Can we trust that he’s going to stay away?”

“I don’t know. Paul’s certain Trent loves Cricket and would never hurt her. I don’t fucking know him. Honestly, I don’t knowPaul either, but I trust him enough to believe he’d die before letting anything happen to her.”

“But would he hurt us to get to her?”

At that, my stomach turns. I can’t even entertain that thought and shake my head. “Nobody’s going to hurt any of us. Okay?”

“Okay.”

She doesn’t sound sure. So I turn to her, catching her chin in my thumb and forefinger so I can tilt her face to mine.

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