Crazy Girl(62)

At one point, Duke looked at me, his expression as stunned as I felt. “She’s badass. He’s barely moving to catch them.”

I nodded in agreement.

Everyone was laughing their asses off and cheering Kegs on, which I thought was awesome. It was just a stupid game that had come to be on the fly, but it was building comradery, which was important to me. None of the instructors had to eat in the mess hall, but we did because we wanted to interact with our peers and students. And there we were, a group of us gathered, cheering on Kegs like we were members of Fight Club. Might have seemed lame to some people, but I could see the benefit in it.

They’d just reached twenty-five tots and Kegs hadn’t missed one. Finally, waving his hands in surrender, he backed away letting everyone know he was done as he chewed. Rushing Hannah, he scooped her up in a bear hug as he laughed around the food in his mouth. “We are the dream team!”

When he released her, her face was lit with the widest grin, her cheeks rosy. Damn she looked beautiful when she smiled like that.

“You are a beast,” I chuckled.

She shook her head as if I were ridiculous. “I was throwing tater tots in the air. Pretty sure anyone can do that.”

“He barely had to move,” I argued. “That was hot as hell. I was getting a chub.”

She laughed. “Well if that’s all it takes to get you hot and bothered…”

Grabbing her and pulling her between my legs where I was seated, I squeezed her as I peered up at her. The whole thing was so stupid and insignificant, I mean, we were throwing tots for God’s sake, but something about it made me so damn happy. It had been easy. There was no over-thinking or second-guessing. Her stare was fixed on mine as she brushed her fingers through my beard. Something about her expression hit me in the chest. “I really like you, crazy girl,” I confessed. Her fingers stopped threading my beard and her eyes locked on mine. It was rare that she was speechless. I’d surprised her. The sound of laughter drew her gaze away and she chuckled at our surroundings. Everyone laughed and chatted a bit longer before the gathering started to dissipate. As the body of people parted, I looked up and found Henry staring right at me. When Hannah noticed him, she pulled away and moved behind me, sensing the tension.

“Marner,” he said, his voice stern as he took a few steps toward me, sliding his hands in the pockets of his cargo pants. “This isn’t exactly appropriate behavior.”

He was a foot away from me now, looking down on me where I was seated. His shoulders were back, yet his stance was casual, as if he wasn’t fazed a bit. I figured this must’ve been because I was seated. Glancing at Kegs, I noticed he’d crossed his arms and watched, waiting to hear what other bullshit Henry would spew next. Clearing my throat, I stood, and as I rose to my full stance, Henry’s chin tilted up.

“It was a harmless game and forgive me,” I scoffed, unable to contain my discontent, “but it looked to me like everyone was enjoying it.”

“The students don’t need to see this kind of shenanigans going on. It sets a bad example.”

As much as I hated to admit it, I could see his point on some level, but on another, it just wasn’t that big of a deal. No one had a problem with it but him, and I felt it in my gut the only reason he had anything to say about it was because I was involved. He just wanted to piss in my Cheerios. Shocking.

“I started it,” Kegs intervened, but Henry held his hand up, stopping him, keeping his eyes fixed on me.

“Marner is a lead. He should have stopped it.”

I snorted, shaking my head. Was he really going to make this big a deal out of fucking tater tots?

Holding up my right hand, I stood stiff like a Boy Scout being sworn in and droned out, “I promise to never let anyone throw potatoes, of any variety, be they fried, baked, or mashed, in the mess hall ever again.”

A small crease formed between his brows as he narrowed his eyes at me, crossing his arms, clearly not amused by my smartass comeback. I didn’t really care though. He didn’t like me, and he never would. Kegs had turned his back to us, his body shaking subtly as he tried not to laugh.

“Funny, Marner,” Henry muttered. “But I don’t think humor is going to get you very far.”

This asswipe really thought I was his kid. Picking up my tray, I passed by him. I wouldn’t hash it out with him in front of everyone, but I wasn’t going to bow down and apologize either. In the grand scheme of things, it really wasn’t a big deal. Also, he could have addressed it with me at another time, when students weren’t lingering around us, eager to see what would transpire in our dispute. If he wanted to talk about unprofessionalism, he needed to take a good long look at himself. He was petty as fuck. And the truth was, he was a shit manager. He rarely had his paperwork filled out correctly, the schedule was always messed up, and he was terrible at creating employee morale. “Nice talk, Henry,” I murmured. “We gotta go.” I jutted my chin at Hannah, indicating for her to walk in front of me. Nervously, she darted her eyes between Kegs and Duke and gave a little wave to them before she scurried ahead, maneuvering around Henry with a shy smile.

“See you guys tomorrow,” I called to my friends before following her out.



I was grateful Hannah and I had to drive to my house separately because it gave me time to cool down. I didn’t want to ruin our time together just because I was pissed at Henry. When we got back to the house, I walked in the kitchen and poured each of us two fingers of scotch. Hannah sat at the counter and we both sipped. I appreciated that she didn’t say anything, or try to make small talk. She was catching on and understood I was on edge and was giving me time to decompress.