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“I do, cinn,” I said without hesitation and her face lit up with a soft red.
“I like you too,” she grumbled, looking away, bashful. The look, the words, they both spread a comfortable warmth through my chest and I decided that was more than enough progress for me today.
“So, what do you normally do during your lunch break?”
“Try to tidy up the kids’ desks, grade worksheets, all the work I can’t get done when the kids are around.”
I pushed off the desk and grabbed the trash can so I could do some of the tidying up. “So in other words, you work through your break?”
“One, that’s what every teacher does. And two, like you’re one to talk. On your off days, how much of them do you really spend ‘off’? Like not even planning plays or whatever in your head.”
“That’s my job as captain. And I’m not planning plays right now. I’m picking up …” I looked down at one kid’s desk that was just covered in used tissues. “I’m cleaning up snot.”
Leah’s face scrunched up even as she laughed. “I’ve got hand sanitizer by the door.”
I swiped the tissue into the bin and immediately went for the sanitizer. This was something else I’d have to think about when it came to Leah and me, she was exposed to kid germs for the greater part of the year and lord knows how my immune system would handle that transition.
“Are you freaking out about germs over there?”
“A little,” I admitted. “Missing a game because of an injury is one thing, but missing one because I got sick feels … silly. Or like I let the team down because I was careless.”
“Your workaholic tendencies are showing,” she said in a singsong voice. “But during your season and tournament times, I’ll be extra careful washing up before coming home. And if it makes you feel better, that thing by the door is an air purifier. I got it after my first year here because I felt like I had just a little bit of a cold all the time.”
“I feel like that’s something the school should provide,” I said, moving back through the room to pick up some scraps of paper. “I know it’s a public school, but this is public health.”
“Okay, honey. Take it to the next school board meeting.”
I grumbled in response, but kept my focus on cleaning up the rest of her classroom, putting crayons in their baskets, emptying filled pencil sharpeners, pushing in chairs, while Leah enjoyed her lunch in peace. When she was done, she joined me, grabbing some papers off the kids’ desks. And we spent the rest of her break like that, peaceful, quiet, until a chime on her desk rang.
“That means it’s time to get the kids,” she explained. “I’ll walk you out, the front door is on the way to the cafeteria. And …” She paused to fiddle with her lanyard before rolling her eyes, annoyed at herself. “And if you aren’t doing anything tonight and want to just … I dunno, hang at my place, that’d be cool.”
“Really?” I lit up like a dog who just heard the word "treat", but I couldn’t bring myself to be embarrassed by my excitement. As much as I wanted to "date" Leah properly, taking her out, buying her things, the real goal of a relationship was just what she offered, being at home together.
“Yeah, it’s part of my homework,” she grumbled, dropping her lanyard with a huff. “Besides, if you wanna live with me, I need to find out your weird home habits.”
“Home habits?”
“Like leaving the toilet seat up or drinking straight out of the milk jug.”
“I don’t do either of those things.”
“They were examples. Everybody has weird home habits.”
“What’s yours?”
“Stay over tonight and find out.” She threw me a wink and my knees wobbled. I had plans to review Tawdries’ game footage, do some research, my usual pregame routine. But that wink blew all those plans out the water.
The Packing Distraction
Leah
“Ugh, on a scale of one to ten, how much would you be willing to do a store run with me?” I shouted at Niall from the floor of my bedroom. He was in the kitchen washing up after dinner, but I was too distraught by my packing woes to walk over there.
“What?” he shouted back.
“Come here,” I grumbled/shouted back, huffing as I let my back fall to the floor. After a few seconds, Niall appeared in the door, dish towel over his shoulder, looking like a sexy house husband.
“What is happening here?” he asked, looking around in horror at my clothes and toiletries strewn across the floor.
