“I didn’t know enough,” Elisa said in a small voice, but the delicate muscles in her jaw jumped as it tightened. She was frustrated, maybe, but not defeated.
“Hey.” Rojas touched her shoulder, making sure to move slow and keep the pressure as light as he could make it, but wanting to give her more than just words. Contact. Comfort. “You’re a fast learner and you’re smart. Don’t doubt it. There’s always something new to learn out there. None of us is perfect.”
“I don’t know.” She reached up and placed her fingertips on the back of his hand to let him know his contact was welcome. The contact zinged through him, short-circuiting his original train of thought. “Boom is close to convinced that she’s omniscient.”
Cruz chuckled.
Rojas groaned, but he didn’t withdraw yet. Her touch was featherlight on the back of his hand, and her shoulder was warm under his fingertips.
“Anyway, we’ve got your back now and we’ll make sure you’ve got the knowledge you need to protect yourself.” He cleared his throat and withdrew his touch.
Cruz didn’t add to what Rojas had said but nodded in agreement. “Stick around and Boom might teach you a few things none of us know yet.”
Rojas’s phone buzzed in his back pocket. He retrieved it and gave it a swipe. “Speak of the devil.”
“I’m not a devil, Dad!” Boom’s laughter filled his ear, and he grinned despite himself.
“You okay? Need something?” He’d been up there only a few minutes ago and she didn’t sound like she was in distress, but a gang of worry hit him in the chest anyway.
“Yeah. I forgot, though.” Boom dropped her voice the way she did when she knew he wouldn’t be thrilled. Which meant it probably had to do with schoolwork and maybe not the best study habits ever.
“Homework?” He figured it couldn’t be all bad. It was only Saturday, after all. He wanted her to rest, but if she was going back to school on Monday, which the doctor had said she should be able to do, then she should have her homework done.
Technically, she should’ve had any homework from the last day of school she’d attended done before they’d gone to Revolution MMA for her class in the first place. House rules: homework done before martial arts class or going out to play. And her teachers hadn’t sent any assignments for the day she’d missed.
“I finished most of it.” The statement came out in a rush. Meaning it hadn’t been done before she’d gone to class and broken her arm. “There’s a project due on Monday and that’s not the same as homework.”
He frowned. Technically, she had a point. “What kind of project?”
“I need to make a presentation for science class. It’s supposed to be of the solar system.” She went on to tell him about what she had planned. “I really want to set it up to put a spotlight on Pluto. I feel bad for Pluto because at first they thought it was a planet and then they thought maybe it wasn’t and now it’s supposed to be a dwarf planet. And there’s all these cute pictures on the Internet of Pluto and how happy it was to have the New Horizons spacecraft fly by and take pictures.”
His eyes glazed over.
Not that he didn’t like science. He did. But there were only so many facts he could absorb about a planet that wasn’t a planet in the space of thirty seconds. Which was about how long it took for Boom to tell him all of those things.
He glanced at Elisa, who now had her hand covering her mouth as she unsuccessfully hid her giggling. Cruz had a grin on his face, too. Great. Well, it was what Rojas got for keeping the volume up on his phone.
“Okay, slow down. The bottom line is you need to go to the craft store. Yes?” He was fine with briefings, but he always wanted the takeaway, the action items.
“Yes.” Boom sighed. “Can you take me now while my arm isn’t hurting and I’m still awake?”
Rojas chewed on the inside of his cheek. No way was he going to be able to make it out and back before the next class started. On the other hand, Boom had a point about her arm and being awake. There was a relatively small window in which she was alert and not in pain with the current medication schedule. He didn’t want her to get overtired rushing, either. He looked at Cruz.
Cruz’s eyes widened and the other man whispered, “I would, but sick. Remember? Last thing she needs is to catch a cold on top of that broken arm.”
Man had a point.