Back to You(18)

“You’ll have your work cut out for you there,” he said, and she continued laughing as she returned her attention to his notes.
A sudden raucous laughter combined with muffled voices from outside caught his attention, and he lifted his eyes and looked over Lauren’s shoulder through the glass front of the pizzeria.
Instantly, he felt the heat build in his stomach as his teeth came together.
The guy outside was named David. He couldn’t remember his last name, but he didn’t give a shit what it was. What he did remember was what David had done to him when he had come back to school after missing a few days for his brother’s funeral. He had said the most awful things, hurtful things about his brother that had made the other kids laugh. At the time, Michael had only been eight. David was two years older, and Michael was too sad to do anything about it and too young to know how to stop him even if he had it in him to try.
But now, things were different. Now, he knew how to hurt the people who hurt him.
By the time he had figured out how to do that, David was long gone, having transferred to the local Catholic school, and Del had forgotten all about him.
Until today.
He shifted in his seat, his knee bouncing furiously under the table and his eyes on David’s profile outside.
Out of his peripheral vision, he could see Lauren was looking at him, having obviously noticed the change in his behavior. This is it, he thought. This is the moment she’s going to realize who she’s with and run out of here.
Lauren watched him, evaluating him for a second before she glanced behind her.
“Problem?” she asked, and although her face and posture were calm, her voice shook slightly, betraying her.
“That kid’s a piece of shit,” Michael answered, his jaw tight as he shifted again, bringing his hand to his mouth and chewing his thumbnail just to be doing something.
Lauren turned again, looking outside, and David held up his hand and waved to someone across the street before he began to cross.
“It doesn’t look like he’s coming to look at her, le in here,” she said softly, turning back toward Del.
He shook his head slightly, knowing if he opened his mouth, no good would come of it. He wished David had come in there. He wanted to bash his f*cking head in.
Would he have done that in front of her?
It only took a second for him to come to the conclusion that he would have. He wouldn’t have been able to help it.
“Besides,” Lauren said softly, pulling his attention back to the present, “even if he did come in here, you wouldn’t have been able to turn this table over. It’s nailed to the wall.”
He stared at her, stunned, and she stared back at him, her expression completely innocent.
And then he broke, his grin quickly followed by the first genuine laughter he’d experienced in a while. He watched the corners of her mouth turn up as the slight tension left her shoulders.
Del sat back against the booth and folded his arms as he tilted his head at her. “You know, you keep your head down and your words soft, but shit, there’s some fire in there too, huh?”
She shrugged, still fighting her smile as she picked up her pen and went back to writing in his notebook.
“I like that,” he said. “In fact, I think I’m gonna bring that out of you more often. And you can help me keep my head.” He picked up his soda and took a sip, appraising her one last time before he nodded. “You know something, Red?” he said after he had swallowed. “I think we got a good thing going on here.”
She laughed softly before she glanced up at the clock, and her expression dropped.
“Shoot,” she said. “I have to go. I’m sorry—”
“Don’t be sorry,” he cut her off. “I can rewrite these. Thanks for the tip.”
“Okay,” she said reluctantly, beginning to pack up her things. “If you want, we can meet to fill in the blanks before the test next week.”
“Cool,” Del said with a nod.
“Here,” she said, reaching into her pocket before offering him money, and he waved his hand and shook his head. “My treat,” he said. “Thanks for helping me.”
“You don’t have to do that—”
“Go. You’re gonna be late for practice,” he said, cutting her off.
She stood there for a second before she nodded and smiled. “Okay. See you soon. Thanks, Michael.”
She swung her backpack over her shoulder and turned, shoving her money back in her pocket as she walked toward the door.
“Hey, Lauren?” he called, and she stopped so abruptly, her bag slid off her shoulder. She caught it at the last second and turned, her expression taken aback.