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you’d better start running.”
    “Ty!” Sherrie didn’t know why she called out to him. Maybe
she was shocked at the idea of Ty beating up a kid over something that didn’t
bother her…or just that he cared enough to do it? Whatever the reason had been,
he let go of the kid as soon as he heard her voice. “Ty? What in hell are you
doing to him?”
    Ty turned back to the young man. “You breathe a word of this
to anyone, I’m gonna come looking for you, understand? Now get out of here.”
    The kid sauntered off with a smirk, probably thinking of
ways to reinstate some of the street cred he’d lost in front of his still
shocked and silent friends. They wandered off towards the yard, a few of them
looking back at Ty with a mixture of awe and sardonic amusement.
    “Don’t start with me again.” Ty raised his hand and turned
on his heel, heading in the opposite direction of the kids. Sherrie tried to
follow him but his long, fluid gait covered more ground than her slow,
difficult one. Still in pain from her impromptu dash down the hall earlier,
Sherrie was barely managing to keep up.
    “Wait up! Ty…stop. I can’t walk as fast as you.”
    His stride faltered and he came to a stop, turning shamed
eyes her way. “Sorry,” he muttered.
    “No need to apologize. It’s you I’m worried about, not me.” Sherrie
reached to place a hand on his shoulder but Ty ducked away. The rejection hurt
more than she expected, and Sherrie wondered if he’d felt the same way when
she’d pushed him away before. But she didn’t have time to dwell on it. He
looked ready to bolt. “What was that all about?”
    “The kid was being a smart-ass. I shouldn’t let it get to
me.” He wouldn’t meet her gaze.
    “He was talking about me?” Sherrie’s voice trembled on the
last word and the prickle of on-coming tears overwhelmed her.
    Ty’s eyebrows bunched in anger and he looked down the hall
towards the retreating students like he wanted to go after them again. Sherrie
put a hand on his arm, confused herself as to why she was almost in tears. The
tension between her and Ty upset her far more than any mindless taunt ever
could. “Let it go. I know they’ve been showing off to each other and acting
stupid. It’ll blow over. It always does.”
    “You get this kind of thing a lot?”
    Sherrie smiled, touched rather than annoyed by his naivety. Not
everyone was as kind as he was. “It happens. Not often, but still.”
    “And you thought I was the same…” Ty dropped her gaze,
trying to hide how much her words hurt him. The finality in his tone tore at
her heart.
    “Look, I shouldn’t have said that. I was just—”
    “There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.”
    The rest of Sherrie’s answer was lost beneath the shrill
tones of Ty’s dance partner. Diana laughed and walked towards him, putting on a
strut fit for any catwalk. If Sherrie had any doubt Diana was mocking her
before, she didn’t now. Still, she couldn’t blame the woman for reveling in her
ability. Diana was a gifted and talented dancer as well as a beautiful woman—but
a twisted, bitchy soul lie beneath the pretty exterior and Sherrie wasn’t
envious of that. Not at all.
    Diana’s annoying laugh grated Sherrie’s nerves. The woman
spoke only to Ty, intent on ignoring Sherrie altogether. “Oh, I see you found
your little friend.”
    Ty turned a look of such disgust and fury on Diana that she
visibly blanched. She smoothed an imaginary stray hair back in place and
dropped his gaze. When she spoke again, she’d lost a little of her superior
attitude. “We’re needed for rehearsals.”
    “Okay.” Ty turned his back on Diana, dismissing her to focus
again on Sherrie. His gaze told her he had much yet to say, but not in front of
Diana. Unable to stop herself, Sherrie raised a brow in stark amusement. Ty
never turned his back on his dance partner.
    “Ty?” Diana chirped again, making it clear to everyone she
wasn’t going to move away and