Page 57 of The Teacher

“Yeah.”

“What are you, fifteen again? Scared of the janitors are we, Mr. Deep? Not such a big business boy now.”

He wiggles an accusatory finger at me. “Don’t you laugh, you wouldn’t like it if we were caught.”

I start properly laughing then. His serious face combined with the fact his pants are still needed to be pulled up is such a funny sight. “A billionaire who’s over six feet tall is scared of a janitor seeing him half-naked.”

“Well, I don’t want anyone barging into this classroom post-sex. It’s a perfectly logical fear.”

“You’re such a baby, Skipper,” I say, covering my mouth to stop me spitting I’m laughing so much.

“Okay, okay,” he replies. “It isn’t that funny.”

“No,” I say. “It is.”

“Shut up.”

“Look at us both,” I say. “We’re acting like teenagers. Scared of the janitor. Having secret sex in the classroom. It’s really like we’ve de-aged eight years.”

“Well, that’s not too bad. I liked being a teenager, especially when it came to fucking you.”

“You’ve got a dirty mind, Mr. Deep.”

Skipper sits down on a chair and fits his shoes back on. He flicks his gorgeous hair back. “But, seriously though,” he says, locking eyes with me. “I’ve only thought of you.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, I bet you say that to all the women.”

“No, seriously. Yeah, I’ve been around. I’ve been around quite a lot, but all I’ve ever thought about was you.”

My heart begins to race, and I can’t think straight. Is he actually telling the truth here? Is this really how strong he thinks about me?

“Don’t you lie to me, Skipper. Don’t you dare. Not about this.”

He raises his hands. I don’t know if he’s still being funny, or if he’s actually deadly serious. “I’m not lying. It’s true. No one has ever compared to you. There’s a place in my heart that’s all yours and no one’s been able to pierce it since. How many times can I tell you that I know it’s a mistake what I did to you?”

“Maybe a few more thousand. That’ll be right. Yeah, that will make it right.”

Skipper sighs. “So, how about you? Have you been thinking of me for the last eight years?” he asks.

I tilt my head at him. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know.”

I’m not going to let down my guard that easily.

“Well, at least you’re back,” I say. And it’s true. I’m happy he’s back, I can admit that to myself now. I’m happy to see him again, kiss him again, make love to him again.

“Yeah,” Skipper replies with his goofy smile. “Now I’m back.”

20

SANDY

I take off in my car and head straight to the beach. Parking, I jump out of the vehicle and walk down the stairs into the sand. I sit overlooking the water and stare out into the horizon. There are a few surfers in the water, dancing along the waves. It’s getting late and the sun is setting, so it’s only the pros that are out there now.

I like to drive by the beach to have a think sometimes. It clears my head. I like to feel the salt wind on my face and the soft sand under my feet. It makes me feel alive and present in the moment. I’m not the biggest fan of mumbo jumbo meditation or things like that, but I do like to sit on a near-empty beach and enjoy the last rays of sunlight for the day.

This afternoon with Skipper had been simply magical. My heart skips a beat when I think of him now. The phenomenal sex we had in my classroom, just like the old days. I’m going to remember that for a very long time, if not in my head then at least in my body. Skipper can do things to me that I’ve never felt before. He knows exactly where and when to push me, to play me like a fiddle. I love it.