Targeting the Teacher

Part 26

She reached in her pocket, jingling her prize as she held the keys in the air. "Swiped his from his pocket when he was hugging me. Believe me, this isn't the first time they've tried taking my keys to keep me from going somewhere."

It was his turn to let out a surprise chuckle. "I'm guessing you already have a plan?"

"How could you think otherwise?" she asked with a small curl of her lips.

***

Stopping at the red light, Jaxon glanced to his right and had to fight to keep from laughing. Despite his usually strong will, he felt a chuckle slip thorough his lips before he could pull it back. Amy snapped her gaze towards him, smiled at his laugh, before shaking her head. "What's so funny?"

"You," he answered honestly as the light turned green. Easing forward, he took the turn she pointed to before explaining. "I was sure that all four of your brother's would see through you in about two seconds."

"They would have scared Greg off. I had to lie," she said defensively, crossing her arms under her chest as a slight blush formed across her cheeks.

His smile widened. "And when they figure out that you really didn't go upstairs to take a nap?"

"It'll be too late," she said with a smile of her own. "They don't know where Greg was talking about, and I left my phone at home."

He glanced down at her wrist and winced. No matter where Amy went, no matter what happened, as long as she wore that watch, they would always know where she was. Later, when this was over, later when there wasn't any danger lingering in the shadows, he'd let her know. But now, at that exact moment, when he wasn't sure what would happen in the future, he was relieved that Amy's brothers could find her.

"It's right there," she said, interrupting his thoughts.

He stared at the place as he eased into the empty parking lot. Raising an eyebrow in surprise, he stared at the building in front of them. Before he could turn to question her memory, she had already jumped from Logan's truck. Shaking his head, he threw his door open, slammed it behind him, and caught up to her just as her hand gripped the restaurant's door handle.

"This is the place?" Jaxon asked suspiciously as he glanced around the darkly lit area.

The rickety picnic tables they stood in front of had people's names carved into the face of them. The bench seats had scrapes and dents. On some, the paint was peeling, and on others the paint was completely gone. The dim lighting hid any bugs that may or may not have been scurrying on the uneven floor.

He tried to keep the frown from his face, but knew he didn't succeed when he noticed Amy's bright smile dim slightly. There was no doubt in his mind that, for Amy, this was somewhere that held a lot of memories. With the way her eyes lit up, he knew those memories were happy ones, and Jaxon didn't know whether to be glad something good had come out of her relationship with Greg or jealous as hell that she could still think of the man with that expression on her face.

"This is our place," she echoed with a chuckle as she shook her head as if clearing it.

Grabbing his hand, she tugged him towards one of the many empty tables. When he raised an eyebrow at her in question, she plopped down in the chair and waited for him to sit beside her before answering his unspoken words. "One night," she started as she picked up the mismatched salt and pepper shakers and set them to the side, "we were on our way to meet his parents at this fancy restaurant downtown. I remember dreading that dinner. You see, by then, I'd figured out that his parents didn't like who I was—"