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Chapter Eleven
“Okay, who was that guy?”
Hannah pulled her lunch from the staff lounge fridge and glanced at Sam. “Which guy?”
Her friend cracked open a soda and took a sip, giving her a contemplative look. Clearly waiting for her to spill it. “Fine. You’re going to make me say it? The one who dropped you off at school today. The one you were sucking face with.”
Heat rushed to her cheeks, and Hannah shushed her friend, glancing quickly around the populated lounge.
“Discretion,” she whispered, grabbing her friend’s hand and pulling her to a table near the back that was empty.
“I’m not so good at the discretion thing. You really oughta know that by now.” Sam lowered her voice and jerked her head toward the cross on the wall. “But I get it. We need to keep this on the quiet with you know who and the faculty looking on. Some of these people get a little Judgey McJudgeypants.”
“Oh, stop.” Hannah couldn’t hide a small smile.
“I mean, not me. I’m all in for the juicy stuff.” Sam took a bite of sandwich and stared her down. “He’s pretty cute. What’s his name?”
“It’s Eric.” And just how much should she actually tell her friend about the situation?
She didn’t want to tell her the entire truth, because the whole point of Eric posing as her boyfriend for a bit was to make it believable. And if she had to start with her work wife, then so be it. She nibbled at her lunch, debating how to explain it.
“Remember when I was telling you about that parent who was a little creepy?” She kept her words quiet. “And you told me to get a gun?”
“Oh, yeah. Did you get one? Has that situation with the parent died down?”
“It seems to be escalating.” She didn’t want to tell Sam about the flowers and the note about her being a whore. It was still too upsetting to even think about. Plus, she had no proof they’d been from Wentworth. “And I didn’t get a gun. But I took up Taekwondo.”
“Martial arts? I’m thinking a gun is a better defense than being able to break a board with your foot.”
“Look, I’m learning to defend myself. And you’re missing where I was going with this story.”
“OK, please continue.”
“That’s where Eric and I really got to know each other.” Like uniform to uniform, sweaty and flushed. Good God, just thinking about their sparring match left her a bit frazzled again. “Where we figured out there was an attraction.”
“Ah, so you already knew him?”
“Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “He’s, um, a friend of James’s.”
“James. As in your ex, James?”
“Yeah, that one.”
“Aren’t there rules about that kind of—”
“No. That’s just a load of garbage people like to make a big deal of. I don’t think it really matters.”
“Pretty sure it matters, but go on. Tell me more about Eric. What does he do?”
“He’s an auditor at a bank.”
“Now that seems like a nice stable job.”
“You sound like my mom.” Hannah grimaced. “Anyway, we really connected. He’s so sweet and funny, and I’m really attracted to him. We just have this... spark.”
“So I gathered from that kiss. And he drove you to work today?” Sam lowered her voice and leaned forward, all conspiring-like. “Does this mean you guys are having sleepovers?”
“He moved in,” Hannah answered just as softly. “He’s been worried about me and thought it was best.”
