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I tapped one of the arrow buttons on the copier. “So—um, this is how you change the amount.”
“Mmm-hmm.” He leaned closer to see the little screen.
“And you have to—” I swallowed. He was standing so close, I could feel his body heat. “—select color or grayscale.”
“Gotcha.”
I turned my head to look into his eyes. “And then you can push the big green button.”
He pushed the button himself without even tearing his eyes off my face. “Is that it?”
“That’s all there is to it.” Once the copier started printing, I twisted my body to face him. He was still leaning on the copier with one hand, resting it next to my waist. I stood with my back against the machine as he moved closer, lifting his other hand to place it on the other side of the copier, caging me in. But he made no attempt to touch me. He wouldn’t. Not without my consent.
His eyes shifted to the door handle. “I just noticed that door locks.”
I had mere seconds to decide what would happen next. I should’ve turned away—should’ve asked him to give me some space. But instead, I licked my lips and said, “Lock it, then.”
Mason stretched to lock the door with one hand, touching my waist with the other—keeping his eyes on mine the whole time. Once the door was secured, he wrapped both of his arms around my body. Still, he waited—he was giving me one more chance to change my mind. Or maybe he wasn’t all that sure about this himself. Just in case he was the one needing some coaxing, I whispered, “Kiss me already.”
The corners of his mouth lifted in a smile before he leaned in for a kiss, bending my body over the copier. I brought both of my hands to his chest. The hum of the machine faded into the background as I melted beneath the weight of his warm body, letting out a soft moan into his open mouth. He responded with a growl-like sound, kissing me harder and ramming his tongue farther into my mouth. One of his hands slid around to my front, slipping up beneath my sweater. As his palm ran over the thin fabric of my bra, he whispered, “Fuck, I think I’m addicted to you.”
I held Mason’s face in my hands and gazed into his eyes, so close to mine. “I’ve been going through withdrawals myself.” I knew we shouldn’t be touching like this, but when Mason was this close to me, all reasoning flew right out the window. His hands persuaded me to let my guard down, while his lips made a pretty compelling argument themselves, convincing me I needed him more than I needed to follow the rules. Why were we resisting this, anyway? As he lowered his mouth to my neck, I couldn’t even remember.
Just as Mason gripped my butt with both of his hands, the door handle jiggled and we jerked away from one another. I yanked my sweater down to cover my midriff and unlocked the door before pulling it open. Lori stood just on the other side, holding a milk crate full of file folders. “What the—? Why on earth does this door lock from the inside?” Of all the people to need to be in this room right now, of course it would be the school’s biggest gossip. Her eyes darted back and forth between us as she adjusted the crate in her arms. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“I was just… showing him where everything was.”
She pursed her lips together, letting the door close behind her. There wasn’t much room for the three of us to stand in that cramped space, but Lori didn’t seem bothered. “I’m sure you were,” she said, inching between us to put the crate down beside the paper cutter on the counter at the back of the room.
I turned to face Mason, who looked like he wanted to melt through the floor. “Um, will you just bring the rest of the copies back to the classroom when they’re finished printing?”
“Yes ma’am,” he said with wide eyes.
I followed Lori into the hallway without giving Mason another glance. The second the door closed behind me, I cleared my throat and said, “Whatever you think was happening in there—it wasn’t.”
Lori laughed snarkily as we walked side by side. “Please. I know you can’t help yourself, honey.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s kind of your thing, isn’t it?” Lori’s tone was deceivably sweet and friendly. “I think you’ve had your little escapades in every corner of this school by now—first it was Owen Gardner, and then Heath—and now one of our parent aides?” She paused to chuckle. “I’m not judging you for it, hon—but you’re not as sneaky as you think.”
What a bitch. I gripped her arm, forcing her to stop walking. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Yes, you stumbled upon a private moment—but Mason was sharing something personal about his daughter with me. That’s why the door was locked.” I was a little proud of myself for thinking so quick on my feet, yet Lori’s judgmental sneer only worsened. She wasn’t buying it.
“Well. Forgive me for assuming you were—"
“Lori, you can take whatever assumptions you have about me and shove them up your ass.”
Her mouth fell open, and the fifth-grader carrying a bathroom pass at the end of the hallway gasped. I let go of Lori’s arm and turned on my heel to walk the other direction without another word. My legs were trembling.
How could we have been so reckless?
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
chapter twenty-nine
mason
Kendall couldn’t even look at me when I returned to the classroom with her copies. The kids were already back from whatever special class they had that day, and she just motioned for me to join the group playing a literacy game on the rug. “Thank you, Mr. Reed,” she said, keeping her eyes on Walter, who was reading aloud to her. So formal.
