Page 25 of Not On Your Life

Better question, what ishedoing here?

“I’m here for a job.” I slam my door harder than necessary—the poor thing has been abused today—and stomp toward the building. I have no idea where I’m going, but I suspect it will be obvious soon enough.

“Really? Me too.” He trails after me.

I halt. “You’re here to coach high school volleyball?”

He scoffs. “No, of course not. I’m teaching the youth something much more important.”

“How to be an insufferable jerk?” Each of my words are punctuated with a sharp click of my heels. This cannot be happening. How does he always show up where I don’t want him?

He stops in front of me. “I run mock trials. We discuss law.”

“Liar.”

He shrugs. “I volunteer here every Tuesday.”

I fake a gasp. Or maybe it was real. Surely the man I spent the better part of the last four years hating wouldn’t donate his free time to an underprivileged school for nothing in return.

“There’s no way they would let you lead innocent children astray.” Then again it’s a volunteer position. They didn’t have a choice but to let the devil inside their gates. “I’m a better lawyer than you. I should take over your job.”

He taps his chin. “Ah yes, but the kids prefer humility to brains.”

“No one has ever accused you of having either.”

My foot accidentally ends up in front of him, but he dodges it. Dang it.

Two days ago, I’d all but dismissed this whole idea. I love volleyball, but why should I waste any time on it if it’s not going to get me back to where I need to be?

But at the end of the day—and after two more out-of-state law firms turned me down—I agreed to check it out. It’s for the kids, after all. So I replied to the email and was told to come in tonight to meet with the principal.

A short blonde woman rushes up, and I stop before she rams right into us.

“Hey, Connor!” She says before turning to me with a smile the size of China. “Hi, I’m Amelia, but you can call me Millie. Everybody does.”

I blink. “Uh, hi. Maddie.”

Millie’s jaw drops open, and she glances back and forth between Connor and me. “LiketheMaddie?”

What does she mean by that?

“Millie…” Connor’s voice carries a warning.

Was that a confirmation or a denial?

I’d be alarmed that she seems to know who I am if she wasn’t so unassuming. She’s five foot nothing and has a blonde pixie cut with a streak of pink down the right side.

“I’m this idiot’s big sister.” Millie elbows Connor in the stomach.

Sister? I try to spot any similarity between the two of them, but come up blank. She’s like a tiny bundle of light and joy. And he’s, well, tall, dark, and doom. Millie grabs my arm and walks with me like she’s my escort. “Connor used to talk about you all the time. Don’t worry, I didn’t believe a word. You can’t possibly be as bad as he says. And he never once mentioned how beautiful you are.”

Should I be offended?

“Millie.” Connor attempts to stop her, but she’s like a golden retriever, bouncing and happy.

I’m still hung up on the sibling thing. I didn’t know Connor had a sister who could be so…human.

“What did you call her again? Cruella?”