Page 99 of Grin and Bear It

“Miss!”Kids swarmed around me as I walked down the hall, until I was forced to stop or trip over them. “Who was that guy? Is he your husband? Because that car is hot!”

“No time for questions,” I said. “Everyone needs to get to class right now, including me.”

I used my teacher voice, injecting all the authority I could into it, but was thankful when the kids started to scatter. Though when I got to my classroom door, my own students were a lot harder to redirect. I was hit with twenty more questions when I stepped inside, my students following. Everyone seemed to have something to say, all but two. Maddox and Knox walked into class and sat down, uncharacteristically quiet, as I went to my desk.

“Guys, none of that matters,” I said, cursing Cole and hoping the boys were OK. I didn’t dare ask. “We’ve got work to do. Now grab out your books…”

Chapter50

Tyson

Can you pick us up?

I looked up from the wiring I was working on when I felt the buzz of a text notification. I wanted it to be from Ellie, but wasn’t disappointed to see it was Knox.

Cole’s getting you today, I sent back.

Not Cole. Please.

Knox didn’t say a lot and that was the problem. He kept too much locked down, hidden away, so I was always reading between the lines with him. I took a look at the job I was working on, looking for a satisfactory end point so I could walk away and grab the boys after their school day ended.

OK, I tapped out in response.Meet me out the back when school finishes, near the basketball courts.

“Everything alright?” Nash asked, appearing at my shoulder with that sixth sense he always seemed to have.

“Boys have asked me to come and pick them up this afternoon,” I replied.

“But Cole—”

“They said not Cole.” I shrugged and then turned back to my work. “I’ll get to the bottom of whatever’s going on, but it’ll be when they’re in my car.”

“Good idea. Somewhere they can’t nick off from or hide away.” Nash nodded. “Keep me posted?”

“I’ll keep everyone posted,” I replied and then picked up the screwdriver and pliers I’d been working with.

That wasone thing that had improved. Even with the dates, the four of us had started working as a sleuth again, at home and at work. We had a group chat going so everyone was still in the loop with Ellie and the boys, even if they weren’t at home, so I added a message in there, letting Cole know he didn’t have to pick up Ellie or the boys.

I promised I’d pick up Ellie, he replied.You can grab the boys if that’s what they want. I’ve got this new paintbrush I want to try…

I shoved my phone back into my pocket. The paintbrush… Ellie… Cole’s story had my cock throbbing the first time he told it, once the boys had gone to bed, but now? I wanted to see it, what my sleuthmate was doing to her. Would those soft bristles slide down her seam, getting wetter—

“How’s the wiring going?” Lin asked, walking into the room I was working on. “About ready for the new wall panel?”

“Soon,” I told him, Ellie, my cock. “Soon.”

But I hadno such thoughts after school. I pulled up beside the basketball courts, on the far side of the school grounds and saw the twins and all their bros shooting some hoops to kill some time. Knox and Maddox’s heads whipped up at the sound of my car horn. They waved goodbye to their buddies, collecting their bags and jogging over. I waited for them to get in the back seat, throw their bags down and put their seatbelts on before hitting them with questions.

“How was school?” I asked, eyeing them in the rear vision mirror.

“Good,” they replied in a customarily flat tone they’d used when talking about their day since they were little guys.

“Anything interesting happen today?”

Maddox glanced at his brother, but Knox met my gaze in the mirror.

“Nup.”

“Homework?”

---