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VALENTINE
“I’m taking the night off, Mindy. Can you cover my set?” I sent the text, staring out at the sinking sun the next day.
I got a reply immediately. “No problem, honey. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, it was just a long night followed by a longer day. I’ve got my car back now, at least.” I sent back and wiped at my tired face with my hands.
I’d gotten up at ten am, only a few hours after I’d gone to bed. My car was ready to be picked up, so I’d got up, got ready, and called for another Uber, and got my car. I’d gone to a hardware store after that and bought some glass but left the wood filler I was going to buy to fill the nail holes. I’d decided to leave the back door nailed shut. I very rarely used it anyway. You can’t break in if you can’t unlock the door. There was no lock in the world that could do what nails could.
After that, I’d sat around in my house, feeling like a prisoner. I’d decided not to go to work because I was too tired to dance. Even my easy routines would be too much after the night I’d had. My boss wanted to sleep with me, so I wasn’t worried about missing a night. The manager might be upset with me if I didn’t let him know I wasn’t coming in, but I didn’t really give a fuck. I still had to let the guys know I wasn’t going to go through with the plan and that just sapped what little strength I did have.
I chewed at my lip, lost in thought until I bit too hard and brought myself out of the daze.
“Are you alright, Val?” Mindy’s next text asked, and I knew she was concerned. It was the second time she’d asked me that.
“I am, I’m just tired after today and need a break. I can cover another shift for you later, if you want?” I offered, hoping to alleviate her worry.
“I’m fine, no need to cover another shift. I know how it is.” She sent that back with a heart emoji and I knew she was feeling a little less concerned.
A knock at the front door set me on edge. I looked around at the couch I’d covered with a blanket until I could get another one and the emptiness left by the destroyed table I’d removed. Nothing else was out of place, I’d cleaned it all up good the night before, but I knew there was a table missing and that bothered me. There wasn’t much I could do about the state of the place for now, so I walked quietly to the door and peeked through the peephole in the door.
I hadn’t known who to expect but the man I saw on the porch surprised me and my hand went to the door. “What are you doing here?”
He smiled shyly, before he looked me over with a grin. I had on a short green sundress and nothing else. His gaze said he approved of my clothing choice. “Hi. Uh, Derek sent me over to check on you.”
“Did he now?” I asked, leaning against the door, a playful smile pulling at my pink lips. “I guess you should come in then, so you can tell him I’m fine.”
I moved away from the door, leaving it open so he could walk in. I glanced at him as he walked in, taking in the black tank top that revealed strong arms and shoulders, then his jeans. I wondered, not for the first time, if bikers all went shopping together and criticized each choice made because they all seemed to pick the perfect pair of jeans. Cameron’s were just tight enough to show off his ass and the powerful strength of his thighs.
I wiggled my eyebrows behind him before I closed the door. “Do you want something to drink?”
“No, thanks,” he rejected the offer but turned to look at me. “Everything alright?”
“Yeah,” I lied without batting an eyelash, the smile still in place. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
My teacher shrugged, the round shape of his shoulders drawing my gaze. I quickly moved my eyes back up to his face, stopping at his gorgeous eyes. They were rimmed with kohl black eyelashes, the lashes so thick and lush it almost looked like he was wearing eyeliner. It only heightened just how beautiful his whole face was. “Derek said you weren’t coming to work tonight. He was worried.”
My fingers itched to outline the square shape of his jaw. They twitched I wanted to touch him so much, but I held myself still. “News travels fast in that place. I’m fine, really. I just had a hard time sleeping last night.”
I moved to the couch and gestured for him to join me. My brain wanted me to lunge at him, while giggling ecstatically, but I’m a grown woman. I put that shit on lockdown. Especially when I remembered my thoughts from the night before. I had to put a stop to the game we’d all started the night before.
But I forgot about that when the man I used to call Mr. Thomas sat down on the other end of my couch without looking at me. Was he nervous? Did he not want me? Did I want him? I’d just been thinking about my stalker, about the problems it would all cause, about telling them I didn’t want to be a part of a trio, but now? All I could think about was…him. I was nervous, but for an entirely different reason. I wanted him to actually like me.
He swallowed and tilted his head to the left, still not looking at me.
“What’s up, Mr. Thomas?” I asked, hoping he’d at least look at me. He did look at me, but then he quickly looked away.
“Well, we all agreed last night that we really wanted to do this, whatever you call this.” He waved his hands around but then stopped. “But you said you wanted us all to go on dates with you. This isn’t a date.”
“No, it’s not,” I answered, a smile in place to hide where my thoughts had been moments before, and the anxiety those thoughts had given me. “And I haven’t agreed to any of it yet, either.”
“Um, well, we all agreed that we wouldn’t do, um, anything with you until we’d all had our dates and you wanted to,” he told me, and I just looked at him, waiting, my left eyebrow lifted.
“Did you now?” I inhaled deeply, trying to control myself by putting my fingers on my stomach and staring at him. It was so strange that he was in my house, on my couch, so close I could touch him. “So, you can’t stay for a little while and keep me company, Mr. Thomas?”
“Not for long, no.” He gulped, and I swear, if he’d been wearing glasses as he used to, he’d have pushed them up his nose. I liked him without the glasses, but I’d also liked the glasses back in school, they’d made him seem so mature, smart and sexy.
“Hm, that’s fine.” I was disappointed, but I’d keep it to myself.
“How have you been?” Cameron asked, sliding his hands down his pants. Were his palms sweaty? Was he trying to control himself?
All the teenage fantasies rushed back at me, but he was trying to play it cool, so I would too.
“I’ve been fine. I work, come home, go to work again,” I laughed as I said it. “You know, keeping up with the grind.”
“Why didn’t you go one of the local colleges?” he asked, his brows together as he looked at me. I smiled at him and shrugged.
“Colleges and universities aren’t for everyone. I was never academically driven, I was, hmm, how to put this, get the fuck out of town driven.” I smiled at his look of surprise.
“But you’re still here,” he pointed out, rather unhelpfully.
