Jesse walked into the administration building, playing and replaying the few words he was supposed to say in his head. He'd known that coming back to Colorado wouldn't negate the need for him to have to speak or attend social engagements or luncheons, but he hadn't realized there would be this many, this fast. He had three this first week alone. He was glad they were easing him in though- just a few of the board members for a light lunch. That should be easy enough.

"I made you notecards in case you need them," Carrie said.

"Thank you, but I think I can remember it. But for Friday's event I will most definitely need them."

Carrie shoved the cards into her oversized bag. "Do you want me in there with you?"

He stopped by the meeting room. "This is just going to be boring schmoozing. You go ahead and do whatever you want."

"Okay. I'll meet you back here in a couple of hours to save you from all the adoring fans."

Jesse snorted. "Make it an hour and a half."

Carrie studied her phone. "Oh, look at that. I forgot you had an appointment in an hour and a half. I am so sorry. I'll have to be back in an hour and fifteen minutes."

Jesse smiled. "See, that's why you're so awesome." He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Try not to buy anything new for the house while I'm here."

She batted her eyelashes at him. "Why, sir, I cannot make any promises."

Jesse rolled his eyes and gripped the door handle. Staring at it he took a deep breath. It was just a dozen or so people. He could do this.

He pulled open the door and the heavy sound of chatter bombarded him along with the loaded smell of coffee and food. He peeked inside and his stomach dropped. The room was packed. Possibly fifty or more people milled around talking.

Nope. He wasn't ready. Jesse eased the door shut as quietly as possible. He backed away from the room and backed down the hallway. Playing football in front of thousands of fans and millions on TV was nothing. But speaking in front of people was something he'd found got him in a lot of trouble. Like the time he'd accidentally forgotten the name of the girl he'd been dating for a month while on ESPN. Or the time he'd blamed a teammate for their loss. Or the many, many times he'd frozen after a personal question and just laughed and then completely blanked. There was a reason the guys had given him the nickname "Newsroom".

Jesse sped away from the door.

"Coach Winchester?"

Busted. The words stopped Jesse in his tracks. He turned and smiled.

"Dean. How are you?"

"Aren't you coming in?"

"Yes. I am. But I need to use the restroom first. I- I think I ate something that isn't agreeing with me today. I'll just be a few minutes."

"Of course. It's right around the corner."

Jesse nodded and took off as fast as his achy leg would let him.

"I'll see you in there!" The Dean called.

Jesse waved and kept going. He rounded the corner and entered the first door he came to. Taking a deep breath, he leaned back and tried to pull his crap together.

He calmed his booming heartbeat, strode through the small sitting area to the sinks and faced himself in the mirror. He should have asked Carrie to stay. She was much better at these things than he was.

Bags puffed his eyes. He'd spent hours staring at the photos of him and Annika. He'd fallen asleep around 3 a.m. to dreams of her back in his arms. He turned on the water and splashed his face. He needed to get out of there. Today was not the day to be addressing that many people with words he'd thrown together in ten minutes flat. Jesse wiped his face with a paper towel and threw it away. Then he walked back into the lounge area and reached for the door.

"Hello."

Jesse turned. The little girl who had given him the rosemary plant days before, sat in one of the lounge chairs.

"You shouldn’t be in here. This is the men's room."

She giggled. "It's the ladies room."

Jesse glanced around and noticed the mauve wallpaper for the first time. Near the mirror sat a basket of feminine products.

"Well this is embarrassing," he muttered.

"It happens."

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "This is the teacher bathroom."

"Waiting for someone."

"Don't you have school?"

She shook her head. "Not today."

Jesse stared at her for a minute, but she just sat quietly smiling.

"Do you have school today?" she asked.

"I was supposed to talk to some people but I got stage fright and now I'm hiding out in the ladies bathroom trying to figure out a way to sneak out of this place."

"That's easy. I used to do it all the time."

Jesse cocked an eyebrow at her. "You know a way out of here?"

She nodded. "Follow me."

The little girl jumped from her seat. She crossed in front of the mirrors to the far end and opened a closet door.

Jesse peeked inside. "You think I should hide?"

"Only if you want to, but I was thinking more along the lines of you climbing out the window." She pointed.

Jesse wondered if she was going to lock him inside. Finally, he walked inside the closet and sure enough on the left hand side covered by mops, and brooms, a window lead to the outside.

He moved the brooms and mops out of the way and shook his head. "I can't believe I am doing this to get out of having to talk to fifty people. Crazy, right?"

He turned, but the little girl was gone. "Hello?" he called.

The bathroom door opened, and several women's voices floated toward him. Jesse closed the closet door and rushed back to the window. Well, no stopping now. Lifting the window he leaned out. It was a five-foot drop to the ground.

He rubbed his knee. "Sorry pal."

"This one is out of toilet paper," one of the women said.

"I'll find some," the other replied.

It was jump or be caught. He could only imagine how that would go over with the Dean. Jesse climbed up on the windowsill and slid out, dropping to the ground as the door creaked open. His foot landed in a small boxwood and tangled in the middle of it and a jolt of pain shot up his leg.

"Why is the window open in here? It's freezing outside."

Jesse pressed himself into the wall of the building as the window above him slammed shut. His sucked in a chilly breath. What the hell was he doing? Climbing out windows and sneaking around like a college student stealing test scores.

He bent down trying to dislodge his foot from the bush again. His knee groaned at him and he rubbed it. At least he'd put his brace on this morning.

"You sneak out of the closet in the women's faculty bathroom often?"

Jesse's head whipped up. Annika stood over him, a wry smile on her face.

Great.

"Uh... not in a while." He yanked his foot free and stood. "Interesting that you knew which window that was though."

She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again. He wasn't sure why but he swore sadness clouded her eyes.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm about to teach a class. I better go so I'm not late." She strode down the sidewalk.

Jesse jogged up to her. "Great. I'll join you."

She looked up at him incredulously. "In my class?"

"Sure."

"You don't even know what it is."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's awesome. Lead the way."

She studied him for a moment, and cocked an eyebrow at him. "You're running away from something."

"I sure am." He linked his arm in hers and pulled her in the direction she'd been going. "Now, which building is it?"

She slipped her arm from his and continued down the path. "Language Arts building."

"So, you teach English?"

"Creative writing."

He nodded. "You always were great at storytelling. I may have been the reason people showed up to parties, but you were the reason they stayed. Always able to spin a story about the school, the teachers, the town. You were great."

She gave him a sideways glance. "Thanks."

They continued to the classroom in silence as Jesse wracked his mind for something to say.

"How's that rosemary plant doing?" he asked.

"How did you remember that was my favorite?"

They stopped at the building door and he held it open for her. "Oh, you know what they say about smells. The way they evoke strong memories and stuff. Every time I smelled rosemary it would remind me of you."

She raised her eyebrows but said nothing. The chilly air made her eyes sparkle more than normal, and tinged her cheeks in a beautiful rosy shade, reminding him of their weekends camping and skiing in the winter.

The last few students rushed into their classrooms as they stopped by a door. Annika turned to him. "I think you're safe now. You really don't need to come in."

"But I want to. I want to see you in action." He gave her his best smile. Truth was, he wanted to be near her.

"Jesse I-" She stopped and puffed her bangs out of her face, making him smile.

She hadn't changed a bit.

"I can't ask you not to because technically you're part of the faculty but if you insist on coming in I ask that you sit in the back, and stay quiet. I have a certain way I like to run my class and I don't want that disrupted by your... stardom."

Jesse straightened and nodded. "Yes ma'am. You won't even realize I'm there."

Annika doubted very highly that there was anything Jesse could do to make her not 'realize he was there'. Even if he didn't come in she'd spend the entire hour thinking about him not being there.

He opened the door for her and she stepped into the room. A group of seats had been assembled into a circle in the front of the room. The students went silent as she and Jesse entered. Whispers spread across the group with several of the girls pulling at their clothing, and sitting up a bit straighter. Annika stopped short of shaking her head. Even now in his thirties Jesse still had the same effect on girls that he always had. Whenever he strolled into a room they primped, and smiled, and giggled. She'd been content to stand at his side and let them look knowing at the end of the day his heart belonged to her, and she was the one he went home with. She'd opened herself up to him in ways she never had before, or since.

Annika swallowed hard. And the way she never would again either.

"Students. This is Coach Winchester. I'm sure most of you recognize him from playing ball. He's going to sit in on our class today. Hopefully you've all prepared your chapters to read so as not to embarrass yourselves in front of such a huge celebrity."

Nervous chuckles sounded around the circle as she took off her coat and scarf, and Jesse walked to the back of the room and took a seat.

Annika stole a glance at him and he gave her a thumbs-up. She couldn't hold back the snort that snuck out of her. Classically Jess.

"Okay." She lifted her iPad. "I believe Charlotte it was your turn to start us off." Charlotte passed out her papers to everyone in the group as Annika sat at the head of the group.

Annika tried to concentrate on what her students were reading, but by the third one it was obvious she wasn't going to be of any use as long as Jesse sat in the back of the room staring at her. Part of her wanted to kick him out. Another part wanted to spew at him all the things that had been running through her mind for the last few days. And yet a small sliver of her soul wanted to be happy that he was back. Instead of allowing herself to do any of those things, she instructed the students to hold a discussion while she simply observed, and then she spent the hour trying not to look up at him.

When she released her students she was wound so tight that she thought she might pop a spring.

Jesse caught up with her at the door.

"That was interesting," he said. "The way you let the students take charge of leading the discussion while you kept them on base."

"I like for them to learn by doing. Me standing up front and ordering them to do things won't help in the long run."

Jesse snorted. "You mean like a football coach?"

Ouch. "No... I didn't-"

He bumped her shoulder with his. "I'm kidding."

Annika brushed her hair behind her ear. It'd been a long time since someone had bumped her shoulder. As a matter of fact, Jesse was the last guy who'd ever done it.

They hit the building door and Jesse stopped.

"Do you think it's safe to go back out there yet?" she asked. "Or do you need to take a few more classes first?"

Jesse chuckled. A warm resonating sound that made her smile inwardly.

"What time is it?"

Annika took out her phone. "About two thirty-five."

His eyes widened. "Two-thirty? Crap." Jesse pulled his phone from his pocket. "Aw man. I had my phone on silent. I was supposed to meet Carrie thirty minutes ago."

An icy shard took root in Annika's chest. Carrie. Being jealous was not her MO, and she'd be damned if she would allow herself to be jealous of Carrie. Beautiful and sweet the way Annika wasn't, sure. But Annika would rather be alone than be with another man who would betray her. Her father, Jesse, and then Todd had been enough for her to learn her lesson.

Jesse sent a text, smiled and put his phone in his pocket again.

"I gotta go. But it was seriously great watching you teach. You're a natural."

"Thanks."

"No, really. Those notes you gave the first kid were insightful. I'm surprised you haven't used them to write your own book."

Annika repressed a laugh and just nodded. "Yup."

"Okay, well, thanks for letting me crash your class. I hope I wasn't too disruptive. Maybe..." He stared at her for a long moment. "Maybe I could take you to Showtunes and to grab a hot chocolate and doughnut and catch up."

Catch up? He wanted to have hot chocolate and catch up? Catch up like they were old friends who'd lost contact with each other and were now happy to be back in the same city?

Annika stepped out into the frosty air. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

He followed her out pulling his Sherpa jacket tighter around him. "Why not?"

Was he serious? She opened her mouth to say something but then spotted someone behind him.

"Carrie."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Carrie? You won't have hot chocolate with me because of Carrie?"

"No... I mean yes.... I mean-" She shook her head and then pointed over his shoulder. "Carrie. She's right there."

Jesse looked over his shoulder as Carrie joined them and locked arms with him.

"You ditched."

Jesse looked between them. "Could you give us a minute?" he asked Carrie.

She smiled at Annika. "Sure."

"No. It's fine. Jess, it was... interesting having you in class. See you around." Annika turned the opposite direction.

"Anna wait," he called. But she didn't stop. "Annika! You're coming to the party, right?"

She turned back but kept walking backward. "The holidays aren't my thing anymore." She resumed walking to her car. This was not going to happen. She was not going to allow herself to be sucked in by him, and hurt again. She wasn't. And she refused to let Carrie be hurt by anything he might be thinking as well. Maybe he only wanted to be friends. Maybe he wanted things to be platonic, but from the look in his eyes when he'd asked her to have cocoa, she doubted that was the case.