I paced up and down outside the police station. I prayed it would be the last time I had to be anywhere like this for a long while. I couldn’t believe I was there to keep my girlfriend from going to jail. How crazy was this?

This entire day had been batshit insane from start to finish, and I was glad the worst of it was over. Karla was in the hospital, probably swooning around acting like someone had attacked her with a baseball bat instead of throwing one measly punch. Hunter was with Raymond, where he was helping him decompress and relax after the seriousness of what had happened. And Autumn was in the cell at the local police station, but they had promised me she would be out soon enough, as soon as they could get the statements from the witnesses to confirm what they’d seen that morning.

I was still kind of in shock from seeing Autumn getting put into the back of the police car, but as soon as I spotted Karla wailing from the other side of the street, I guessed what had happened at once. It touched me more than Autumn could know that the first thing she had told me when she’d seen me was that Hunter was all right. Despite what was happening to her, she still had my son as a priority. That was the most important thing in the world to me.

Suddenly, the doors flew open, and an exhausted-looking Autumn crashed out onto the steps.

“Oh thank God, you’re here.” She waved to me. “I thought I was out here on my own.”

“Not after you defended my honor like that.” I grinned. “You punched someone for me. I don’t think I can say that about anyone else.”

“Well, don’t get used to it,” she warned. “I’m not exactly planning on making a habit of it anytime soon.”

“No, no, of course not,” I agreed. “Last thing I want is an amateur boxer on my hands.”

“Who knows? Maybe I’ll start craving it,” she teased me. “Get the bloodlust, have to go out on the street to fulfill it.”

“Yeah, I doubt that.” I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her to the car. “You want to go back to my place?”

“Yeah, I could do with a long rest.” She sighed and let out a long yawn. “I thought I was going to be in there a hell of a lot longer, though. I mean, I did punch her.”

“I heard some of the cops talking, and it seems like most of them were on your side.” I shrugged as we climbed into the car. “The witnesses, I mean. They all said she started it, more or less, and that you were inside the school gates doing what you had to in order to protect your students.”

“Well, that’s true enough,” she agreed, and she rubbed her knuckles. “Still, I didn’t think I would ever be the kind of person who would do something like that.”

“What did she say that got you so mad?” I asked. “Hunter wouldn’t tell me what it was.”

“Hunter said he didn’t want anything to do with her,” she admitted and then hesitated before she came out with the next part. “And she told him she didn’t even want him anyway.”

“Damn.” I shook my head. “I think I’d have done the same thing if I’d been in your situation.”

“Yeah, I just saw red.” She shook her head. “I don’t really remember it happening. I’m not surprised someone called the cops.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised if she called them in advance or something, hoping to get someone to lash out at her so she could play the victim,” I remarked. “She called me first, after all. Clearly wanted to get me riled up.”

“Yeah, but I think that was so she could tell me that you knew she was there,” she said with a sigh. “It made some twisted sense in her mind, I suppose.”

“That’s crazy.” I turned on the engine, flicking down the radio so we could talk. “How was jail?”

“Boring.” She shrugged. “Mostly boring. I guess I’m not cut out for the life of a hardened criminal.”

“One punch does not a hardened criminal make,” I teased her.

“Come on, you telling me the thought of a sexy ex-con girlfriend doesn’t turn you on a little bit?” she asked. I laughed.

“Okay, maybe it’s a little sexy,” I agreed as the wind whipped through the car, washing the rest of the day thus far away at last.

“Yeah, I think so.” She reached over to squeeze my leg.

“Hunter told me everything that happened. You were so brave, standing up to her like that.”

“It was nothing on how brave he was,” she replied at once. “I couldn’t believe how he stood up to her.”

“It was because you were right beside him helping him,” I told her. “No way would he have had the nerve to do something like that if you weren’t there to help.”

She made a face. “I don’t know. I was pretty fucking terrified. He was probably coming out there to provide some moral support, help me get through the worst of it.”

“Well, you sure did that,” I agreed. “Are there going to be any charges?”

“Not that I know of,” she replied. “Everyone there seemed to go in my favor, and I don’t think Karla wants to draw any more attention than strictly necessary to what the fuck she was doing at the school in the first place.”

“That’s a good point,” I agreed. “You think she’s going to try to come by there again?”

“I don’t think so.” Though she shook her head, uncertainty crossed her expression. “She’d have to be seriously dumb to try that again. I’m going to speak to the school about what happened, make sure they know what’s going on. I don’t want to land in any trouble from them after this.”

“I’m sure you won’t,” I promised her. “I’ll vouch for you if you need me to.”

“I might,” she agreed. “Maybe bribe them with the program you’ve been working on?”

“Oh, yeah, it looks like they’re going to be testing it out soon,” I replied. “I was on the phone with the head of the resource allocation for the area, and she seemed pretty keen to try it out. Don’t know how many schools I’m going to be starting at, but it’s something.”

“Oh my God, that’s amazing!” she exclaimed, slapping my arm excitedly. “I’m going to boast about that to anyone who’ll listen.”

“Fair warning, I don’t think anyone’s going to give a shit,” I said. “Talk about designing programs and people tend to glaze over a little bit.”

“Well, I’ll use my new reputation as a bruiser to get them to do what I want.” She flexed her muscles pointedly. “They’ll listen to anything I have to say then.”

I chuckled. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Still, it’s big news,” she replied enthusiastically. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Maybe we can celebrate later.”

“Well, that, and the fact that your ex should have gotten the message loud and clear by now.” She raised her eyebrows.

“Yeah, that too.” I glanced down at my watch. “Hey, do you mind if we head around to Raymond’s? I dropped Hunter off there after what happened. I think he’d like to see you.”

“I don’t know if I can look him in the eye after what happened. I punched someone in front of him! That’s not how I’m supposed to behave.”

“Yeah, well, he thinks you’re a badass now,” I assured her.

“Like he didn’t think that before?” she fired back playfully. I grinned.

“Well, of course. But he’ll want to make sure you’re doing okay after what happened with Karla. And I’m sure he could use some comforting, too, given everything that went down.”

“You’re right,” she conceded, and I took the turn that would lead us down to Raymond’s place.

“Do they know what happened? Olivia and Raymond?” she asked, twisting her hands over and over in her lap. I nodded.

“And they think it’s amazing,” I assured her. “Remember, Raymond was there when everything happened with Karla the first time around. He’s glad to know she’s out of my life once and for all, I think.”

She held her hands up. “Well, happy to oblige. I’m still a little embarrassed, though. I’ve never had that kind of reaction to anyone before. I’ve never wanted to do something like that in my life.”

“That’s what being a parent does to you,” I said without thinking. “You’d do anything to protect the person you’re looking after, things you didn’t even know you were capable of.”

She fell silent for a long moment, and it took me a second to realize I had referred to her as Hunter’s mother. It was the first time I had even let myself use those words. Yes, I had thought for a long time that she would make an amazing parent to my son, but I had never allowed myself to think of her as his mother. But today, she had proven she was, that she could be. When things had been at their worst, she had been the one to step up and make sure no harm came to him, and that was about the most motherly thing I could imagine in the world.

“We’re here.” I turned into the driveway. She still hadn’t said anything.

“Ready to go in and see Hunter?” I asked as I pulled the car to a halt. After a moment’s pause, she nodded and reached over to squeeze my hand.

“Yeah, I am,” she nodded. “I really am.”