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“Aww.” She tightened her arm around his waist. “I love you.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I love you more. G’night, darlin’.”

“Goodnight.”

~ ~ ~

Tanner made sure that they arrived at school early on Monday morning. He parked the truck and turned to Ashton.

“You don’t need to come in with me. You can just drive through the line, and I’ll get out.”

“Not happening, bud. We’re going to walk over there together, and we’re going to stand with the moms till it’s time to go in.”

Ashton scowled. “The moms stand with the little kids.”

“Yeah, but they bring the bigger kids, too. Are you going to tell me who I need to deal with?”

The kid shrugged. “Don’t know what you mean.”

“Come on, Ash. If we’re smart about it, we can put an end to this before it gets started. Want to tell me what’s really going on?”

“No.”

“Okay, how about I make a few guesses, and you can tell me if I’m right or wrong.”

“I dunno.”

“Let’s try it, then. Someone’s been picking on you, and one of the things they said is that I’m not your dad, right?”

Ashton huffed out a sigh.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, you can just nod if you like.”

Ashton nodded.

“Whoever it was isn’t in your class. Is that right?” he added hurriedly, remembering that he needed to ask yes or no questions.

Ashton nodded again.

“They’re boys, there are two of them, and they’re a year ahead of you.”

Ashton met his gaze as he nodded again. “Do you know them?”

“I think I probably do. If I say their names, will you tell me if I’m right?”

“Yeah.”

“One of them is Cody Barnes, and the other one is Wyatt Tinley.”

Ashton didn’t need to say a word – his wide eyes and shocked expression confirmed Tanner’s guesses. “How did you know?”

Tanner gave him a wry smile. “Did your mom ever tell you that I was bullied when I was your age?”

“Yeah, but I thought she was just saying it to make me feel better.”

Tanner chuckled. “Nope. It’s true. I know how you feel, bud. I went through it, too. Right here at this school. And it might not seem funny to you right now, but I reckon that one day we’ll laugh about this. See, one of the kids who used to pick on me was Billy Barnes – he’s Cody’s dad, and the other one’s name is Lane – I bet you can guess who he is.”

“Wyatt’s dad?”