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“What did he say to you?” she asked

“Nothing”

Her face fell as if she expected to share things with me and I’d disappointed her “I’ll tell you on the way home,” I added

The way home On the way to her home I didn’t have one

“Oh, I can’t wait until we get an actual ca to develop the film ourselves That will be sobehind her I jogged to catch up to her, grabbing her hand to slow her down

Her enthusias

That sot closer to her house and I spotted souy crouched in front of an all matte-black Harley-Davidsonher in her tracks “Who is that?”

“Who? Where?” She glanced around and when her gaze landed on the leather-clad biker, she broke into a grin “Uncle Dex!” She jerked out of er

I sprinted after her, still unsure whether the guy was a danger At the sound of her voice, he stood and turned A grin broke out over his face He held out his arms and she launched herself at him

Who the fuck was this dude?

She laughed and chattered a mile a minute as he spun her in a quick circle, then set her on her feet His gaze landed on me and he placed a protective arm around her “Who’s your friend, Julez?”

She grabbed his hand and tugged him in my direction “Dex, this is my friend, Roman He’s new in school and we share a locker and a bunch of classes,” she said in a rush

Dex was no fool He took one look at me and kneanted to be a hell of a lot irls’ fathers in the past This guy ht not be her dad, but he had overprotective instincts like one Not in a creepy-asshole way like the uncle I uy’s de I respected

I nodded and held out my hand “Roman Hawkins, sir Moved to the area recently and Juliet’s been kind enough to show me around school”

He shook my hand and released Juliet “Nice toeverything no doubt I stood up straight under his scrutiny because anything else wouldn’t earn his respect