Don't Follow Me: A High School Bully Romance (Diamond In The Rough Book 4)(13)

“It’ll be fine, Ma. I promise.”

She sighed as I hugged her.

“I know it will, Clint. I just--I’m worried. You know how it is.”

I kissed the top of her head. “I do.”

Things hadn’t necessarily gotten better once the divorce was finalized. Cecilia was worried since my father knew where she lived. She thought he might pop by one day unannounced, like he did about two months into the divorce proceedings. It freaked her out then, and put her on edge every time she was home alone. Hell, even when she was with me, she had a tendency to jump at the sounds coming from outside. Or above our heads. Or the creaking of the walls as the apartment expanded and contracted from temperature drops.

“Why don’t you invite your friend to come over?”

Cecilia patted my back. “I’ll be okay. Just worried about you.”

I grinned. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, so I will. I’m going to be gone for a few days. This would be a perfect time to invite him over and show him around. You know, since I haven’t officially met him or anything.”

“Clint.”

I chuckled. “Seriously, Ma. If he’s a good man, he’ll come stay with you. Or at least check up on you. There’s nothing wrong with leaning on someone. Especially during times like these. Okay?”

She sighed. “How did you get so smart?”

I kissed her forehead. “You can blame Rae for that.”

I slipped beside her and went to pull my jacket out of the dryer. Mike stood in the living room, grinning from ear to ear as I passed him by. He slapped me on the back as I went to go get my suitcase. Then, I hugged Ma one last time.

“Call me if you need anything, Clint. Okay?”

I nodded. “I will. I promise.”

“And you’ve got enough money?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Promise?”

I sighed. “Goodbye, Ma.”

“Love you, Clint!”

“Love you, too!”

And when I got the apartment door closed behind me, Mike chuckled.

“Awww, how cute.”

I grinned. “Yeah, well. Better than getting tossed around.”

His face fell. “Dude, I totally didn't mean it like that.”

I snickered. “You’re gonna have to learn to take those jokes. That’s how I process things, you know.”

“Really, though. You two doing okay?”

We walked to his car. “You know what? I think we are. I mean, it’s not easy. But we’re good at budgets and pinching pennies. Ma’s teaching me things about saving money here and there I didn’t know about.”

“What your father did to her is bullshit, you know.”

I shrugged. “From an unbiased perspective, it makes sense.”

“Still fucked up.”

“Never said it wasn’t.”

I piled my things into his trunk, then climbed into the backseat. I knew Ally would want to sit with him. And I sure as hell wanted to cuddle with Rae as we drove into the city. He pulled away from the apartment complex and made his way out, readying us to go get the girls.

And as I gazed out the window, Mike cleared his throat.

“So, how are things with you and Rae?”

I nodded. “Good, actually. Really good lately. I think we’re a bit apprehensive about how much things will change in the fall, but we’ll work it out.”

“Trust me, Ally’s worried about the same thing.”

“She is?”

Mike nodded. “Yep. We’ve talked about it a few times, but I can tell it worries her. How far away she and Rae will be. Whether or not classes will get in the way of us. Things like that.”

“And plus, we’ve all been through a lot of hell together. A lot tougher things than starting college, right?”

He snickered. “You’re damn right we have. You and Rae, especially.”

“Side note, you should really step on it. The girls are gonna ride our asses about being late.”

“I’m not the one who had to kiss my momma on the lips.”

I rolled my eyes. “Pick at me all you want, but I couldn’t imagine my life without Ma in it.”

“Does she like you calling her that?”

I smiled. “Yeah. She does.”

“Good. That’s really good.”

“So how are you and Allison?”

He snickered. “You want me to talk? Or get to the girls on time?”

“You can’t do both?”

He chuckled. “Takes concentration to time when I can zoom through the yellow lights and when I can’t.”

“Ah, if we’re a few minutes late, I’m sure they won’t mind. And if they ride us? We’ll stop for snacks. Snacks always hush Rae’s mouth.”

“You want me to tell her that? Or do you want to offer up that little tidbit to her when they’re complaining in the car later?”

I chuckled. “Answer the damn question, Mike.”

He smiled. “I mean, we’re good. Planning things together. Trying to get everything figured out. Packing up our things and trying to keep our families at bay.”

“Still writing up flow charts of how you two will spend your free time once you’re both Ivy League bigshots?”

He rolled his eyes. “I hate you for bringing that back up.”

My jaw dropped open. “Holy shit, is she still doing that?”

“Yep. Especially now that I changed my schedule around a bit. It’s driving me fucking crazy, dude.”

I laughed. “Well, just show her she doesn’t need to meticulously plan all this stuff out.”

“Is that even possible with someone like Allison?”

“Look, nothing is impossible with a girl you like.”

“Love.”

I paused. “Come again?”

He snickered. “I love her, Clint.”

I blinked. “Holy shit, have you told her that?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. But I want to. You think it’s too soon?”

I clamored up beside him. “Hell, no, man! Congratulations! When did this happen?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just looked at her the other day while she was talking about her schedule and when we might encounter one another on our walks to classes, and it just hit me. I love her. I said it in my head and it made me smile. I love Allison, man.”

I clapped his shoulder. “Sounds like you should do something special with her this weekend while Rae and I are in orientation.”

“Wait, this is your orientation, too? Did you decide to go to college?”

I snickered. “Hell, no. You know me. But I did tell Rae I’d walk with her around campus and attend a couple of the formal gatherings of incoming freshman with her. She’s really nervous.”

“Is she finally talking to you about things?”

“She’s getting better. It’s not perfect, but nothing is ever perfect.”

“Tell that to Allison.”

I chuckled. “But, back to my original--well--thing. Plan something nice for her while we’re out. Let her know with your words that you want the same things she does when you start school. Let her know you want to keep her as a priority going forward. Even with school changing. All she needs is a bit of reassurance. Because if she’s still on this trip or something, you probably aren’t communicating the way she needs you to.”

He sighed. “Fuck, girls are complicated.”

I shrugged. “Not really. They want reassurance, romance, and good snacks. Oh, and they want to know they don’t have to be strong all the time.”

“Uh huh.”

“No, I’m serious. Half of the shit between me and Rae cleared up when I looked her in her face and told her I was here for her. That she didn’t have to be strong for me anymore. I mean, we started our relationship with her being strong for me. I had to let her know it was okay--and time--to switch gears.”

I watched him ponder my words as we turned down the main road through town toward Ally’s house.

“When the fuck did you get so wise?”

I threw my head back, laughing. “You sound like Ma now.”

“Maybe she’s got a point. You definitely don’t sound like the Clint Clarke you used to sound like.”

I shrugged. “Shit changes. But not always for the worst. The girls need to know that. Because I think this college things is freaking them both out way more than it should. Also, you’re a dick.”

“What? What did I do?”

“I’ve always been wise. Just never had anyone to share my wisdom with.”

Mike looked down at the clock. “Shit.”

“What?”

He sighed. “I told the girls we’d be there to pick them up with enough time to swing through somewhere and get lunch.”

“So… what?”

“Look at the time.”

My eyes fell to his very fancy dashboard and I snickered.

“Whoops.”

Mike took a sharp right. “Yeah, they’re not going to be happy.”

“Wait, where are we--?”

“The coffee shop. Coffee will smooth this over.”

I snickered as we pulled into the parking lot. He had a point, and I knew exactly what to get Rae. I remembered it from so long ago. Back last year, when she scared me so badly after coming back from picking up coffee and pastries. We walked inside and rattled off our orders. Then I picked out some treats for Rae. Mike and I piled everything into his car before slipping into a sandwich shop on the corner, grabbing all of us small meals just in case.