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“I don’t work with kids.”
“The kids weren’t there,” I clarify. Becausethatmakes it okay.
“Yeah, I kind of figured that, given the lack of an arrest warrant out for you,” Jackson says dryly. “But, still…foryouto do something like that…” He shakes his head, looking completely bewildered. “You must really like this guy.”
I let out a heavy sigh and rake a hand through my hair. “It’s…complicated.”
“In what way?” Drew asks curiously.
“Let’s just say he’s only interested in casual sex. And I need more…so I made it clear to him that we won’t be hooking up again.”
“Was this before or after you gagged on his dick in the same classroom where you teach his five-year-old daughter?” Skyler drawls.
I feel my face flaming, and not just at the reminder of what I did and where I did it. I scewed up, big time. I told Tanner over and over that it wasn’t a good idea for anything more to happen between us, and that I wasn’t interested in anything casual. And then I got on my knees and let him fuck my throat. No mixed messages there at all…
***
By the following night I’m starting to feel a bit better about the situation with Tanner. He hasn’t contacted me since Monday, and he hasn’t shown up unexpectedly at school again. So maybe he took my rejection to heart after all, even if I did contradict myself about five minutes later. Or maybe the blow job was enough to slake that lingering need, or whatever it was, that he said had been driving him crazy throughout the week.
Whatever the reason, I’m relieved that this little interlude seems to be over. It’s for the best, even if not getting inside Tanner again when I had the chance is likely to go down as Life Regret #1.
I shake thoughts of Tanner from my head as I return to my apartment, a six-pack of beer in hand. I’m trying to cheer Drew up after yesterday’s disaster, so tonight it’s beer, Marvel movies, and Drew’s tuna pasta, which I will dutifully eat even though I’m really not a fish person.
“Good, because I wouldn’t want to lie to Deacon,” I hear Drew saying as I swing the door of our apartment open.
I blink in surprise when I see my brother of all people standing there. Since when do Sullivan and Drew conspire about things?
“Lie to Deacon about what?”
Drew looks a little startled to find me standing in the doorway. Sully, meanwhile, spins around to face me, a broad grin on his face. “I found a solution. Drew here’s coming to the wedding with me. He’s going to pretend to be Andrew.”
“IamAndrew,” Drew says with a shake of his head.
Sully turns back to smile at Drew. “That’s an excellent start.”
Jesus Christ, I feel like I’ve been zapped into a Shakespearean comedy all of a sudden. When my brother admitted to me earlier in the week that he still hasn’t told the rest of our family about his break-up with his asshole ex, I was curious to see how the situation would play out once we actually got to our sister’s wedding and he was found out. I was definitely not expecting he’d resort to roping in my roommate as a rent-a-date.
“Alright, I’d better go. Deac, your jersey’s over there,” Sully says, nodding at the arm of the sofa, where my training jersey is neatly folded. He must have picked it up by accident on Monday.
“Thanks for bringing it back.”
He shrugs and strides for the door. “Drew, I’ll come by the garage tomorrow and we’ll go suit shopping. Four pm.”
“I don’t need a new suit,” Drew mutters.
But, of course, Sully just ignores him. “Four pm,” he reiterates as he slips out the door.
I arch an eyebrow at Drew. “Seriously?”
He lets out a dramatic sigh. “It’s for the shop. He’s giving me twenty-five grand just to go to this wedding with him.”
A slow whistle passes my lips. “Twenty-five grand? Dude, you got screwed. You know you could have gotten way more, right?”
Drew scowls. “I don’t want way more. I just want what we need to fix the shop.”
“What happened to not taking money from billionaires?” I can’t help asking, one eyebrow raised.
Drew winces as though I’ve just punched him. “I know, I’m a total fucking sell-out. But at least this way I’m earning the cash instead of taking a hand out.”
