Hard To Handle (Teach Me Book 2) (9 page)

“Fine,” he let out a dejected breath, “but I’m totally singing some N’Sync Christmas songs in the car.”

“Gee, I can hardly wait.”

“Don’t be a hater, Z. You’ll be singing along before you know it. Aaaaand, I also have these.” Lawson held out two red and white Santa-style hats. Pulling one on, he pretended to model.

“Mmmm, no,” he laughed. “You’re on your own with that, dude.”

“Whatevs. Your loss. Tons of women will be flocking to me, just begging to sit on my lap.” Lawson wiggled his eyebrows, rubbing his palms together.

“Riiight. Let me throw on some clothes and I’ll be ready to roll.” Zach began walking down the hallway toward his bedroom.

“Take your time, man. I’m in no hurry. I’ll just practice my Santa-isms,” Lawson called after him. He heard his friend mumble, “Ho, ho, ho! That’s not a candy cane in my pocket. I’m just happy to see you …”

Entering the bedroom, Zach purposely avoided looking toward the bed where he knew the sheets and comforter were all askew. Pulling harder on his dresser drawer than was necessary, he grabbed a pair of khaki shorts before he tugged on an old, worn cotton T-shirt from back in his college days. Dressing quickly, he walked into the adjoining bathroom, applying some deodorant—more than normal to try and mask the scent of Laney lingering on his skin.

You could just take a quick shower. Wash it off you
. Zach didn’t want to acknowledge those thoughts. Nor did he want to recognize the fact that a sick, pathetic part of him wanted to keep a small remnant, a reminder of last night.

Walking back out to where his friend waited on him, he grabbed his wallet, keys, and phone from the small tray on the counter and slid his wallet into his pocket.

“All set?” Lawson asked, receiving a nod from Zach.

As the two men walked out the front door of the house, Zach couldn’t help but pause for a split second in the doorway where the events last night had all begun. Pulling the door closed and locking it behind him, he felt like he was finally shutting the door on things.

Like he was closing the door on the possibility of ever having more with Laney Kavanaugh.

* * *

Laney was never more thankful to have her own place than she was today. Having to do the walk of shame this morning after having it out with Zach certainly hadn’t helped. After she had gotten home, she jumped into the shower and scrubbed herself clean, trying to rid herself of the lingering feeling of discomfort over what had happened between them. As she toweled off, she’d noticed the slight soreness of her muscles from last night’s acrobatics. And it reminded her of the numerous times Zach had driven her crazy, made her mindless so that all she wanted—needed—was him.

Letting out a long sigh while drying off, gazing at her reflection in the mirror, she noticed the evidence of love bites on her breasts. She still couldn’t believe what had transpired between them last night. Couldn’t believe that it had been Zach, of all people, who had thrown her so off balance and been exactly what she had always secretly dreamt of. No one she’d ever been with had turned her on, made her long for their touch so much. Until Zach.

She heard her phone ring in the distance, recalling it was still in her clutch purse from night before. Laney had tossed it onto her bed in her haste to shower. Tucking the towel around her, she walked to her bedroom, retrieving her phone from her purse.

When she saw the name on the caller ID, she refused to admit to the tiny kernel of disappointment that it wasn’t Zach. Because, really, why would he call her, anyway? Especially after how they had left things. Just add ‘delusional’ to her list of attributes.

“Hey, girl! What’s up?” She tried to sound upbeat.

“Hey, you! I wanted to see if you’d like to head out and get some brunch with me?” Tate asked. “Aaaand, if you have anything to tell me.”

Laney ignored the leading comment. “I just got out of the shower and am dead tired, so if we can go somewhere low-key, I’m in.” Just then, a yawn fought its way through.

“Whoa, you sound exhausted. You sure there isn’t anything you need to tell me?” Tate’s voice had a suspicious tone to it.

“Nope, just couldn’t sleep. Too much excitement mixed in with already missing Raine.”
Okay, since that wasn’t a complete lie, Tate should buy it
.

Her friend let out a soft sigh on the other end. “I know what you mean. Same here,” she said. “How about I pick you up in twenty minutes and we head to Mae’s?” Mae’s was one of the local diners in Fernandina Beach that was, indeed, very low-key as Laney had specified.

“Done. I’ll see you then,” Laney agreed and the two women said their good-byes, ending the call.

C
HAPTER
T
WELVE

S
LIDING INTO THE BOOTH,
L
ANEY
had to force herself to hold back a groan at the soreness between her thighs as she sat. Good Lord, she couldn’t wait until this soreness went away so the reminder of her time with Zach would go with it.

Tate’s eyes narrowed on her in concern. “Why did you just wince? Are you okay?

Shit. Shit. Shit
.

“I’m good. Just tired, that’s all.” She picked up the menu and studied it even though she knew exactly what she would get: an egg white omelet, the same thing she ordered every single other time she was here.

You could have had an omelet this morning. With Zach
. Laney ignored the nagging voice in her head.

“Uh-huh.” Doubt laced Tate’s tone, before she turned her attention to her own menu. Which was equally as ridiculous since Tate always ordered the two egg breakfast which came with sausage links, hash browns, and toast. And added a side of three buttermilk pancakes. And bacon. Yet, she was somehow still a size one. Not to mention, her cholesterol was perfect.

Sometimes life just wasn’t fair.

Tate was naturally thin and waiflike, clad in yoga pants and a tank top with no ounce of fat in sight, unlike Laney’s taller five foot seven frame which was much curvier. Raine had told her that her body was like J.Lo’s: curvy but still fit and slender. When she looked at Tate’s tiny figure, though, she almost wanted to shove a box of cookies down her throat. Not that it would make a difference. That girl never gained any weight.

The waitress delivered their coffees and waters and took their order. After she left their table, Laney and Tate sat in silence. Uncomfortable silence. The kind of silence that was beyond awkward.

“You do realize that I knew about Raine and Mac when they had that whole ‘secret affair thing’ going on, right?” Tate’s one eyebrow was slightly raised.

“You did not!” Laney folded her arms across her chest. “No one knew about that except for my brother.”

Tate waved a finger at her. “Not true. I could see the way they looked at each other when things changed. People have little tells. Like with avoidance.” She paused and leaned closer to her, lowering her voice. “Or they don’t realize that others might have been taking a different route home from yoga class after getting gas in their car and happened to notice a car in a certain someone’s driveway.” From beneath her eyebrows, she added, “Just after seven o’clock this morning.”

“I still don’t understand how you taught a six a.m. yoga class. After being up late from Raine and Mac’s wedding festivities? What are you? A machine?”

Tate leaned back and folded her own arms, mimicking Laney’s pose. “You’re avoiding answering me.” Just then, their waitress delivered their plates of food to the table.

Laney was starving so she instantly began cutting into her omelet. “I don’t want to talk about this on an empty stomach, Tate.”

Giving a short huff, her friend rolled her eyes. “Fine.” Then, waving her fork in her direction, she said, “But you will talk.”

“We’ll see,” she mumbled, garnering a sharp glance from Tate.

* * *

“What do you think about this for Momma K.?” Lawson asked him, holding up the apron that said, ‘One-a does not-a simply tell an Italian they’re not-a hungry.’

Zach laughed. “That’s perfect, dude. She’ll love it.” He had chosen a trivet with a funny Italian saying for her. She always got a kick out of what they gave her for Christmas each year, making a huge deal out of it as if they had gotten her a piece of priceless jewelry. It was exactly what his own mother had never done.

He could recall the moment he’d given up thinking anything he gave his mother would be good enough. When he was a young boy, he would bring home the keepsake crafts they made at school, so excited to present it to her since he’d worked incredibly hard at taking his time and doing his best work. After being on the receiving end of enough of her sour, unimpressed looks, as if what he had made her was nothing better than a piece of trash, he had quickly learned nothing would be good enough for his mother. Unless it came with an expensive price tag, of course.

He had never been so relieved to move out and start college down at The University of Central Florida. It was far enough away from his mother’s home on Amelia Island that she didn’t bother him except for a request for him to come home on major holidays or for her elaborate birthday parties, attempting to convince her haughty, snobbish friends she was the perfect mother who had a strong bond with her son. This was also an effort to ensure that the money still flowed from the trust set in place after his father had passed away. The same trust Zach had been left in charge of the allocation of funds.

Roaming through the store as Lawson was trying to find something for his own mother, Zach found himself standing in front of a large display of snow globes. However, these weren’t the crappy kind of five dollar snow globes. No, these were much more elaborate and well-made, intricately designed inside.

He wasn’t quite sure what had made him look through the dozens of snow globes, but when he laid his eyes on one in particular, he found himself carefully removing it off the shelf to examine it closely.

The box indicated it was called a ‘water globe’ and this one had a lone dolphin inside, appearing as though it were jumping from the water. Once you tilted the globe before righting it, it looked as though the blue water were flowing over it, reminding him of how a lava lamp flowed. Placing it back upon the shelf, Zach wasn’t sure how long he stood there, staring at it. Eventually, he felt someone come to stand beside him.

“Know someone who’s into dolphins, do ya?” Lawson asked.

Zach didn’t immediately answer.

“If it’s for ‘she who shall remain nameless’, it’s definitely better than your usual piss-her-off gift of a box of tampons, deodorant, and diarrhea relief meds.”

He still didn’t speak and felt Lawson’s eyes on him.

“You need a moment alone with your precious little globes? That’s cool. I’ll meet you at the car.” Lawson slapped him on the back before walking away. He heard his friend’s footsteps stop abruptly. “Just so you know, if you end up buying one of those, start stroking it, and calling it your ‘precious’, I’m not okay with it.” There was a pause. “Scratch that. I might be okay with it as long as there’s a hot elf chick involved.”

Zach snorted. “Duly noted.”

After hearing his friend’s footsteps trail off, he reached up and grasped the box, walking it up to the counter. As he was pulling out his card to pay, the cashier asked him, “Would you like it engraved on the bottom?”

Caught off guard by her question, he asked, “The bottom?”

“Yes, dear.” The older woman smiled at him. “There is a little plaque on the bottom where you can have something engraved if you like. It’s only five dollars extra and you can take it over to the other counter and have it done within a few minutes.”

Five minutes later, Zach exited the store, holding a bag containing a dolphin water globe with an engraved message on the bottom. For a woman who wanted nothing to do with him.

Yeah. It was confirmed. He’d hit rock bottom on the pathetic scale.

Yet, for some unexplainable reason, he was actually okay with it.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTEEN

T
ATE PULLED INTO
L
ANEY’S DRIVEWAY,
returning from breakfast, and parked behind a small white rental car. Adam had called while they were finishing up with breakfast and wanted to stop over and hang out for a bit before he had to head to the airport to catch his flight back home. He had mentioned he’d enjoyed sleeping in for the first time in a long while, as he had stayed over at Lawson’s place since his roommate had been out of town for the weekend. She was certain having to work crazy hours like he did had to be exhausting.

Adam sat on the top step of the stairs leading up to her beach house, sunglasses perched on top of his head, not a hair out of place in his perfectly styled blond hair. His lean, tanned muscled form was clad in a pair of board shorts and a graphic tee, a pair of flip flops on his feet. His gaze ran over the two women before returning to Laney, his lips curving into a slow grin.

“Welllllll. I must say, someone looks mighty hungover,” he mused, tapping a finger to his lips in thought. “Except for the fact that you didn’t drink much at all last night. And you drove home. So, that must mean that you have a sex hangover.” He covered his mouth on a dramatic gasp, before quirking an eyebrow. “Laney Kavanaugh! Did someone sex you up last night? And which hunk of manliness was it?”

Laney shot him a sharp glare. “Do you really expect me to let you in when I know you’re planning on harassing me more?”

He grinned widely. “You’re going to let me in because you like getting harassed.” With a meaningful look, he added, “Because I’m pretty sure you got ‘harassed’ by a man’s penis last night. And I need the deets.”

Tate snorted while Laney merely rolled her eyes at him, sliding the key into the door. “Fine. Get in here, you perv.” She entered her home, kicking off her flip flops onto the mat beside the door, the others following suit. Closing the door behind them, Adam followed the women down the hall to where Laney collapsed on the small couch. Tate took the arm chair and Adam lifted Laney’s legs to sit on the couch beside her, draping her legs over his lap.