Hissy Fit (The Southern Gentleman #1)(28)

I bit my lip to keep my laugh inside.

Raleigh didn’t have the same compunction. She bent over, holding her stomach and started to wheeze as she attempted to say between guffaws, “She’ll kick your ass. Watch out, Croft. Momma’s gonna kick yo’ ass!”

“That ass kicking doesn’t stop with boys, darlin’,” Ms. Crusie explained darkly. “Keep sayin’ ass and find out where it gets you.”

Raleigh stood straight, wiping away tears, a full smile still taking up the majority of her face.

Her eyes were on her mom, but mine were on her.

She was beautiful. How had I missed this for so long?

I felt like a dumbass. A really big, clueless dumbass that didn’t know what was right in front of his face until it hit him square in the jaw.

“Let’s go inside,” Mr. Crusie suggested. “And you can call me Gates. This is Merida.”

I nodded and followed them all inside, blinking momentarily at the décor.

“Umm,” I hesitated. “Well, I’m guessing you like chickens?”

Gates murmured, “Merida loves chickens. There’s a difference.”

“Oh, hush.” Merida sighed. “It’s not a bad thing to love chickens. And it’s certainly not a bad thing to want more.”

“You have over fifty…and we’re in the city. Trust me when I say that we’re gonna get busted one day for havin’ them, and when we do, you’re gonna have to get rid of them.”

Merida shook her head. “We’d move before I allowed that to happen.”

I had no doubt in my mind that she would if push came to shove.

“What kinds of chickens?” I asked. “My sister wants a Polish. The ones with the crazy hair.”

I put my hand up over my head, mimicking the way that the feathers were on the top of a Polish’s head.

Merida laughed, and Raleigh looked at me like I’d just broken through some imaginary wall I hadn’t known was erected.

She wanted me to like her parents…and she was happy that they liked me back.

Well, her mom did anyway. Her father and Croft were still up for debate.

“Honey.” Merida took her daughter’s hand. “Help me serve up dinner. Boys, y’all go get the drinks that you want from the garage and then meet at the table. Got it? Good.”

She left before any of us nodded our consent, and we were all left staring at each other, a little dumbfounded at her sudden departure.

“Now!” Merida called from somewhere beyond the living room we were standing in—my guess was the kitchen.

Raleigh sighed, looking between me and her brother, then to her father, and back again.

“Don’t do anything stupid.” Raleigh looked first at her father, then to her brother.

With that, she left, leaving me alone with two men who didn’t look anywhere near as accepting of me as they’d been when Raleigh had been standing there.

“So…” Croft started. “You finally decided to give her the time of day?”

I tilted my head. “I what?”

His eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth to say something before Gates slammed his hand on Croft’s shoulder.

Just when I was about to ask ‘what’ a second time, Camryn, another teacher from the school that Raleigh and I worked at, came bustling in, a frazzled look on her face.

“Hi, Gates. Douche. Ezra,” Camryn said on her way past.

I followed her whirlwind, then turned to face ‘douche.’

“Douche?” I asked carefully.

Gates started to laugh. “Seems my children suck at seeing what’s right in front of their eyes.”

With that cryptic statement, Gates walked away calling out for me to follow. “Come on. I have good beer.”

I followed, because who the hell wouldn’t want good beer? Especially amongst this crowd.

It was two hours later, when dinner was consumed, and I was forced to the back porch with Croft and Gates once again, when it happened.

Camryn, who I learned was Raleigh’s best friend, and Merida, along with Raleigh, were in the kitchen cleaning dishes, then bringing dessert out.

I, on the other hand, was outside even though I wanted to be inside to help them clean. But, when I’d made that attempt, Raleigh had shaken her head and ushered me into the back yard, which was where I now found myself.

“So…how did you and my baby sister start being a thing?” Croft questioned.

I shrugged. “I saw her a bit at school this year, and she took over my sex-ed class…”

“She took over your sex-ed class?” Croft’s voice rose. “Isn’t that a seniors’ class?”

I nodded. “Yeah. How’d you know?”

“Same high school, bro. And I’m not that old.” He paused. “But Raleigh doesn’t teach seniors. That was the agreement.”

I didn’t have any idea what he was speaking of. “Agreement?”

“Yeah,” he looked at me. “When Raleigh started working for Gun Barrel ISD, part of the agreement when she signed on was that she wouldn’t be assigned any age levels over freshman.” He looked at me like I was crazy. “I don’t…why would they do that to her knowing that she has panic attacks?”

My stomach dropped. “Panic attacks?”