Chapter 19
"Hey, isn't that your little neighbor girl?" Darrell asked Jake while they were out for recess after lunch.
Jake looked to where Darrell was pointing and grumbled to himself. Sam was being pushed around by some older girls. They looked to be fifth or sixth graders to him.
He hated to get involved since he was a guy, but he certainly didn't want Sam hurt either.
"Yeah, that's Samantha," Jake told Darrell.
"She looks to be holding her own," Darrell commented.
"So far," Jake murmured, continuing to watch.
He wasn't sure what had started it, but the older girls seemed to want to take Sam's jump rope. Her friend Ann was shouting at the older girls, but they were ignoring her to go after Sam.
Knowing Sam as he did, she probably threatened to hit them which had made the older girls concentrate on her.
"What's going on with Sammy?" Quinn had come up to ask Jake.
"Dunno," Jake shrugged.
"Isn't that Katrina?" Bryan asked Quinn.
Quinn looked closer and sure enough, one of the girls picking on Sam was one of his girlfriends.
"I'll take care of it," Quinn told Jake. "Go grab Sam."
Jake nodded and trailed Quinn.
"Hey Katrina," Quinn flashed her one of his winning grins.
Just like a switch, the older girl who definitely was the leader of the group, stopped harassing Sam.
"Hi Quinn," she flirted.
Jake grabbed Sam just as she began to swing her fist at Katrina. He wrapped his arms around Sam and picked her up, carrying her kicking and swinging away from the group of older girls.
He couldn't help the chuckle as she struggled to get away. Ann was trailing behind them with Darrell.
"Hold on, Brat," Jake told her. "You don't want to get suspended for fighting, do you?"
"They picked on me," Sam responded, still trying to get away from him.
"Then lucky me that I rescued them," Jake teased.
He put her feet back on the ground and grabbed her arm when she tried to get by him.
"Your dad will ground you if you get into a fight," he reminded her. "Is that what you want?"
"Let's forget it, Sam," Ann said.
Jake could tell Sam was debating what she should do. Maybe it wasn't a good thing that she hung around with them. She was getting even more feisty than she normally was.
"Come on, let's jump rope," Ann suggested. She started towards the other side of the playground.
Sam looked at Ann, then back at the older group of girls who were preening and flirting with Quinn, then up at Jake. Jake raised an eyebrow at her. She looked at Ann, then back at the group of girls again before stomping her foot and following Ann.
"That one is going to be a handful when she's older," Darrell laughed.
"She's a handful now," Jake shook his head as he watched her start jumping rope with Ann.
Once he made sure she was all right, he and Darrell wandered back towards Quinn.
"Katrina, you know I love ya, but that's my little sister," Quinn was telling the ringleader.
"You don't have a sister, Quinn," Katrina responded.
"Yes we do," Bryan told her.
"My twin here is right for once in his life," Quinn said with a disarming grin. "Samantha is our little sister and she's off limits to bullying."
Katrina looked to where Sam was and Jake saw something in her face which made him turn back towards Sam. He snorted to see Sam giving Katrina the stink eye while she was jumping rope. That was his Brat all right.
That thought jolted Jake for a moment. He blanked out his expression in case anyone was watching him. Jake needed to think about that later when he was alone.
"At least she's off limits if you ever want another kiss," Quinn's voice took on a silky smooth tone, snapping Jake out of his reverie about Sam.
Bryan looked at Darrell and then Jake and with his back turned towards the girls, pretended to put his finger down his throat. Darrell and Jake started to laugh.
"Okay, Quinn," Katrina gushed. "Anything but that."
Quinn flashed her another winning grin. "We'll practice later."
"Okay, Quinn," Katrina said again.
"Anyone else gonna be sick?" Bryan muttered as the four guys left the girls.
"Does she honestly buy all that?" Darrell had to ask.
"You bet," Quinn grinned at him. Then he winked.