CHAPTER ELEVEN
Karina
K: How’d you sleep last night with two teenagers under your roof?
I can’t help but give Mason a hard time. Caleb’s a good kid, I know that from having him in my class, but he’s also a teenage boy, almost a man, with teenage hormones.
M: Slept like a baby, Rina. Told you I trust Caleb. Now had it been me and you’d been here? No doubt about it, there’s no way I would have kept my hands off you last night.
I’m trying to think of what my reply will be when another message comes through; a picture of Mason’s head against what I assume is his pillow. His eyes are heavy with sleep, his smile lazy, and his stubble is grown in more, adding to the beard on his face. Looking farther down, I can see his chest on full display. Immediately I wonder what he sleeps in.
K: You look cozy and fine as hell. What do you sleep in, Mase?
M: Last night? I slept in these.
The next thing I know, I get a picture angled a little further down, showing a flat stomach with light hair, leading to the waistband of what appear to be boxers. I’d have to be blind not to notice the bulge just below his waist. It makes me wonder what it would be like to wake up next to him, put my leg around his waist, feel his hardness, and bury my head in his neck, while we lay together. The outside world could wait while the two of us woke up and whispered quietly. I never even thought about these things with Braxton, my ex-fiancé. Can’t even remember the last time I’d wanted to lounge around with him. Maybe the writing had been on the wall for us way before I found out he was sleeping with my best friend. The sound of another text coming through brings me out of my thoughts.
M: Usually I sleep in something a little different but with Jess here I didn’t feel comfortable.
Dear Lord. This man…I have a feeling I know what he’s suggesting.
K: Are you saying you usually sleep naked?
M: Wouldn’t you like to know?
I love the way he teases me, the easy way in which we talk with one another.
K: Maybe one day I’ll find out for sure. ::wink::
M: Fuck, I hope so! Hopefully sooner than we think. Let me get up and see if the kids are moving. Either way, we’ll be there to get you in about an hour. That good for you, Rina?
K: Can’t wait, big guy. See ya then.
With a squeal, I hop out of bed and run around trying to figure out just what the fuck I’m gonna wear.
Menace
I throw my phone down beside me on the bed, scrubbing my hands over my face and eyes. For all my talking to Caleb about not having teenage hormones, my dick sure is sporting morning wood. Karina gets me hard, no matter what she’s doing. Just thinking about her is enough. I wonder if this is what people meant when they said there were honeymoon stages of relationships? With Caleb’s mom, it really was the fact that I was a teenager, an errant wind could have gotten me hard. Now that I’m older, I honestly can’t remember a woman I’ve had a reaction to like this.
Quickly, I take a shower, before getting dressed and cautiously walking into the kitchen. Last thing I want to do is interrupt a moment or some shit.
“Morning, Dad,” Caleb talks around a mouthful of oatmeal. “Coffee’s made, and your fave cup is over there.” He gives me a huge, over-exaggerated smile.
I stare at him for a moment, but let it go as I get my coffee. “Morning to you two.”
“Thanks for letting me stay here last night, Mr. Harrison. My mom texted me and told me that you’d sent her a message. I really appreciate it. Thanks for not telling her know where I really was.”
Because of the job I have, I’d struggled with the decision as to what to tell Jess’ mom, but in the end, I didn’t want to worry another parent when things ended up being fine. After the way Caleb shared his disappointment, I have a feeling she won’t be doing it again. Turning around, I stir the coffee I have with my sugar.
“It’s no problem, I’m just glad you’re okay, and please call me Mason, anything else makes me feel old as hell.”
“You are old as hell,” Caleb interjects.
“My mom is forty-five,” Jess argues, as she takes a bite of her own oatmeal. “You’re lucky to have a dad young enough to do cool stuff with.” She puts her hand on Caleb’s forearm.
The way they look at each other, I wonder if they did keep it PG last night, but as I told Rina, I trust my son. He’s an adult, and accusing him of something he may or may not have done won’t get me anywhere. I want us to enjoy the time we have left together. “Yeah Caleb, you’re lucky to have a young dad who’s awesome.”
He coughs around the spoonful of oatmeal he’s just put in his mouth. “I’m lucky to have you, but thirty-four seems so old.”
It had seemed old to me too when I was his age, but now I’m coming to the realization that a new stage of my life is about to begin. At Christmas I’d been dreading Caleb going off to school, I’d been worried about how lonely I would be. Now? Now I’m kind of looking forward to seeing what happens, how I handle it, how Karina and I spend our time together. Instead of dreading summer, I’m looking at it with a realization that it might not be as bad as I had assumed.
“And eighteen seems so young,” I throw back at him. “I’ve been old a long time; I had to grow up fast because of you.” I tip my coffee cup at Caleb. “But I wouldn’t change it, bud. Not at all.”
“Yeah.” He nods, finishing his bowl of oatmeal. “I’m not sure what I’d do if my dad was forty-five. Pretty sure your mom doesn’t let you talk to her the way he lets me talk to him.”
Jess laughs, looking between the two of us. “Not at all, but your relationship is different, and that’s okay.”
Finishing up my coffee, I put the cup in the sink, clapping my hands. “You two ready? Rina will be waiting on us.”
“Dad’s dating Ms. Holland.” Caleb stands up, stretching as Jess looks over at me, eyes wide.
“She’s the prettiest teacher we have, and you’re way hotter than Mr. Cartwright.” She clamps her hand over her mouth after the words escape.
“Who’s Mr. Cartwright?” I ask, feeling jealousy like I haven’t felt possibly ever.
“Science teacher who’s asked her out a few times.” Jess keeps talking, even though I have a feeling she doesn’t mean to. “Honestly, he’s a bit creepy, a lot of us girls think so. I’m glad Ms. Holland didn’t go out with him. I’m sure the two of you have a lot more in common. His room is the one that the dog went into when we had the lockdown at school.”
Immediately I’ve got my cop hat on. “Why does he make you feel creepy?”
Her eyes meet Caleb’s and it looks like she doesn’t want to speak, but he stares at her in the same way I do.
“Just the way he looks at us.” She pushes her oatmeal away. “When we have practice, he’s usually still at school, which is odd. By the time we leave, most teachers are gone. But he’s hanging out by the locker rooms. He tells us it’s because he wants to make sure we get out okay, since it’s dark when we leave. I don’t buy it.”
“Why do you not buy it?” Caleb asks before I can question what she’s said to me.
She shifts in her seat, almost as if she doesn’t want to answer. Eventually she begins talking. “None of us ever stay alone in the locker room, because he’s come in more than once to ‘see if anyone’s left’. I mean, not even Coach Williams comes in to check on us. She gives us our privacy and it used to be when the last person left, we’d text her and let her know, then lock up behind us. Now, since he’s come in a few times, we don’t ever stay by ourselves.”
“Did he come in on you?” I ask her, already knowing I’m going to be talking to the principal about this as soon as I can.
“I was one of the ones who was changing when he came in.” She looks down at her hands. “Thank God my back was to the door, otherwise, he would have seen more than most.”
“Did he even fuckin’ knock?” Caleb asks, grabbing hold of her hand.
“No.” She shakes her head. “He said he assumed we were done because we weren’t practicing anymore. Some of us take showers before we leave though. Regardless of what most everyone thinks, cheerleading is a sport, and depending on what we do, we sweat big time. If I have somewhere to be, I don’t want to go stinking.”
“Any of you report this?”
She shakes her head again, biting her bottom lip. “No, we were afraid no one would believe us. There aren’t cameras in that part of the school, and we knew it would be our word against his. All of us who were there are seniors, and none of us want to get into that shit with a few months left in school. I have a scholarship and I don’t want anyone to mess with it. I’m gonna get out of Laurel Springs and not come back.”
And it’s in that moment, I realize why she and Caleb won’t last. If there’s anything I know about my son, it’s that he loves Laurel Springs. It’s the home he always wanted, the place to put down roots he always craved. I have zero doubt that after he graduates, he’ll come back here and live out the rest of his life. And when I look at him, I see he knows that too, but it doesn’t stop him from giving everything he has to this girl. He leans over, kissing her on the cheek.
“One thing I can promise you is that my dad will take care of it.”
“I will.” I give her my promise. “There’s no reason he should be scaring you ladies.”
Not to mention it’s not sat well with me that the dog picked up a scent in his classroom and nothing was ever found. I’ve now made it my mission to find out everything I can about Mr. Cartwright. If he has done something to hurt these kids, I’ll make sure he’s punished to the full extent of the law.