Always You (8 page)

Wrenn

I was pissed.

Who was he to call all the
shots? So he was scared. Big fucking deal. Grow a pair and deal with it. I’d
coped with more in the last year than he ever would. I didn’t need him
protecting me.

The way I felt about him had
gone beyond some schoolgirl crush. We connected on so many levels. But he just
couldn’t get past the fact that he was my teacher.

I’ve lost too much to let him slip away. I won’t let that happen. I
refuse to.

I spent the rest of Sunday
watching DVDs and glancing at my phone, hoping he would call or text
—a
nything
—
to tell me he
had changed his mind. Layna had commented on my foul mood, which I had chalked
up to my period. That stopped any further questions. Possibly the only time my
period had ever come in handy.

I hated the way I was feeling.
He made me feel so vulnerable, so open to getting hurt. I hated that, and right
now, I hated him. I considered faking being sick so I didn’t have to see him
the next day, but part of me wanted to be there. I wanted to rub in his face
what he was missing.

My phone beeped and I lunged at
it, sighing when I saw it was only Kass. I read her message.

I’m guessing your weekend was as fun as mine *wink, wink*
 

I groaned and replied.

Only if you were at the dentist having teeth pulled. He ended it.

It took her less than ten
seconds to call me.

“He what?” she yelled.

I held the phone away from my
ear. “Ended. Finished. Over. Done,” I mumbled, digging a piece of lint out from
under my nail. I wasn’t in the mood to talk about it, not even with her.

“Oh, Wrenn. Why? What
happened?”

“I don’t know. He just said it
was too much and he
couldn’t do it
anymore
,” I mimicked. I heard the downstairs door slam shut. “Look, I’ll
talk to you tomorrow. Someone is home.”

I shuffled downstairs and saw
Dan with his bike in the middle of the living room, changing the tube in the
tire. He looked up and smiled as I walked in and slumped on the sofa.

“Hey kiddo.”

I watched as he levered the
tire off the wheel. “Layna would kill you if she knew you were doing this
inside,” I commented sullenly.

“That’s why we’re not going to
tell her.” He smirked, winking at me.

I smiled in spite of my mood,
throwing my legs over the arm of the chair.

“You okay, Wrenn? You seem
really off.”

“I’ll be fine. Just having a
bad day, I guess.”

He nodded and set down his
tools. He walked over and joined me on the sofa. “Your aunt loves having you
here with us. I do too,” Dan said.

I nodded. They hadn’t once made
me feel unwelcome, and I appreciated that.

“You know, Layna always wanted
children. I think that’s part of why she is so passionate about her job.”

“What happened?” I asked shyly.
I’d always gotten along well with Dan, but these heart-to-hearts were not
common. I felt in the way around him. Like I had invaded their life. Which, in
a way, I had.

“Life happened. We left it too
late to start trying, and by the time we found out she would never carry a
child naturally, it was too late. We tried IVF. She fell pregnant twice, and
lost the baby in the first trimester with both pregnancies.” He smiled at me.
“All I’m saying is, don’t for a second underestimate how much that
woman—and I
—
love you.”

I nodded, feeling the tiniest
bit better. I’d never doubted that they loved me, but I had wondered what would
have happened if there had been other people who could have taken care of me.

“Thanks, Dan. I love you guys
too. And I’m sorry if I don’t tell you enough, but I’m so grateful for
everything you’ve done for me.”

He reached over and squeezed my
hand. “You’re a good kid. If you ever need to talk, I’m here, okay?”

I nodded, smiling at him.

***

At six, I made myself a
sandwich and went to bed, claiming I wasn’t feeling very well. I don’t think
either Layna or Dan believed me, but they let me go. I stripped down, pulled on
my pajamas, and climbed under the covers, snuggling up to my pillow.

I thought about Dan. Had he
told Layna about our talk? Probably. In fact, I hoped he had. I probably didn’t
express myself very well to them, and I should. I’d never been shy about
telling my family I loved them, why did I find it so hard to show my aunt and
uncle? Maybe I was afraid of losing them too?

That was a big part of it.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t let
myself feel close to people, but more that I was afraid of telling them how I
felt, because in the past, everyone I had loved had left me. It was like my
mind contradicted my heart. Yes, you can love that person, but be careful how
much emotion you show.
Or maybe I have no
idea why I am the way I am.

The latter was much more
likely.

I lay in bed, thinking about
how different everything was now, from then. I hated that my family had been
taken away from me, but there was nothing I could do to change that. With
Dalton, I could. I could sit back and accept that this was what he thought was
best, or I could fight for what
I
wanted, for once.

Dalton

I was dreading walking into
that classroom. I had no idea how I was going to get through the next forty
minutes. Talk about awkward. This situation topped that list.

I finished my coffee in the
teacher’s lounge and rinsed out my mug, well aware the bell was about to sound.
I was procrastinating, avoiding the impending situation for as long as I
possibly could.

Wrenn had been really angry
yesterday. It had crossed my mind that she might turn me in, but I ruled out
the thought as quickly as it had appeared. She wouldn’t do that, no matter how
angry she felt.

Mark was next to me, talking
about something. I nodded occasionally, pretending to listen, when in reality I
had no idea what he was even saying. He didn’t seem to notice.

“Good, we will see you tonight
at eight, then. You’ll like her, trust me.”

My head snapped up as I
realized I might’ve agreed to something I didn’t want to. That last comment
sounded an awful lot like I’d just agreed to a date.

“What?” I asked

“Julie. She’s cute and really
hot. I’m sure you two will hit it off.” Mark waved at me as he walked off. I’d
have to talk to him at lunch.

Fucking great.

***

The walk down the hall to my
room felt like the longest of my life. I could see the students grouped outside
the door, waiting for me. I reached the door and unlocked it. Girls whispered
and giggled, but all I could focus on was
her
.
Even without looking, I knew she was staring at me. I swallowed, my throat as
rough as sandpaper.

The door swung open. I stood
back, letting the students file in first. I met Wrenn’s gaze as she and Kass
walked past me. Her eyes were narrowed. She was still angry. I hated seeing her
angry, but that passion hit something deep inside me, making me
feel
much more than I was ready to
admit. I shut the door and walked over to my desk.

“Okay. Quiz time. Books away,
just a pen out, please.”

Groans filled the room, but I
didn’t care. Today, I wanted the least interaction with this class I could
have. I handed out the quiz sheets and then sat back down at my desk, opening
my laptop.

I scrolled through page after
page, uninterested in everything. Clicking on my personal email, I saw I had a
new message. It was from her. My hands shook as I clicked on Open. God, I felt
so sneaky. I may as well have been looking at porn.

Dalton,

I understand why you ended things, but I want you to know I don’t give
up that easily. You know I’ve been through a lot, and I think you think you’re
sparing me more pain or whatever, but in reality all you’re doing is hurting
me.

My feelings for you aren’t superficial. They’re not going to go away
because you decide what we’re doing is wrong. Nor are your feelings for me.

Can we talk about this?

W xx

I glanced up, breathing
heavily. She was staring at me, like she knew I was reading her email. I looked
away. I was so stupid to have encouraged her feelings. It would serve me right
if this blew up in my face.

I moved my fingers across the
mouse pad and pressed delete on the email. I closed my laptop and pulled out a
handful of half-graded papers, deciding that a boring, repetitive task was
exactly what I needed right now.

The rest of the hour went
quickly, and quietly. I told the students they could leave when they handed in
their sheet. Before long, the room was empty
—
except for myself, and Wrenn.

I knew what she was doing. She
should have blitzed through this. She wanted to get me alone. She wanted to
test my resolve.

I stood up and cleared my
throat. “Time’s up.”

She grabbed her bag and walked
up to the desk, sliding the sheet across, her eyes not leaving mine. “Can we
talk?” she asked me, sitting on the edge of my desk, her skirt riding up her
creamy white thighs.

I glanced at the door. Thank
God it was shut. If she tried to kiss me right now, I probably wouldn’t resist.
Hell, if she tried to fuck me right here on the desk I didn’t think I could
resist.

“Not here, Wrenn,” I said,
keeping my distance. If I got too close, I didn’t trust myself. I wanted her
that badly.

“Then where? Tonight? Meet me.”

“I can’t. I have a meeting,” I
lied. I gathered up my things and walked over to the door. “I’m sorry, Wrenn.”

She held my gaze and then
nodded, her lips pressed tightly together. “You know, in three weeks, you won’t
be my teacher anymore,” she muttered sullenly. And just like that, she’d
reverted back to the eighteen-year-old child she was.

“No, but I still would have
been someone you trusted who abused his power. And think about it. How’s it
going to look? That we ‘suddenly’ decide to date as soon as my contract is
over? Come on, Wrenn. Nobody is stupid enough to believe that bullshit.” I was
being harsh, but she just wasn’t getting it.

“I don’t give a damn what
everyone thinks,” she retorted, her voice rising.

“Really? Not even your aunt?”

She shut her mouth and glared
at me for a moment.

“I have to go, Wrenn. This is
for the best. You’ll see.”

***

Throwing myself down on the
sofa, I groaned as I realized I’d forgotten to talk to Mark about canceling the
“date.” I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall above the fridge; it was
already past seven.

Too late now.

I didn’t have a choice. Getting
up, I threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt, not taking too much care in my
appearance. A quick run though my hair with my fingers and I was done. Grabbing
my keys, I headed for my car, already wanting the night to be over.

***

Mark’s text said to meet them
outside the steakhouse in town. It was pretty busy for a Monday night. The
place was as corny as you could get, with stuffed animal heads adorning the
walls and the waitresses dressed up as cowgirls, but they apparently did the
best steak in the county. I spotted Mark and Shelly at a booth, with them an
attractive blonde woman who looked around my age.

“Hi guys,” I said, sliding into
the booth next to the woman who could only be Julie. She gave me a smile. She
was very pretty. Her blonde hair fell down her back. She wore a black pleated
skirt and an aqua-colored sweater that looked striking against her porcelain
white skin.

“Julie, this is Dalton. Dalton,
Julie,” Mark introduced us.

“Nice to meet you,” I murmured,
taking her outstretched hand. She smiled at me. “And lovely to see you again,
Shelly.”

Shelly smiled at me, her hand
casually draped over Mark’s.

“So, you’re a teacher too?”
Julie asked.

I nodded.

“I don’t know how you handle
all the hormones,” she chuckled. “And being so attractive, I bet all your
students have crushes on you.”

“Maybe one or two,” I admitted
awkwardly, trying to laugh off the uncomfortable weight sitting on my chest.

“I don’t know what’s so special
about him,” grumbled Mark, which earned him a smack across the ear from Shelly.
“What?” he protested.

Mark was right: Julie was
funny, friendly, and very attractive. She would have been perfect if I was
interested in dating.

And if I wasn’t already in love
with someone else.

Holy shit, where did that come from?
I was in love with her? Not
that it changed anything. We couldn’t happen. Not now, not in a month. Not
ever.

***

I went through the motions of
the date, from pretending to listen to asking questions to laughing when she
made a joke. At one point I saw Mark and Shelly exchange a look, one that read
‘this is going really well!’

By that point I was already
planning on what I’d say to Mark. I’d just come out of a long-term
relationship. She’d hurt me pretty bad, and I wasn’t ready to move on…Blah,
blah, blah.

Glancing at my watch, I was
surprised to see it was only eight. Fuck. It felt like I’d been sitting here
for hours. My mind drifted to Wrenn. What was she doing right now? Probably
lying down on the sofa watching a horror movie. I smiled at the thought. That
was exactly where I’d rather be right now; curled up with Wrenn, watching
movies while moving her hair aside and kissing her neck.

Why did my head always wander
back to her?

Wrenn

“Come on, it’ll do you good.”
Kass grabbed hold of my arm and dragged me inside the restaurant. The place was
packed. The last thing I felt like doing was going out, but Kass had insisted.
I stood next to her while she organized a table for us. I scanned the faces,
hoping there wasn’t anyone from school there. That was all this day needed.
Then I spotted him.

You’ve got to be kidding me.
He was on a fucking date. I studied the
blonde, picking out every negative thing I could find about her, which didn’t
amount to much. She was pretty, well-dressed, and she laughed a lot. I hated
her already.

“I can’t be here,” I mumbled to
Kass, trying to push my way past her. She followed my gaze, her eyes nearly
popping out of her head. She stopped me as I went to walk out.

“No,” she said, a smile
twitching on her lips. “I have an idea.” She whipped out her phone and sent a
text. “Can you make that a table for four please? Preferably over there.” She
pointed in the direction of Dalton.

What the hell was she doing?
My expression must have been uneasy,
because she touched my arm, her eyes softening.

“Trust me,” she murmured.

We waited ten minutes
—
ten extremely
awkward and anxiety filled minutes
—
before we were led to a table…right next to
Dalton’s. Kass gripped my arm, nudging me to move. My feet finally found their
place. I followed Kass, not letting myself look in his direction.

We sat down. I forced myself to
look straight ahead, but out of the corner of my eye I could see him staring at
me. I turned to stare back at him, raising my eyebrow at the blonde. He looked
embarrassed. I shook with anger. He fucking
should
be embarrassed.

I didn’t want to be here. I
wanted to be anywhere
but
here, watching him enjoy his date with the
pretty blonde who
wasn’t
his student.

“What are we doing, Kass?” I
asked, confused. “Is this your way of torturing me?”

“Trina is on her way with her
brother.” She raised her eyebrows. “Her hot older brother.”

“Please tell me she doesn’t
know,” I groaned. I felt embarrassed enough without more people knowing I was
in love with my teacher.

“Relax. I said there is a guy
here that brushed you off; I didn’t say who he was. We will say it’s him.” She
nodded to a guy on the other side of the diner, looking all cozy with a girl.
He was around our age. I began to relax.

I kept my eyes on the front
entrance, waiting to spot Trina. Finally I saw her.

Fuck me
. Kass wasn’t kidding when she said Trina’s brother was hot.
He was tall, blond, with muscles in all the right places. He looked like a
surfer. If my aim was to make Dalton jealous, this guy couldn’t be any more
perfect.

“Now play along, okay?” Kass
muttered, smiling at Trina.

“Hey guys, sorry we’re late.”
Trina leaned over and kissed Kass on the lips. The brother smirked at me. I
blushed, wondering what Trina had said to him. How embarrassing was this?
Imagine if he knew it was a teacher I was trying to make jealous.

“You must be Wrenn,” he said,
reaching for my hand. I nodded, forcing a smile. “I’m Shannon.” He yanked my
arm, forcing me to my feet, embracing me in a hug. Then he kissed me. It was
just a peck on the lips, but I stared at him in shock.

I snuck a glance in Dalton’s
direction. His eyes were on Shannon, and he looked mad as hell. He looked like
he wanted to kill Shannon. I giggled and draped my arm over Shannon’s, and then
glanced back at Dalton. He glared back at me though narrowed eyes, his face
dark with anger.

It was working!

“You know, that guy’s a jerk.
If he can’t see what a catch you are, he doesn’t deserve you,” Shannon
murmured, staring into my eyes. His hand closed over mine, his fingers trailing
up my arm. I blushed and pulled away. This guy was an ass. But he was an ass
who was making Dalton more jealous than I’d seen any man, ever.

“Really? And you’ve figured
that out in the last few minutes?” I said dryly, arching my eyebrow.

He grinned, flashing his
perfect white teeth at me. I rolled my eyes and reached out, placing my hand
over his. Kass winked at me, happy I was playing the game.

“I know a good thing when I see
one. When you’re ready to give up on these boys, come find me.” He rubbed his
lips together. “Come and see how a real man can treat you.”

I burst out laughing and shot
Kass a look. She shrugged helplessly.
Was
this guy serious?
This had to be part of his act. Surely!

“Thanks, but if you’re the
definition of a real man, I think I’ll pass.”

He shrugged, his ego not
bruised in the slightest. “You’ll change your mind. They always do.” He leaned
back in his chair and smirked at me, his eyes narrowing as they ran over my
body. Sweatpants and a hoodie? Yeah, I looked hot. If I’d known I was going to
see Dalton, I would’ve dressed up.

“Hmm, maybe we should order?” I
picked up my menu to hide my smile. This guy was a tool. But it was working:
Dalton was furious. I could tell from the way he couldn’t keep his eyes off me.
I could
feel
the anger radiating from
him.

I ordered fries and a steak,
medium rare.
  

“Rare? I like a girl who knows
how to eat her meat. Do you like eating meat, Wrenn?” Shannon smirked, running
his tongue over his lips.

I rolled my eyes, excusing
myself, then rushed off to the bathroom. I didn’t need to go, I just needed to
get away from this guy’s ego for a moment, and regroup.

I pushed my way through the
white double doors on the far side of the restaurant and made my way down to
the bathroom.
Okay,
Wrenn, you’ve got this
. I stared at my
reflection as doubts began to creep into my mind. What if this didn’t work?
What then? I talked big about not giving up without a fight, but really, if he
wasn’t interested, what choice did I have?

I walked out of the bathroom
and ran into something hard. I gasped. Dalton. He grabbed my arm and yanked me
into what looked like a storage room, slamming the door closed. I’d never seen
him so angry.

“What are you doing, Wrenn?” he
growled, his voice laced with anger. He glared at me, his eyes so dark they
were almost black. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I wrestled my
arm from his grasp.

“I’m doing the same thing as
you. Having dinner,” I shot back.

“You know what I mean. Who’s
the guy?”

I snorted. “What business is it
of yours?” I asked angrily. “You made it clear that we are over. You have no
say in what I do.” I stared him down. “Anyway, it looks to me like you moved on
pretty fast. Meeting, huh?”

“I got roped into coming here
tonight. The last place I want to be is here with
her
.” He said “her” like she was a disease. The familiar pang of
anxiety began to stir in my stomach. Could he be telling the truth?

I stepped forward, pressing
myself against him. He stared down at me, his hands curving around my neck.
When his lips met mine, my heart stopped. Everything stopped. All that mattered
was him and me. The feel of him, the smell of him . . . it was like I couldn’t
get enough of him.

He lifted me onto his hips,
pressing my back against the wall behind me. He kissed his way down my neck,
his tongue rolling in soft circles over my skin. I reached out, my fingers
running through his beautifully soft hair as his mouth found mine again. I
moaned, grinding myself against his hips, the feel of his erection against my
thigh arousing me like nothing else. I loved that I made him so hard. I wanted
him, right there and then.

“Fuck, Wrenn. We can’t do this
here,” he whispered in between kisses, his hands roaming under my shirt,
cupping my breasts. Thank God he said here, because if he had knocked me back
again I think I would have punched him.

“I know. I better get back or
Kass will come looking for me.”

He set me down, his hands
running up over my back, sending shivers down my spine. “So, are you going to
tell me who the guy is?”

“What?” I asked, confused.

“The punk at your table. Do I
need to crunch some heads?”

I rolled my eyes as he grinned
at me. “See, it’s times like now you really show your age, Reid,” I teased.
“He’s Trina’s brother. I asked him here to make you jealous after I saw you
with
her
.”

“Well, it worked. That guy is a
douche,” he said darkly. “And Trina is Kass’s . . . ” he trailed off.

“Girlfriend,” I finished,
narrowing my eyes. “I know you saw them kissing at Starbucks the other night,”
I added, arching my eyebrow.

He flushed. “Does Kass know
about you and me?” he asked, ignoring my comment. I nodded slowly as he winced.
“Wrenn—”

“I had to talk to someone. And
besides, she’s covered for me so much with Layna. There was no way I’d have
ever gotten to see you if it wasn’t for her.”

“Go back to your group before
they send a search party,” he ordered.

I jumped as he smacked me softly
on the ass.

“When will I see you?” I
pouted, not wanting to leave him just yet.

“I’ll call you later. If we’re
going to do this, we need to be careful.” He glanced around the storage room
and sighed. “And this is not being careful. This is being stupid.”

***

I giggled and read the text
again.

Did I tell you how sexy you looked tonight? You really rock the
sweatpants/old hoodie look.

I replied as Kass eyed me
strangely. We were driving home from dinner. I hadn’t told her about the
bathroom incident, but she knew something was up. My mood had done a complete
flip.

Gee thanks. What can I say? I was dragged out under sufferance.

“Okay, what the hell, Wrenn?”
Kass finally said, my phone vibrating again. Another text.

I can’t wait to see you. Just you and me. And preferably not in a
closet this time.

I put my phone down and looked
at Kass, who was glaring at me impatiently.

“Come on. Spill it,” she whined
impatiently.

“Dalton kind of followed me to
the bathroom. And we kind of got it on in a storage closet.”

Kass’s mouth dropped open, her
eyes growing wide.

“No, not that!” I giggled,
realizing what she was thinking. “But if we’d been somewhere more private, that
probably would’ve happened.”

Kass squealed and hit my arm.

“Ow!” I cried, laughing.

“You little minx, so it worked!
Was he completely jealous?” she demanded, smiling.

“He wanted to beat the shit out
of Shannon,” I admitted with a smile.

“That’s so sweet,” she gushed.

“It felt good seeing him so
angry, Kass. Why did that feel so good?”

“Because it means he really
likes you, and isn’t just after sex,” she replied, her tone very
matter-of-fact. I giggled. Because
she
was such an expert on guys. “Are you still a virgin?”

I blushed and shook my head,
not expecting her to ask me that.

“How long would you wait to
sleep with him, then?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged,
feeling awkward even talking about it. “When it felt right, I guess. I’m not
against having sex early in a relationship.”

“But?”

“I feel so inexperienced next
to him. Sure, he’s only five years older than me, but he’s probably slept with
God knows how many women. What if I’m really bad?” As soon as I said it, I
cringed.

Kass burst out laughing which
made me feel even worse. “Wrenn, you’re young and freaking as sexy as hell. I
mean,
I’d
do you. You could just lie
there not moving and still be a great fuck.”

I rolled my eyes at her, a
small part of my liking that she thought I was hot.

She’s right, I guess
. If he really liked me, the sex would be
special regardless of how badly I sucked—no joke intended.

“Have you given head before?”
she asked with a smirk.

“For your information, I’ve
been told I’m pretty damn good at it,” I said nonchalantly.

“By who? Toby, the
seventeen-year-old sexpert?” she sniggered.

I glowered at her. Okay, so
maybe the source of my praise wasn’t that reliable, but I still knew my way
around a penis.

“But seriously, that’s totally
gross. I could never put one of them in my mouth. Ugh.” She screwed up her
nose. “I much prefer vagina.”

“So you’ve never…”

“Nope. I’ve had sex with a
couple of guys, but not that. I much prefer the female body. I have no problem
going down on a girl, but a guy? Hell, no. You couldn’t pay me enough to do
that shit.”

“So, what’s it like?” I
couldn’t believe what I was asking. My curiosity had gotten the better of me.

“What?” she asked, confused.

“Going down on a girl.” I
blushed as Kass’s eyes lit up.

She giggled, loving my
embarrassment. “Ha, I knew you’d ask that! It’s hard to explain.” She thought
for a moment. “
Chicks
are so soft, and usually somewhat tame, and we have three different places we
can orgasm. That leaves a lot of room for... exploration.
Personally
I think all chicks secretly want a lesbian experience, because it’s so freaking
sexy. Running your tongue along the opening of a vagina is one of the most
erotic things I can think of…God I can’t even explain. Its really something you
need to try to understand.”

I laughed. “Sure, I’ll keep
that in mind.”