Page 44 of Our Shattered Pieces
Darius side-eyed her. “Picked us for what?”
Her shoulders drooped and she rolled her eyes dramatically. “There’s an educational benefit tomorrow night, and I have six tickets I’m supposed to give out.”
“I thought those kinds of things were for administration…people,” I said. Brandy was both a teacher and very involved with the school board and the administration side of things.
“This year, they thought it would be a good idea for the actual teachers to see all the hard work that goes into the benefits,” she explained. “I guess it’s to make us appreciate how some people still care about the education industry.”
Last week, I would have been interested in going. This week, not so much. “Thanks, Brandy, but I’m going to have to pass.”
“Noooooooooo,” she whined. “There’s a good chance that this thing might be boring as hell. I want fun people at our table.” I didn’t miss the way she glanced at Darius. “It’ll be you two, me, Maria, Carlisle, and Franklin.”
I had to give her points. She made sure not to pair it off evenly. By inviting Carlisle and Franklin, it made it appear innocent and friendly, but I knew better.
Darius glanced at me. “I got nothing going on tomorrow night,” he said.
I looked over at Brandy, feeling myself caving. “Fancy?”
She nodded. “Black tie,” she grimaced a bit.
“Open bar?” If I was going to do this, I was going to need a little help to get me through the night. Especially, if it was black tie. I wasn’t a fan of fancy.
Brandy nodded again. “Yes, it’ll be open bar.”
“I’m down if you are,” Darius said.
Well, it was either go to this thing or sit at home and finish losing what was left of my mind over Molly. I let out a deep sigh. “Okay, I’m in.”
Brandy squealed. “Yay! I’ll go let everyone else know.” And off she went.
As soon as it was safe, I turned towards Darius. “You know that woman has a thing for you,” I told him. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to socialize with her off the clock?”
Darius shrugged. “We’re off the clock now.”
“You know what I mean,” I chided.
Returning his attentions back to the grill, he said, “Dude, she can have a thing for me all she wants. I’m madly in love with my wife, and there’s no woman on the planet who’s a threat to Loraine.”
“Just watch yourself,” I said. “You never know with some people.”
Darius looked up at me and grinned. “That’s why you’re not leaving my side all night,” he said. “While there’s no temptation on my side, I’m still not stupid.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Then why go at all?”
“C’mon, when are we ever going to get another chance to rub elbows with the wealthy?”
I did laugh then. “Did you forget who my sister just married?”
Darius started laughing. “Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.”
The rest of the day was spent eating and having fun. Everyone grateful to be able to relax, and not be vigilant of minors around, was a good thing.
Now if only my heart wasn’t fucking breaking.
Chapter 33
Molly~
By the grace of God, everything was going off without a hitch. Because I had the best working for me, they’d been able to pick up the slack I had failed to carry. Normally, I was on the ball with an event, but this thing with Grayson was really doing a number on me.
