Free Teacher: The Final Act (A Hollywood Rock n' Romance Trilogy #3) by R. L. Merrill

and he kissed my unmarked cheek.
    Julian and Bronson had heard what happened already pretty much in detail.  They apologized again for Stacey’s behavior.  
    I made them stop. “Guys, he wasn’t well.  I’m just sorry for his family.  Does he have any?”  
    They looked at each other and shrugged.  
    Danny said, “I’m sure Jerry knows.”
    “We told him what happened.  The guy is blaming himself, too.  He didn’t want to fire Stacey, but the last time he was scheduled to work, he came in five hours late and they got into a huge brawl.  He had to have him removed from the premises by security.  Guess we should have known he was capable of anything.”  
    I rolled my eyes and said, “Alright!  No more blaming!  I’m going to say this one more time.  I. Am. Fine!  I’m just a little pissed I can’t eat my pizza the correct way.”  
    Mulberry’s pizza was New York style and meant to be rolled in half and savored.  
    Danny snickered.  ”I promise to take you back when your widdle wip is aw bettew.”  I pinched his side and he jumped out of his chair and scooted over to the fridge.  He grabbed a beer from the door. My expression stopped him.
    “Can you, um, not?  I’m sorry.  I just don’t want to smell that smell tonight.  It’s kind of turning  my stomach.”  
    He nodded, understanding.  He came back to sit next to me with a ginger ale and muttered, “But you’re fine, right?”  I narrowed my eyes at him and he held up his hands.  ”Alright!  Alright!  I’m sorry.  I’ll take your word for it.”  
    Julian and Bronson watched the two of us like observers at a tennis match and then made disgusted sounds.  
    “Dude,” Bronson said, “She’s going to kick your ass.”  
    Danny looked me up and down and said quietly, “I hope so.  At least I’m going to make sure she can.”
    We finished our pizza and talked for another hour or so until I started yawning.  Danny excused us and Julian followed us to bring us toothbrushes and toothpaste.  
    “You guys are welcome to stay as long as you need, ok?  Jane too.”  We thanked him, I kissed his cheek good night, and we crawled into bed, too exhausted to do anything but hold each other.

Chapter - Four
     
    Danny was up before me the next morning and I was glad for it.  I was so damn sore, it took all of my energy to get to the bathroom and use the toilet.  Everything hurt.  I’d heard that adrenaline could leave all of your muscles sore, but I guess I’d also underestimated just how much Stacey had yanked me around.  My lip was really sore, making brushing my teeth quite painful, and the bruising on my face looked freakin’ fantastic!  I had six stitches just about an inch below my hairline, and my whole forehead was bruised.  I had two black eyes and my right cheekbone was bruised.  My lip was less swollen, but the split inside was sore.  I was so glad I hadn’t had to have stitches there.  
    I couldn’t stand looking at this mess anymore, so I went out to see if I could find Danny.  I heard him before I saw him, sitting out on the back patio.
    “I know, Jack, and I’m sorry...I didn’t call last night because it was so late...I know. I’m sorry you had to hear about it on the news... Yeah, she says she’s okay, but I don’t know...You and me both. He’s lucky he’s dead or I would have made it much more painful...Yeah, I’m going to have Bob, my security guy, at the house when I’m not home and whenever she goes out.  Maybe even drive her to work, too, if she doesn’t fight me on it...I know, I’m so sorry.  Please tell Lydia I’m sorry.  I’ll have her call when she wakes up...Thank you...Alright...  Talk to you soon.”
    “I’m so sorry you had to take that phone call.”  
    Danny spun around and stepped quickly over to me.  I could tell he was relieved to see me, but it also caused him a lot of pain.  
    “It was on the news late last night and this morning.  I already talked