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“The point is,” I glare at him for interrupting me, “I need solutions, not the rest of you lining up to find her.”
Jackal and Beast have finished their exchange, and the two of them are sitting comfortably again. “You said her daddy was the Principal?” I nod. “Tell him his daughter is trying to seduce you, and out of respect for your morals—which, believe me, I don’t understand in the least—you gotta get a new assistant or whatever.”
That’s what got me into this mess in the first place. I was supposed to get up this morning and do just that, but damn my alarm clock for not going off because I didn’t set it. It couldn’t just know that it was Monday and wake me up on time? I thought we were living in the future, and tech was going to take over. Where are my alarm clocks that know when I’m supposed to be awake without me telling them?
“Just tell herfather,” Saint shakes his head distastefully at the term ‘daddy’, “that she’s a nice kid, but you don’t need an aide this year after all. Tell him you don’t have enough work for her or something. Don’t make this about her because if you do, who knows if she’ll come forward and tell everyone you made out.”
The hair on my arms bristle. “We didn’t make out.” But knowing they misinterpreted my story means others will likely misinterpret it, too. I’m between a rock and a hard place. “It was just a kiss,” I explain again. “A couple of seconds, max. There wasn’t even any tongue.”
“Criminal,” Bullet mumbles. “You’re going to lose your job over a little peck on the lips. I kiss my mama with more feeling than that.”
Beast groans and leans back in his chair. “Bro, don’t say that. That doesn’t sound the way you think it does.”
Here I was thinking that Bullet couldn’t be any further from the truth. That one singular kiss was full of so much passion that I had to pull away to keep from throwing her on the desk right then and there. “I’m not going to lose my job.” See? I didn’t even need pharmaceutical drugs. I’m getting rid of my anxiety on my own. “I’m just going to explain to Mr. Fulton exactly what Saint said.”
Saint claps his hands together in a decisive victory. “Ha, fuck you, guys,” he grins at Jackal, Bullet, and Beast. “I win.”
Bullet deadpans, “Yeah because we all wish we could win this stupid argument. Go you. Congratulations.”
I pull my phone out and set my alarm for the morning. I’ll get to the high school first thing in the morning and wait outside the Principal’s office if I have to. I’m getting Danielle Fulton as far away from me as I can. It’s good for both of us, really. She doesn’t need to be crushing on a forty-year-old high school teacher, and I have no business being interested in an eighteen-year-old. I don’t care how good our kiss was this afternoon; we need to go our separate ways. That’s all there is to it.
8
HOLY
The guys left by ten, which gave me plenty of time to lie in bed and think about how I needed to phrase what I wanted to say to the Principal. I swear I didn’t get to sleep until sometime after midnight, but what else was I supposed to do? I couldn’t just go into Fulton’s office and wing it.
But the consequences of staying up late mean that I am not looking so hot when my alarm goes off at 5:30. Usually, I’d get up and try to go to the gym, but not today. My head hurts from lack of sleep, and I hit the snooze button every ten minutes for an hour. By the time I crawl out of bed at 6:30, I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. I’m exhausted, and I’d rather call in sick than put on khakis and a polo and head to the high school. But then my problems wouldn’t get solved, and I’d spend another evening asking for advice from a handful of men that treat everything like a joke.
I force myself into the shower and turn on the cold water first. Icy jets light up my skin and senses, jolting me into consciousness. If I wasn’t awake before, I am now. I quickly turn the knob until the cold water starts to turn warm. And I try not to think about Danielle as I soap everything up. My dick is hard and begging to be touched, but if I give it what it wants, I’ll never make it to Fulton’s office.
I’m on autopilot when I get out of the shower. Swipe on deodorant, make sure my beard is dry, pick out some clothes, and grab a banana on my way out the door. At approximately 7:10, I make it to the parking lot of the high school. I usually take my motorcycle, but today I pulled my truck out instead. It’s easier to go through a drive-thru for coffee when you’re in a vehicle, and I needed to pick up coffee this morning.
With two shots of espresso in a small cup in one hand and coffee in the other, I head to the front office to swing by Principal Fulton’s office. He has a reserved parking space near the front, and his dark blue Tesla is already here.
Walking in, I go over what I’m going to say.Danielle Fulton is a great addition to my classroom, but I don’t have enough work for her.I repeat it over and over again like a mantra.
Principal Fulton’s door is open when I approach. He hums while he works, the sound of click-clacking from his keyboard the only other sound. I still knock on the wall outside his office before poking my head in. “Howard,” he greets with a smile, “come in.”
Danielle Fulton is a great addition to my classroom, but I don’t have enough work for her.
“How are you this morning? Little early to be getting to school,” he says with a frown.
I nod along with him. “I actually came a few minutes early to talk to you, sir. About my teacher’s aide.”
His frame tenses up. Marcus is a well-built man, and he looks great for his age, but I notice new knots in his shoulders when I speak. “What about her?”
This is his daughter; I have to play this carefully. I don’t want him to get upset with her or me. “She’s a great resource, really,” I go off book immediately. It isn’t intentional; it’s as if everything I practiced fell out of my head. “She got a good head on her shoulders, and she’s very good with the students. I admire her professionally, especially with the students she’s familiar with.”
He eases just a little. “That’s great. I’m glad to hear that.”
“But,” I add quickly, and Marcus’s shoulders sag, “I don’t have enough for her to do. I think she’d be better suited to someone else’s class. Maybe an English teacher with a lot of essays for her to read.” And fewer men for her to interact with. If she’s stuck behind a desk reading papers about Great Expectations and The Great Gatsby, she won’t have time to bend over and give everyone a view of her ass. “It isn’t that I don’t like her; I do,” I rush to add. “I just don’t want her days to be wasted when it is clear she is a bright student with a bright future.”
The tip of Marcus’s lips turns upward into a half smile. “Well, I’m glad to hear that it isn’t a behavioral issue. As I’m sure you know, Danielle is my daughter.” His smile grows as he beams with pride. “I know a lot of you were worried when she started at MHS, but I’m glad that she’s grown on all of her teachers.”
She’s growing on me, and not in a way that Marcus Fulton would approve of. “Yes, she’s a great student.” And a nuisance. She is single-handedly on a path to destroy me. I would be willing to bet my next paycheck on it.
“It’s a shame you want to have her removed from your classroom,” the Principal says with a heavy sigh. “Dani has a lot of ambition, but I’m not sure she knows what she wants to do.”
