Free The Fight for Us by Elizabeth Finn Page B

watching angsty teenage dramady movies this weekend featuring a strong, albeit disliked female student who may or may not have been befriended by a popular student for money, or a bet. Am I close?”
    “No—” She sounded incredulous.
    “She made me watch Mean Girls two times this weekend,” the short little version of her quipped beside her.
    “That’s irrelevant.” Joss’s cheeks turned instantly pink as he watched.
    His insides were stirring as he watched her, but it wasn’t the irritation that he used to get when he saw her, and the stir was just a bit too low to be his guts if he were being completely honest with himself.
    “That’s a good movie.” Natalie was suddenly standing by his side, looking at Harper.
    He loved that she didn’t carry resentment against Harper for how Harper had initially treated her, but he also worried that the forgiveness she seemed so capable of would kick her in the ass someday.
    “Yeah.” The girls looked nervously back and forth between Joss and Isaiah as though they thought their parents might be a tad crazy.
    Isaiah shook his head in amusement, and he pulled the door farther open as he stood back to let them enter. Joss kept glancing at him as she passed him, and when her top teeth clamped down on the side of her lower lip, he chuckled. Her eyes instantly flashed to him, and he shook his head again. She was just too fucking cute.
    “Can I talk to you in the other room?”
    Joss stilled as he spoke and then nodded.
    “Nat, how about you show Harper into the living room? I’m sure you can find one of those fabulously warped movies to watch.” He watched the two girls head into the other room, and the moment they were gone, he nodded in the direction of the kitchen, and she followed him.
    “Just out of curiosity, what was Harper’s punishment for how she treated Natalie earlier in the year?”
    Her mouth suddenly dropped open, but he ignored her shock and pulled open the refrigerator door and grabbed a beer, offering her a second one.
    “I can’t see how that’s your business—”
    “It’s not my business. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to know.”
    She glared for a moment, but eventually, she reached out and took the bottle of beer he was still trying to offer her. “She’s grounded for three months. No activities outside of school and volleyball, no cell phone, no phone.”
    “I’m impressed.” He actually kind of was. “But is this not considered an activity ?”
    “Well, seeing as the activity revolves around appropriate behaviors, I’m making an exception.”
    “Well, I must say, you know how to ground. You’re pretty severe.”
    She offered a small smile as she bobbed her head to the side and gave him a quick curtsy. He finally relaxed enough to move to the table and sit down. She took the cue and did the same, taking the chair caddy corner from him. It put her close to him—very close in fact, and he could smell the very subtle scent of her perfume. Whatever the hell scent it was, he liked it—so much so, he instantly saw himself nuzzling against her neck and inhaling deeply with his nose and mouth to her skin.
    “Why did you resign your job?”
    “What?” His attention snapped up from her neck where it had apparently gone without his permission, and he realized he truly had no idea what the hell she’d just said. “I’m sorry…uh…what?”
    “Your job?” She was watching him curiously. “Why did you resign?”
    “It’s more sabbatical than anything. Taking a break.”
    “So, you’ll be returning to Chicago and your job there at some point?”
    “You ask a lot of personal questions.” His pulse was accelerating. Talking about his personal business tended to come with a spike in blood pressure these days. It just left him feeling entirely too vulnerable. And with her, that vulnerability felt damn near painful.
    She shrugged her shoulders in that no-duh sorta of gesture. “What’s wrong with a personal question or two? You can ask