Page 62 of Fearless

Leah didn’t respond right away. She folded her arms. “I might not have said that. You don’t know.”

Ava lifted her brows to sayreally?

“You should’ve at least let me have a chance.” She was hurt, Ava realized. “What good’s a best friend if I can’t tell you you’re out of your mind?”

Ava hugged her again, on impulse. “I’m sorry,” she said as she squeezed her narrow shoulders. “I really am stupid. So stupid.”

“It’s more fun if I get to be the one to say it,” Leah said, and they laughed.

“Come on.” Ava set her gloves aside. “I’ve been here since seven. I’m due a lunch break.”

They snagged Snapples from the mini fridge under the register and went out front, to sit on a concrete bench beneath the birch tree, amid the concrete statuary and birdbaths. It was cool, but cloudless, the sky a bright blue bowl arcing overhead. The breeze tickled the leaves and set them to dancing.

In the lacy shade, Ava recounted all that had happened since yesterday’s tutoring session with Carter, leaving out nothing, rehashing all her teenage angst over Mercy, citing it as the reason for her momentary insanity the night before.

“Ten days,” Leah said when she was done. “Damn. And the whole school’s wanted Ainsley to catch a fist in the face.” She dropped her voice. “And we all wanted Mason to bite the big one, too.”

“Don’t let anyone hear you say that,” Ava said, smiling in spite of the situation. “They’ll start believing I really tried to kill him.”

Leah dismissed her with a shrug, the spark in her eyes a tell that she’d already changed mental tracks. “So let’s talk about the real story, here.” She grinned hugely. “You want to do the nasty with the actual most terrifying biker in this joint. I’m sooo impressed with you right now.”

“Don’t say it like that,” Ava groaned.

“But it is like that! Look, we’ll ask your mom.”

Maggie’s black Caddy was sliding into a parking spot just across from them, Maggie’s mane of rich blonde hair swirling in the breeze as she exited the car.

“We willnot,” Ava said, shaking her head for emphasis. “I know you think she’s a ‘cool mom,’ but no one is that cool.”

Leah lifted her brows.

“Mercy is thirty. That’s bad math for any mother, even mine.”

Then she closed her lips because Maggie was bearing down on them.

“You playing hookie?” she asked Leah with a grin.

Leah beamed back at her. “No, ma’am. I’m doing that senior intern program, so my lunch period I get to spend working in my dad’s shop.” She pulled a face. “If anyone asks, I’m on a run for more coffee filters and swizzle sticks.”

“Gotcha.” Maggie sat on the end of the bench, beside Ava, her expression becoming concerned. “Do you feel alright?” She reached up to press the back of her hand to Ava’s forehead. “You look…”

“Like shit?”

“Tired and pale,” Maggie continued. “Why are you working today, anyway? I called this morning and told Mina you were going to sleep in.”

Ava shrugged. “I didn’t have anything better to do.”

Maggie pressed her lips together, nostrils flaring with temper. “Well, now you do. I went by the school – thosebastards– and after I got done chewing their asses out, I picked up your work for the next week.”

Ava cringed, imagining the scene in the front office. “Am I suspended for another ten days now?”

“No.” Maggie flicked at her shoulder with her fingertips, barely making contact. “But they understand exactly how angry I am.”

“I don’t think anyone ever wonders that,” Ava said under her breath.

“Mrs. Teague,” Leah said, “can you come talk to my biology teacher and convince him to give me an A on my last test?”

Maggie snorted. “See?” she told Ava. “Someone appreciates me.”

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