Saint and Scholar Read Online Free Page B

gaze back to Tony as a warning, and he scoffed silently behind his peer.
    Alex chuckled and shook his head. “Oh, I’m not sweet. Every unattached guy in the station wants to ask you out. You should watch out for those guys. They’re like piranhas, unlike me. See, I went through your mom and bro like a good boy.”
    Her smile snapped back in as if it were a stretched rubber band finally being released. The guys at the campus police had always been so damned friendly to her. Now she knew why. “Hey, maybe when my schedule clears up, huh?” she offered. “Ask me again the next time I come into the station.”
    “Hey, you got it! Maybe we can go bowling or somethin’.”
    “Right. Bowling.” She waved goodbye and hurried out with as much grace as she could muster. She had made it all the way to her car, had the doors locked and seatbelt on before Tony knocked on her window and made her jump from fright. She’d been looking down trying to stab her key into the ignition.
    “Open the window,” he mouthed with dramatic emphasis. He even made a cranking motion with his hand. The car wasn’t that old.
    She rolled her eyes, but turned on the ignition and let down the glass all the same. “What do you want?”
    Tony narrowed his eyes and jabbed a finger at her shoulder. “Thanks for embarrassing me.”
    “You should be embarrassed. I can pick my own dates, Tony, so back off. Tell Mom that, too.”
    “Tell her yourself. Besides, the last time I checked, you had a legendary inability to select suitable partners. Do I need to spell it out for you?” He narrowed his eyes. “O-T-T-O.”
    She rested her left elbow on the window track and showed her big brother one of her favorite fingers.
    Tony growled. “I’m trying to do you a favor. He’s a good guy.”
    “So you date him.”
    “I’ll have him give you a call. Make sure you answer it. Stop being such a bitch.”
    Oh . With the stealth of one pissed ninja, she removed the canister of pepper spray from the driver door compartment and gave Tony’s neck a healthy spray.
    “Fuck!” He started to hack and cough, and backed away from the car to rip his bike jersey over his head.
    “Enjoy your cologne.” She motored up her window and drove off.
    * * * *
    “Hey, Dad, I know it’s late there, but pick up if you can hear me.” Grant waited for about ten seconds and heard the predictable fumbling and indelicate handling of a corded phone receiver being activated.
    “Grant, my boy! What did I do to earn the pleasure of one of your rare phone calls? It’s been so long I could hardly find the damned phone.”
    Grant gritted his teeth to hold back the retort on his tongue, then he spoke it anyway. “No, you probably can’t find the phone because you haven’t cleaned the damned house.”
    “We always seem to wind ’round to that in every conversation, huh?”
    “We wouldn’t if you cleaned that place up. That leads me to the point of my call.” He took a breath to gird himself from the coming response. “I’m coming home.”
    “I’m sorry, what? I think I misheard. Did the prodigal child say he’s returning? I thought you were American now.”
    “Funny, but don’t quit your day job for comedy. I’ll be home early next week, after I get things squared away here. I took a job in Maynooth. I just need someplace to stay until I find something to rent. Perhaps buy .” He switched his cell phone to the other ear and neatened the small stack of exams he’d graded thus far. He had only managed to work about a quarter of the way through and briefly considered reneging on Seth’s invitation. At this rate, he would manage to assess two more booklets before he had to change clothes. The exams were so full of pompous navel-gazing and irrelevance, scoring them took twice as long as usual. He’d already drained the ink of his favorite red pen.
    “Oh, you know you don’t have to rent. This is your place as much as it is mine. Stay as long as you’d like, or