Chapter Six
“As I’m sure you’re all aware, there was an attack outside of Beyer Hill High School Saturday night,” Coach Coleman said.
Marie grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze, and Lucia offered the same comfort back to her best friend. She’d heard the news. A woman had gotten a flat, parked at the school, and a guy had walked over, offering to help, and the next thing, she’d been screaming.
He was about to rape her when he heard the sirens of the approaching sheriff. It had been scary, and all over the town within a matter of hours. The woman was relatively fine, shaken, scared, as they all were.
Her father had wanted to give her the car, but her mother still forbade it and told her she was to run home. She didn’t even argue.
Her gaze landed on Jack Parker. He’d been warning her about this.
It was Monday, and she’d heard that each year from junior up had been taken into the gym to be taught some self-defense.
She stood in her shorts and shirt with the school logo across her breast. He’d seen her in shorts before, but this felt more intimate. This emphasized that she was a high school girl, and she didn’t want him to see that, or to think of her as a young girl.
“What are you staring at?” Marie asked.
“Nothing. I’m listening.”
“So, with that in mind, the principal has asked me to conduct some self-defense lessons. Now, this attack was real. That poor woman is in the hospital recovering, and because of the severity of the attack, your partner has to be male. Same goes for the boys, pick a girl. Two minutes, I want you on the mat.”
They both groaned. They were always each other’s partner. No one was picking, so Coach Coleman took over, and teamed everyone up, and once he did that, there was no one else to argue with, and yes, of course, Lucia had to join with Connor.
She didn’t look over at Jack.
Stop thinking of him as Jack.
The last thing she wanted to do was call him that and then have people, or Marie, question her.
Mr. Parker.
Mr. Parker.
She said his name over and over in her head, making sure she got his name right.
Mr. Parker.
“I wonder if I can even lift you up. Don’t you weigh, like, a ton?”
“Wow, and here I thought you had a brain,” she said. “Believe me, I don’t want to be here with you.”
They stood on the mats, facing each other.
She didn’t like Connor, or his sneer.
“Right, ladies, turn your backs on your partner. We’re going to deal if they come up behind you on the attack.” Unwillingly, she turned her back, not wanting to do so to Connor.
“Nice ass, Deen.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Now, put your hands on your partner’s hips. This is not sex or copping a feel. We’re being serious right now.”
The moment Connor put his hands on her hips, she jumped back, not wanting his touch.
“Sir, I object,” she said, feeling her cheeks heat as every single person in the room looked toward her.
She refused to look at Mr. Parker.
“What the hell for?” Coach Coleman asked.
“I just think this is a little … sexist. I mean, what’s to say girls didn’t attack the boys?” God, she felt so embarrassed right now. She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.
Of course, it didn’t. Like always, it completely ignored her.
Stupid ground.
“A woman was attacked.”
“Yes.”
“So we’re doing this to help you.”
“Come on, Deen, Scared that you can’t defeat me?” Connor asked.
She looked toward Mr. Parker. He stood not too far away. His brow rose, but it was the look in his eye that told her she was safe. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her, even though Connor was known for getting his father to get him out of trouble. Not once had he ever gotten in to trouble for anything. There had been many times she swore he was high on something. There were always rumors swirling around about his drug use.
“Sorry,” she said. “My mistake.”
Mr. Parker gave her a slight nod, and she forced herself to turn her back on Connor once again.
She averted her gaze from the teacher she was seriously struggling to control her feelings for and caught Marie’s gaze.
“What the fuck?” She mouthed the words.
Lucia shrugged and flinched as Connor put his hands on her hips.
Coach Coleman wouldn’t let them go any further, explaining how this simple touch could bring a woman down from a simple push, to a pull, to a stripping of her dignity.
She hated this, especially as they were told to push.
Lucia lost her balance and fell onto the mat, and within seconds Connor was on top of her.
“I always knew you wanted me on you, Deen. You’re practically begging for it. Fat chick like you should be lucky to have me.”
Unable to resist, without any word of coaching from Coleman, she brought her knee up hard, slamming it against his dick. He released her, and with a quick turn, she straddled him, grabbing his arms, and pinning him down.
“You’ve got that wrong, asshole,” she said.
Once again, she was aware that people were staring at her. She had just reacted, and she quickly released Connor’s hands, sitting back, only to find that Connor was in fact hard beneath her. Grossed out, she quickly tried to move away, but Connor stopped her, holding her in place as Coach Coleman came over.
“What happened here?” he asked.
“She got the better of me,” Connor said. “Not that it was hard. She weighs more than me.”
Her cheeks were on fire as she stared up at Coleman. Mr. Parker approached, and she couldn’t bring herself to look at him, not right now. Not sitting straddled across someone else, especially as that someone happened to be the guy who liked to bully her, to torment her, and he was fucking aroused by doing it, the asshole.
“Let her go, Connor,” Mr. Parker said.
“But it’s so nice having her here.”
She slammed her hand against his chest and climbed off him.
“I demand a partner change,” she said.
“Not happening. You two can be our demonstrators and the others can copy. You kneed him in the balls?” Coach Coleman asked.
“Self-defense.”
“I don’t care what it was. You did a good tackle there, Deen. Well done.”
Coleman got her back into position, this one a standing position again. Using her and Connor as the demonstrators, he made them both work through each retaliation and each defense maneuver, and she did everything she could to avoid eye contact with Connor and Mr. Parker. She didn’t want to think about how guilty she felt at straddling Connor’s hips, or that he’d been hard while doing so.
She wasn’t an idiot. She knew what arousal and sex were all about.
She just hadn’t expected that reaction from Connor, and she didn’t like it. He was a sick pervert.
By the end of the lesson, she’d had enough of touching Connor and having his hands on her.
They were sitting grouped together, and she sat with Marie.
“To be safe, you must be with someone. Have your cell phone on hand, and always keep your guard up. Until this son of a bitch is caught, I want to make sure all students are taken care of. Dismissed.”
She got to her feet about to follow Marie into the changing room when she tripped on her shoelace, which had come undone.
“Shoot, go, I’ll be there in a second.” Bending down, she quickly tied her shoelace, and was heading back toward the changing rooms when she was suddenly pulled inside a cleaning closet.
She gasped and nearly screamed as a hand covered her mouth. The moment the light came on, she saw it was Mr. Parker, and any fight she had left her.
He’d pulled her into a closet?
Slowly, he released her, dropping his hand down from her face.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I wanted to intervene.”
“It’s fine. There was nothing you could do. I was perfectly safe.”
She knew she was. After her first tackle on Connor, Mr. Parker had stayed close, and it helped that Coach Coleman had used them to aid with the class, doing many demonstrations.
“I didn’t like seeing his hands on you.”
She couldn’t help but smile, and she quickly looked down at the ground. “I didn’t like them on me, if that helps.”
She didn’t know what to say or what to do.
They were on dangerous ground here. She wasn’t a fool and knew what this could mean.
“It was an intense class,” she said.
“No one will ever hurt you.”
She placed her hand on his chest and quickly pulled away from him. This was wrong. She shouldn’t be having feelings for him.
He loved his job, and there was no way in hell that she could ever, ever, do this to him.
“I … I can’t. I’ve got to go,” she said.
Mr. Parker didn’t move away.
This was wrong.
Why did it feel so good? So right?
She brushed past him, leaving the cleaning closet even though all she wanted to do was find out exactly what he meant.
Making her way into the changing room, she saw Marie was already partly dressed.
“What took you so long?”
“Nothing. My lace was being a pain in the ass.” It was a lie, but it wasn’t like she could tell her the truth.
“So you’re totally getting a lift home with me,” Marie said. “Your mother is a first-class bitch. Your dad is fine though.”
“I can walk.”
“Not now. I couldn’t handle anything happening to you.”
“You’re so sweet.” She pulled her friend into a hug, kissing her cheek. “I love you, too.”
“Yeah, yeah. Who else would I go to for my movie marathons?”
“That is completely true. You would be doomed to watch your Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and every other guy that is flavor of the month for a long time.”
She pulled her hair out of the ponytail that she’d placed it in.
Their class was the last one of the day. “I’ve still got to go to my locker,” she said.
“I’ll go warm up the car.”
They went their separate ways, Marie heading out while she went to her locker. Once there, she quickly put in the code, and opened up the locker.
“Hey, Deen,” Connor said, standing behind her.
She grabbed her books and tried to ignore him. He didn’t walk away, nor did he trip her, or do anything else.
He just stood there, glaring at her. His eyes looked a little dilated.
With the last book out of the locker, she shoved it in her bag and turned toward him. He was still staring at her.
“What?” she asked.
“Good lesson.”
“Okay.” She went to move past him, but he stepped closer, putting a hand on the locker behind her head. They were alone, and she didn’t like this. “What are you doing?”
“You won’t tell anyone what you felt. Not that anyone would believe you. There’s no way in hell I could ever like a fat bitch like you,” he said.
Her cheeks heated, and she shook her head. “Of course I won’t. You think I want to remember that? Or that I even wanted to feel that? You’re disgusting.”
She shuddered.
Connor was about to say something else when they heard voices. Within seconds he was gone, and she was confused. Glancing down the hall, she saw Ms. Bertram with Mr. Parker, and pain sliced right through her.
The older woman placed a hand on his arm and laughed at something he said. There was also a smile on his face, and it just hurt. She shouldn’t be feeling this way, not about Jack, not about anything.
He was her teacher, but seeing him with a woman of his own age, it seemed to drill into her that these feelings, they were one-sided.
She couldn’t think that because they’d had a burger together that anything else would happen. Far from it.
Nothing was going to happen.
He was her damn teacher, and that didn’t mean anything.
Pulling away from the locker, she caused it to make a noise, drawing their attention. She averted her gaze and quickly left the school. Marie was sitting in her car, music blaring.
“What took you so long?”
“Are you the time police?” she asked, forcing a smile.
“Ha-ha, come on, let’s get you home, my little pretty.”
Marie pulled out of the parking spot, looking behind her.
Lucia stared at the front and watched as Mr. Parker came out of the building. He was looking down the street, and as Marie began to turn, he caught sight of her.
Her heart pounded, but she ignored it. There was no way she could ever trust anything like this.
Marie drove down the street.
“You’d think your mother would have allowed you to get a car or something.”
“It’s my mom. She doesn’t believe in cars or helping anyone out. You know that.”
“She’s a first-class bitch. I think you should come and have a sleepover.”
“Maybe another night. I’ve got a ton of homework, and I want to get it finished.”
“Sure, sure. We’d be talking all night long, so I get it.”
She smiled at her friend, and it wasn’t long before they were singing along to the songs that were blasting out as Marie took her home.
All too soon, she was home, and from the dark windows, no one else was home.
Yay.
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning. Don’t even start with me. Tell them that we’re working on a super-secret project with each other,” Marie said. “Or something. I don’t care. I’m not leaving you to walk on your own.”
“Thank you.”
She hugged her friend and climbed out of the car. Marie didn’t leave as she entered her home, flicking on the lights. She checked every single door and window to make sure she was safe.
She was acting like a crazy person, but that didn’t stop the nerves.
Someone had been attacked outside of the high school, and it did scare her. It must have scared a lot of people because they wouldn’t be forcing them to teach self-defense.
Once she checked the entire house, she made her way to the kitchen, putting herself together a quick sandwich, and of course the only spread that was available was one with damn tahini in it.
Making her way upstairs to her bedroom, she spread her homework out, and started working on each piece. Marie texted her to let her know she’d gotten home, and Lucia sighed in relief. She loved her friend. Marie was the closest she had to a sister.
She finished her sandwich, then her homework, and sat back, leaning against her bed. She dropped her head back looking up at the ceiling. Her thoughts returned to Mr. Parker. The man she couldn’t have.
He was … different.
She’d never been drawn to a teacher before, but he was easy to look at, to be close with. It was all just hard right now to even process what the hell was going on.
He was older than she was, and he was her teacher.
Grabbing her laptop, she opened it up and stared at her internet search browser.
She didn’t have parental control on her laptop or any part of her life.
Biting her lip, she hesitated for a split second before finally caving and typing in her search.
“What is sex like with an older guy?” She read it out as she typed. She hovered over the enter button, and even though she regretted it, she pressed it.
Images, articles, and other items came up.
She clicked her way through, seeing some porn scenes and a few other things. Watching the porn movies, she watched as the older man drove his dick deep inside the younger woman. Moaning echoed around the room, and she felt her pulse race just thinking about Jack doing that to her.
What would it feel like to be in his arms?
To allow the forbidden?
This attraction she felt toward him wasn’t going away, and it was only getting stronger. Closing the search down, and removing it from her history, she put her laptop on the floor beside her. She had to get a grip. This wasn’t doing her any good, and she didn’t want to deal with this.
Scared, terrified, panicked, aroused—she felt it all.
She was his student.
There’s no way he’d ever consider looking at her.
She wondered if Rachel, the most popular girl in school, would take no for an answer.
“Get your head out of the gutter. It doesn’t matter anymore. Not one tiny little bit.” She got to her feet, grabbed her plate, and put it in the sink.
The house creaked a little as it warmed up, and for the first time, the noise worried her.
This was what happened when an attack happened in a small town. She started hearing things.
“It’s just the house settling,” she told herself.
Moving into the sitting room, she glanced out of the window, and thought she saw something in the garden. She was about to go and check it out when she heard her parents’ car pull into the driveway. As she looked out, whatever it was had gone.
She frowned and moved away from the window, going to greet her mom and dad.
They were talking to themselves. They hugged her, kissing her forehead, but for the most part, completely ignored her.
She wasn’t surprised by that either. They always seemed to be doing that.
****
Jack pushed himself just a little harder. It was already getting cooler as summer let go to fall. The leaves on the trees were already starting to change color and drop to the ground. Pushing himself up the mud-slicked hill, he listened to the blaring rock music, trying to focus on something else, not on the same scene going on and on inside his head.
Always the same.
Connor whispering something to Lucia as he moved between her thighs, the fire blazing in her eyes as she kneed him in the nuts and moved to straddle him. Something passed between the two, and Lucia had tried to get off him, but the kid held her in place, stopping her from moving.
When she was finally able to get to her feet, he’d seen the hard-on that Connor was trying to hide. He’d wanted to fucking hurt that kid, to teach him a lesson about touching what belonged to him.
He released a growl, running harder, pushing his body to the limit as those same thoughts, those memories, kept on circling around his head. Gritting his teeth, he tried to think of something else, but he couldn’t.
Jack didn’t have her number either, so he couldn’t even call her to make sure she was okay. She’d seen him with Beth. The other teacher had propositioned him again, and he’d turned her down, not wanting to be with her.
She’s a fucking student.
Lucia isn’t mine.
She’s underage.
Not for much longer.
Lucia wasn’t like any normal seventeen-year-old. She didn’t act like a spoiled brat or a girl.
Over and over, he kept on pushing, driving himself harder so that he could clear his mind, but the running wasn’t helping. It was only making him angrier. She was such a beautiful, sweet young woman.
He adored her smile.
The laughter that he caused, and so much else.
It was easy to talk to her, to be with her.
When he was in her company, he could completely forget her age, and the fact that he was her damn teacher.
He rounded a large bush and knocked someone on their ass from the impact of his run.
Pulling his music from his ears, he saw the subject of his troubled thoughts was on the ground, touching her chest.
“Shit, we have got to stop doing this,” he said.
“You need to work out a route so that I can avoid this one.” She didn’t take his hand and stood up on her own.
Her cheeks were flushed, and she wore a large shirt that covered all of her curves. The shorts she wore went to her knees, and he felt like a fucking voyeur taking what he could get.
She pushed some of the mud and fallen leaves from her back.
Jack just drank her in.
“You didn’t text me,” he said.
“What?”
“To let me know you’re running.”
“I was supposed to?”
She had an attitude, and he didn’t like it.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“I came out here for a run. Nothing is going on. I need to know the route you run in because we keep doing this and my butt can’t keep taking the fall.”
She rubbed her ass, and he wanted to do that; to rub it better.
Too fucking young.
“It’s not safe out here, not for you.”
“Don’t worry, I know how to knee them. I think I got the handle on that.”
“Yeah, but you couldn’t stop them from stopping you moving,” he said. “Connor liked having you in place, didn’t he?”
Her cheeks heated even more, and he felt like a total asshole for spitting it out.
“Then why don’t you ask Ms. Bertram? I think she’d love to have you running.”
She made to move past him, but he caught her hand. “It’s not safe for you. When are you going to learn?”
Lucia pulled her hand away from him. “I am safe. I just needed a run to clear my head, okay? Is it so hard to understand?”
“You can run, but you’re not doing it alone. Your parents may not give a shit, but I’m not them. You want to run to clear your head, that’s fine. I’ll stay a few feet behind you.” He placed one of his earbuds in and stepped behind her.
“Are you serious right now?”
“You want to run, that’s fine. I get it. Running helps me to clear my head as well. You’re not doing it alone, and seeing as it’s late, dark, and you’re pissed, I’ll make sure we’re both safe.”
He saw her hands clenched at her sides.
“Unless you want me to take you home.”
“No. I don’t want to go home. I want to run.”
“Then fucking run, Lucia,” he said, finally yelling the words.
She glared at him, and before he was ready for it, she took off.
Jack ran after her, keeping pace. It wasn’t hard to as she kept on running, and he followed her.
He listened to his music as his blood pumped inside him.
Chasing her, running after her, wasn’t part of the plan, but as he watched her, he couldn’t help the fire building inside him.
He wanted to chase her, only he didn’t want to take her home.
These feelings were fucking destroying him, and they weren’t even through their first semester.
He was completely screwed.
She was his student.
There was no way he could have anything else.
Even as he thought it, an overwhelming sadness overcame him.
Lucia needed someone to take care of her. No one else took care of her. Marie did, but only to the point of a friend.
Her parents pushed her aside, forcing her to grow up.
He knew all about that and could relate to her. It was always hard to be forced to grow up, to have your parents constantly push you aside until you show that you have a great mind.
His own parents had done the same to him until he’d proven that he was an intelligent man.
Right now, that intelligence was the furthest thing he had.
He wasn’t thinking straight.
Lucia was a student.
He shouldn’t be running in a park with her, chasing after her, making sure she was safe.
This was wrong.
He knew it.
She knew it.
At any time, she could report his ass to the principal, but she hadn’t. Instead, she looked pissed and sounded jealous because she’d seen him with Beth, even though seconds later he’d turned her down again.
Some women liked a challenge, and he’d become that for Beth.
After ten minutes, Lucia slowed down, and finally stopped, bending forward. Her hands went to her knees as she took several deep breaths. He watched her, unable to look away even if he wanted to.
“Meeting you for a run isn’t right,” she said, panting out each word.
“I don’t care. You’re not going to call anyone else to make sure you’re all right.”
“I don’t need anyone to take care of me, Jack. I’ve been doing it fine for a long time.”
He took a step toward her and forced himself to stop.
This wasn’t right.
“Nothing happened between Beth and me.”
“Beth?”
“Ms. Bertram.”
She licked her lips and looked away. “You’re my teacher.”
“I know.”
“Why is it so hard to just think of you as my teacher?” she asked. “I’ve been doing fine. More than fine. I get up, go to school, do my lessons, and then I go home, stuff happens, I wake up. Do the entire thing again. Only now I like you taking me home. I like bumping into you running. I … you love teaching.”
“Yes.”
“And I’m only seventeen.”
“Nothing is happening here,” he said, lying completely.
She placed a hand to her head, and he watched as she checked the time. “I’ve got to go home.”
“Let me walk you.”
“It’s not really safe for you to keep being seen with me. The wrong person sees and we’re in the office explaining stuff.”
“But nothing has happened, Lucia. It won’t happen.” He was stronger than that. She nodded her head.
“You’re right.”
He followed behind her as she walked all the way home. At her gate, she paused and glanced back. He saw so much in her eyes. The yearning, the need; so much, and all he wanted to do was fucking protect her.
That was something he couldn’t do right now.
She ducked her head and made her way inside.
They couldn’t have this.
He ran back to his place, taking a quick shower before changing into his suit. Grabbing his briefcase, he was in his car and heading toward the school.
This time he didn’t stop at the library, nor did he check to see if she’d arrived safely. There had to be some distance created; there had to be.
Entering his classroom, he wrote on the white board what the start of class would be, then made his way toward the staff room. Derick and Beth were already there, sipping their coffee.
“You two okay?” he asked. “Looking really snuggly.” He turned back to the coffee machine, rolling his eyes. Snuggly? What the fuck was that?
“Derick was just telling me about your self-defense class yesterday.”
Jack nodded. “It went really well.”
“You don’t think it’s a bit much teaching a bunch of kids to defend themselves?” Beth asked.
“Not at all. Someone was attacked. We need to make sure the students all know how to handle that situation. Speaking of, any news from the hospital?”
“Broken wrist and some bruises, but she’ll make a full recovery. They don’t have a clue who it was. He kept her eyes covered and didn’t speak,” Derick said.
“Anything on the security cameras?” Jack asked.
“Nothing. It was just a random attack. It may not have even been a local guy. Just some punk ass passing through.”
Normally, he went back to his classroom, but right now he didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts. After this morning’s run, he needed to clear his head.
“Has this ever happened before?” he asked.
“Not that I know of. It’s a pretty safe place. Not many people here who would attack someone else. I mean, if it was two kids then I’d have pointed the finger at them at school.”
“Hey, did you see the boner on that kid yesterday, Connor?” Derick asked.
Jack gripped his cup. The last thing he wanted to think about right now was kids, boners, and Lucia.
“What?” Beth asked.
“Connor and that fat chick, what’s her name?” He looked at Jack, but he shrugged his shoulders. There was no way he’d think of Lucia as “the fat chick.” The thought alone was offensive to him. “Deen kid?”
“Lucia Deen?” Beth asked.
“That’s the one. They were partnered up, and I don’t know what happened but she got the better of him. Had him pinned to the mat and when she climbed off, kid’s boner was showing. Fucking ridiculous.”
“Lucia’s not fat,” Jack said, looking at the two of them.
“We know we’re not supposed to say anything, but she is bigger than a lot of her peers.”
“That doesn’t make her fat. There are models out there that are bigger than others, but that doesn’t make them fat.”
“No, that makes them plus-size,” Beth said. “What’s the matter?”
“How do we expect our students to stop bullying when we can’t even stop doing it?” Jack asked.
He glanced up at the clock, tired of the conversation.
“I’ve got to get to class.”
He took his coffee with him, leaving the staff room.
“Jack, Jack, I’m sorry. I didn’t know this was a touchy subject for you,” Beth said, following him.
She put a hand on his arm, and he wasn’t interested in her touch at all.
“Look, I don’t like it, okay? I figure the girl gets enough from her peers. The least we could do is stop all the judgment.”
“Lucia’s a good kid,” Beth said.
She’s not a fucking kid.
“I’ve got to get to class.”
“Okay, I’m sorry. Lunch?”
“Yes.” He had no intention of sticking around for lunch. He’d probably eat a snack in his car or something. Right now, he really wasn’t the best company.
Rounding the corner, he stopped as he caught sight of Lucia at her locker. There were only a couple of students milling around. No one paid any attention to him, and he sipped at his coffee, watching her.
She had a book open in her locker. She’d placed the tip of her shoe on the floor and was waving it back and forth as if she was completely lost in a world of her own. Her hair was down once again, the brown locks seeming to have a natural wave. The jeans she wore molded to the curves of her ass, and instead of wearing a shirt three times too big, she actually wore one that seemed to accentuate her figure.
He watched as Connor made his way over to her.
His friends were watching, and Jack could see this wasn’t a trick as they looked genuinely shocked by his sudden interest. Something else was going on though. Connor wasn’t the kind of guy to turn like this, not without a reason.
He rested a hand above her locker, leaning in close. “Hello, baby.”
She jerked up as if she’d been hit. Her gaze landed on Connor, and then she frowned. The book she’d been reading snapped shut, and Jack’s heart sped up.
He recognized the front cover as one filled with poems. It was one of the books he’d taken back to the library and recommended to her.
“What do you want?” she asked.
Connor reached out to tuck some hair behind her ear, but she swatted his hand away.
“What the hell?”
“I’m only trying to help you out,” Connor said. “After all, we made such good partners yesterday. Just want to make sure you understand the deal with it.”
“Yeah, this is not happening, ever.” She grabbed her bag, stuffed her book inside, and slammed her locker.
“Come on, and here I thought you liked me. Here I am showing you attention. You could be nice to me and I’ll make your life a lot easier.”
“Are you insane?” she asked.
Jack didn’t like the way this was going.
There was no way he could stand and watch. Rounding the corner, he made his way over as he saw the discussion getting heated.
“What’s going on here?” Jack asked.
He kept his gaze on Connor, not trusting himself to look at Lucia.
“Nothing is going on here, teach. Just talking to a friend.”
Connor went to put his arms around her, but she dodged his hold. “I’ve got to go to class.”
She spun on her heel and quickly made her escape.
Connor watched her go, but he watched the kid.
“You don’t get to treat a girl like crap for a long time and then expect a date,” Jack said.
“Get over yourself. I don’t want to fucking date the fat pig.”
Jack stepped closer, staring at him. “You may have gotten a hard-on yesterday and realized that all this time you’ve been calling her fat, you didn’t know what you were missing.”
“Well, teach, you got a hard-on for a student now?”
“I’m looking out for all of my students, Connor, and I don’t like the reputation you have. Your daddy may like to get certain allegations squashed or disappeared, but I know the truth. She doesn’t want you, and you like that you make her uncomfortable.”
Connor looked cocky as he walked away. “We’ll see. Every chick has a price. I just got to find out hers. I always have what I want.”
Jack watched him go. The kid was clearly high.
He wasn’t afraid of the Connors of this world. Never had been.
They were cocky sons of bitches who thought the people around them were their slaves, and the world their domain.
This was something he was going to have to keep an eye on. He didn’t like the thought of Lucia being in any danger, and it would seem she was on more than his radar right now.
Making his way to class, he pushed those thoughts to one side and focused on his lesson.
He found a budding new student in freshman year who had a keen eye for poetry. He made a quick note in his books to keep an eye on the young man.
This was why teaching was so important to him. He didn’t know who he was inspiring for the next generation, but he took everything he did seriously. This was his world, his life, and he had no intention of leading anyone astray.
At lunchtime, he made his way out toward his car with every intention of eating. Only, Lucia sat on a bench all by herself. Her hair fell over one shoulder, and she looked far ahead of her as if she wasn’t even seeing anything.
“Why don’t you ever eat in the cafeteria?” he asked.
“I pack my own lunch. You never know what they put in the food here,” she said, holding out her tray. “Zucchini chip?”
“Zucchini chip? You’re not a vegetarian.”
“I know that, and my mom knows that, but she likes me to eat food that is full of vegetables and flavor.” She wrinkled her nose as she took one. “Marie had to leave early today, otherwise I’d have shared some of her food.”
“Why do you put up with it?”
“It’s not so bad. After you get over not liking zucchini you kind of get used to it.” Again, she wrinkled her nose. “It’s easier. At least with this attack I don’t have to make excuses about not going to the gym, so yay.” She held both of her thumbs up at him, and he chuckled, finding her utterly cute.
He glanced around the parking lot, spotting Connor’s car in the corner. “I need you to be careful with boys like Connor.”
“He’s an asshole, but for the most part he’s harmless.”
“Connor’s the kind of guy that doesn’t take no for answer.”
She snorted. “Please, for most of our life he’s been calling me fat, cow, and all the names similar to it.”
“Yeah, only the other day he finally got to feel what you’re really like, and he knows you’re not fat but curvy.” He gritted his teeth, realizing what he’d just said.
“You think I’m curvy?” she asked.
“I know you are.”
He stared at her again.
Everything fell away for him. She was the only person he was interested in.
Lucia was the first one to look away, and he kicked himself.
“I’m sorry about being angry with you this morning. I shouldn’t have been angry.”
“Apology accepted. Don’t go out after dark or earlier. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
A wind blew, and her hair covered her face. She pushed it out of the way with a big smile.
“Okay. I may even text you when I do leave.”
“You’d better. Is Marie coming back to school?”
“No. She has a dentist appointment, so she’ll be sobbing on her sofa eating ice cream and using any excuse she can to have her mother wait on her.” She smiled.
“I’ll drive you home.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“I’ll drive you. No questions.”
“Yes, sir.”