"We're good," I tell her. "Thanks."
Maya climbs back into her chair, eyes wide at the mountain of whipped cream on her pancakes. "This is the best day ever," she breathes.
And watching her dig in, watching Alice smile at her enthusiasm, sitting here in the morning sun with decent coffee and the first good feeling I've had in months...
I think maybe she's right.
Chapter 7 - Alice
This has to be a dream.
I'm sitting across from Carter, former MC member, current single father, possibly the most dangerous man I've ever had breakfast with, watching his daughter demolish a mountain of pancakes while my dog gazes at her with complete adoration, and everything feels surreally perfect.
Too perfect. Like I'm going to wake up any second in my bed with Biscuit drooling on my pillow, and this whole thing will have been my imagination working overtime.
But the coffee is real. The morning sun is real. The way Carter's looking at me over the rim of his mug, guarded but warming, like ice beginning to thaw, that's real too.
"So, what made you become a teacher?" he asks, cutting into his pancakes with the movements of someone who's very aware of his surroundings at all times.
I take a sip of my coffee, buying myself a moment. "I've always loved kids. The honesty of them, you know? They don't have all the filters adults have. They just... are who they are."
"Until we teach them not to be," he says quietly.
"Yeah." I look down at my plate. "I guess I wanted to be the kind of teacher who lets them stay themselves as long as possible. Who makes them feel safe being whoever they are."
"Sounds like you're good at it."
"I try." I stab at my pancakes, not really hungry despite how good they smell. "My ex used to say I cared too much. That I let my students' problems become my problems."
The words slip out before I can stop them. I shouldn't be talking about my ex. Definitely shouldn't be oversharing about my failed relationship to a man I barely know.
But Carter doesn't look uncomfortable. He just nods slowly, like he understands. "Your ex sounds like an asshole."
I laugh, a surprised, genuine laugh that makes Maya look up from her pancakes. "He really was."
"How long's it been? Since you split."
"Three months. Found out he was cheating with a girl from his gym." I wrap my hands tighter around my mug. "Which wasn't even the worst part, honestly. The worst part was how he'd spent two years making me feel like everything about me was wrong. Too emotional, too invested in my work, too... much of everything."
Carter's jaw tightens. I watch the muscle jump, watch something dark flicker across his expression. "He said that? That you were too much?"
"In various ways, yeah." I force myself to look at him, to not hide from this. "He had a lot of opinions about my weight, too. Always disguised as concern, always framed as 'I just want you to be healthy,' but really he just wanted me to be smaller. Take up less space."
"Jesus Christ." Carter sets down his fork, and his voice when he speaks is low and dangerous. "I don't know your ex, but I know men like him. Men who tear down the people around them because they're too fucking weak to build anything themselves. Men who need someone else to feel small so they can feel big."
The intensity in his voice makes my breath catch. He means it. Every word.
"You're not too much," he continues, meeting my eyes. "You're not too emotional or too invested or any of that bullshit. You're a teacher who gives a damn about her students. You walk your dog at the same time every night because you're loyal to routine. You came looking for me yesterday just to say thank you because you're the kind of person who does the right thing even when it's awkward." He pauses. "That's not too much. That's exactly enough."
I have to blink rapidly to keep from crying. No one has ever—my ex certainly never—
"Thank you," I manage, my voice rough. "You didn't have to say that."
"Yeah, I did." He picks up his fork again, goes back to his pancakes like he didn't just say the most perfect thing anyone's ever said to me. "Someone should have told you a long time ago."
Maya is watching us both with wide eyes, her fork paused halfway to her mouth. "Ms. Alice, are you sad?"
"No, sweetie." I smile at her, wiping quickly at my eyes. "Just happy. Sometimes people cry when they're happy."