Cunt- Sorry that got a little wordy. I’m a nervous wreck.
A car seat? I didn’t know anything about buying a car seat. I didn't even know how to use one, let alone buy one. I didn’t respond back, deciding to ask a Target salesman rather than having to talk to her, but I did change her name in my phone from cunt to Kit.
Between Miss Day repeating herself, Rydell keeping my attention, the thought of a classroom full of kids, being responsible for a two-year-old, and now buying a car seat, I was the one with the wrecked nerves.
“Okay, I’ve kept you long enough,” Miss Day expelled, finally shutting her mouth after an hour or more of gibberish that made zero sense to me.
I jumped to the front of the line, hoping like hell to get out of there without being held back for yet another lecture. One hangover lecture per day. I couldn’t handle another one. Not with the headache I had. My ass was going to one place, my classroom where I planned to sleep off the pain behind both my eyes. Luckily, I made it out, smiling to Miss Cantral as I passed her, happy that I had at least an hour to rest. Miss Day would keep the next group at least that long.
“Mr. Jandt,” Crystal smiled.
“How are you, Miss Cantral?”
“Wish I wasn’t about to endure this,” she winked, walking backwards with a flirty smile and batting eyelashes.
“It’s hell. I mean, it’s horrible.”
We did that flirty eye thing as we parted ways, her disappearing to the boring class, and me to my own room, where I planned to sleep for at least the next hour. I watched Rydell and her little clique stop off at a table in the courtyard, an older teacher, Wendi, and Jonas. Wendi was the only one who looked my way, a dirty look. I was cool with that. I had a churning in the pit of my stomach and a pain behind both my eyes that forced me to keep my eye on the prize, my dark, quiet, classroom.
With my feet propped on my desk, my body slouched into a slump, and head tilted toward my crossed arms, I closed my eyes. After maybe five minutes, I squirmed into a more comfortable position, trying to relieve the pain in my neck and lower back. My detoxing body moved into at least five other positions before finally giving up, and plopping my head to the desk.
“Let’s get one thing straight.”
“Shh, can we get it straight later? My head feels like it’s ready to explode.”
Of course, that would have been too easy. Rydell stomped toward me, slapping flat hands to my desk and an echo through my head. “We’re not friends.”
“Okay, that could have been straightened out later.”
“What are you doing here? You don’t belong here and you know it.”
I sat up with a heavy sigh, knowing damn well I was destined to feel like shit the entire day. The same day my child would be arriving. “You know this is how the story always starts, right?” I asked, one finger moving from her to me.
Rydell shoved off my desk and straightened her back, intensifying the snarl on her face. Two sharp lines formed at the tip of each brow and her eyes pierced mine with invisible swords. The confused expression mimicked her sultry tone when she spoke. “What?”
I counted off with my fingers while recollecting movies I’d seen in my head. “You know, like the movies. The girl always starts out hating the guy, and then they fall madly in love, What happens in Vegas, A walk to remember, Avatar, Twilight, The Sure—.”
“Shut up. Oh, my God. Shut up. This isn’t a movie, and I assure you that won’t be an issue here. Are you always this annoying? You’ve done nothing but goof off the entire week. If you think for one second I’m going to come running when you can’t do your job, you’re nuts. You can fail all on your own.”
The frown took over my face that time. “Why would I fail?”
Rydell crossed her arms and did that duck thing with her lips while she looked up, thinking before speaking. “Have you ever heard the saying, you can lead a horse to the water, but you can’t make him drink? That’s you. You don’t listen. You’re a bigger kid than the seven-year-olds you’ll be influencing. It’s karma. It’s all a curse. I should have never celebrated Miss Schmuck’s accident.”
“Miss Schmuck? That’s her name? Wait. You got drunk when she died? You’re a horrible person.”
“Shut up. You’re so exasperating. She didn’t die. She just broke her hip. She’s old. You know this is all going to come back on me, right? I’m the one Olivia is going to blame when we’re all trying to fill your spot.”
I stood and walked around to her side of my desk, lightly taking her elbow and leading her to the door that I wished didn’t exist. “You’re safe for an entire year, after that—” Stopping at the door, I slapped one hand over the other and shot it toward the ceiling, my lips whistling as my imaginary plane took off. “I’m out of here. I hope your day is as nice as your ass.”
“See, that right there. You should be fired right on the spot. You can’t say stuff like that.”
With a light push of my hand on her lower back, I shoved her into her own classroom. “Yeah, and you can’t fire me because you’re not my boss. Go away, my head hurts.”
I closed the door with that, but I didn’t sleep.
I researched car-seats.
Chapter Seven
By noon the same day I was out of my mind crazy with fear. The thought of Bay being in the air on her way to me sent surges of adrenaline through my body every time I thought about her. What if’s plagued my mind until I couldn’t take it anymore.
I knew it was a long shot, but worth a try. “Hey, can you cover for me. I’ve got to get out of here.”
Rydell looked up from her laptop, removing her glasses with a quick flip of her wrist. “Are you for real?”
“Yeah, she’ll never know. I’ve got something going on at home I need to take care of.”
“Oh hey, I’m glad I caught you both together. Do you have a few minutes?”
My eyes left Rydell for Father Don, a dark silhouette standing tall in the door with bright sun pouring in around him.
“Father Don,” Rydell announced like he was God, coming to her feet and going to him like a good little lamb. “Of course. Come in. We were just about to go over first confession.”
Wait, what? Confession?
“I love hearing that. I’m just making my rounds, wishing everyone a blessed year.”
I stood there like an idiot, feeling out of my element, yet again. The voices were heard in my ears, but the actual words refused to sink into my brain. A voice screamed loud in my head, drowning out the lecture from Father Don. Something about being a team, sticking together, and the power of influence we held in our hands. Feigning attention wasn’t even necessary. My eyes stayed fixed on his face, but they weren’t really fixated on him, his smile, or his nods. They were in another daze as the words screamed louder and louder, echoing over and over in my head.
Second graders, babies, confession, diapers, Catholic, storybooks, school, daycare, mass, car-seats, recess, baths, carpool line, bedtime, spelling words, little people—
“Shall we pray?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. For sure,” my eyes blinking away the rush of nerves once again. I followed suit and messed up the sign of the cross, head bowing in unison with Rydell and Father Don. Father Don’s eyes remained closed while he thanked God for the two young teachers there to make a difference in the lives of so many youngsters. My eyes darted to Rydell’s and hers quickly moved from mine to the floor a second too late. I’d already busted her and she knew it.
Again, I screwed up the sign of the cross, but Father Don didn’t say anything, not about that anyway. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning still?” he asked with an outstretched hand.
I firmly shook his hand and nodded, noticing right away the sudden interest on Rydell’s fake smile toward Father Don. “Yes, we’ll be there at nine.”
“Perfect. Miss Brinkley,” he gave her a warm smile and a nod goodbye.
“Have a nice day, Father Don.”
An awkward silence fell upon us
as we both stood there, waiting for the other one to speak. She wanted to ask why, and with whom, I was meeting Father Don, but her ego wouldn’t let her. Knowing something about me crossed one of her lines. I broke the silence with the same request I’d walked over there for.
“Can you cover for me or not?
“No, I’m not covering for you. What do you think this is? This isn’t your bartender job from Nashville. This is real life. A place you have to be every single day.”
“I never bartended. I was always on the receiving end. I made my money on the streets. Okay, great. If anyone important comes looking for me, tell them I’m sick. In the bathroom sick,” I added with raised eyebrows, hoping she got it without me saying it.
“You want me to tell Miss Day you have the shits?”
My eyes narrowed to hers as the pencil in my hand stopped halfway through my number five. “You’re such a hypocrite.”
“Me? I’m not the hypocrite.”
“There’s my number. Text me if you have to lie for me so I don’t get caught with my pants down.”
Her eyes grew wide, my number wadded in her hand, and her chin dropped, separating her lips. “Are you out of your mind? I’m not covering for you. If you leave, you’ll probably lose your job.”
“Tell them you made me leave. Yeah, that’s perfect. You used a whole can of disinfectant spray to fumigate my room. We wouldn’t want a nasty stomach virus around for the first day of school now, would we?”
“Are you serious right now? You’re really that big of a pussy? You planning on taking off every time you have a little hangover?”
“What? No, I’m not leaving because of that.”
“Then, why?”
I fixated my gaze on her with penetrating eyes, purposely conveying a moment of silence. “Do you really want to know? I mean, because if I tell you, that would mean you know something personal about my life. You up for that?”
At first, I couldn’t read the look on her face or the silence she portrayed next, but then just like a book, she opened up. The duck lips and then the truth. “Yeah, right. Whatever, but you owe me one.”
“Fine, see you on Monday.”
“Bright and early,” she said, eyes turning from me to her phone, her thumbs in action before I was even out of her room.
Buying a car-seat wasn’t easy. Not even a little. Putting the contraption in my car was even harder. After reading the directions three times, two YouTube videos, and the help from a lady with a little boy, I finally got it. That thing was never coming out of my car, ever. I wasn’t about to go through that again.
I ate a late lunch from a food truck, happy that it settled my queasy stomach, and made my way to the airport earlier than I needed to. I figured it would be better for me to wait on her than for her to have to wait on me with Bay and all their things. My head shook from side to side, realizing I had just done it again. I did that grownup adulting thing again where I put someone else before me.
After paying for a ticket to park, I sat in my car, eyeing the new decoration in my rearview mirror. For a car-seat, it was pretty cool. It looked way more comfortable than my seat. Lucky kid. I turned the knob up on the radio, humming with Trace Adkins, letting the meaning of the song soak in. I would never turn every light in the house on waiting for a girl. Weak men thought like that, not Brantley Jandt. There wasn’t a girl alive who could bring me to my knees, but truth be told, Rydell Brinkley may have had a good chance. If she didn’t hate me, that is. I smiled, shaking my head at myself, wondering what it was.
There wasn’t one thing I could put my finger on to say that’s it. It was a bunch of little things. The way I caught her staring at me when she thought I wasn’t looking, the way my annoying comments caused her to pull her lips between her teeth to keep from smiling, the way they formed like a duck’s beak when she needed a moment to think. Maybe it was her voice and the way she handled a guitar, or maybe it was just because she was beautiful, but the logical answer would be her hard to get status. Of course that was it. If she wanted me, I probably would have already fucked her and moved on to Miss Cantral.
My head tilted to the side when my phone lit up, a strange number with a new text.
Rydell—You’re off the hook, dumbass. Miss Day was happy that I sent you home.
Brantley—I knew you’d take the gratification.
Rydell—Have a nice nap.
Brantley—I’ll dream about you, maybe singing to me naked while you play the guitar.
Rydell—I’m forwarding that to Miss Day.
Brantley—Bluff.
Rydell—You’re a dick, and for the record, Bella and Edward didn’t hate each other before they fell in love. It was like a drug. Like an attraction they couldn’t control. It was love, not hate.
Brantley—Wow.
Rydell—What?
I audibly laughed, letting it go at that, leaving her wondering. It may have been a silly thought, but it was enough for me to know she thought about me. She wouldn’t have felt the need to tell me her Twilight theory otherwise.
Rydell—Hello?
Rydell—Dick!
The next time I looked down to the ding, it wasn’t Rydell. I forgot about changing the tone from the vulgar one that hated Kit, to the habitual ding. My heart sank and my smile disappeared when I read the text.
Kit—Just landed. See you when you get off work.
Brantley—I’m here.
Kit—Oh, thank God. You just made my day. Delta terminal.
“No turning back now,” I announced aloud, hearing the engine roar after one crank.
My knee bounced up and down, hitting the steering wheel while I waited, feeling my body perspire from nerves. I should have known it wouldn’t be a quick stop. No. I had to wait for twenty-five-minutes, anxiety building by the second.
“Fuck,” I groaned when I saw her.
Kit looked around for me, shifting sleeping Bay in her arms while she struggled with a suitcase and two other bags. I reached high to grab hold of that grownup thing. I missed. I missed by a mile because she was drop dead beautiful. I missed because I was supposed to spend an entire weekend with her, pretending I didn’t want to sink balls deep inside her. Screw being a grown up. I was no doubt hitting that.
I jumped out to help her when I realized I was still staring at her long legs. Kit didn’t have to do anything to look like that. Just like Rydell, Kit didn’t need anything to look pretty. It was all natural beauty, yet the two of them couldn’t have been more different.
“Hi, take her. I can’t believe she made it this far and passed out on me. Wimp,” she said, as her pouty lips touched Bay’s little head.
I took her because Kit didn’t give me a choice. She just flung her into my arms, no warning whatsoever. Her head rested on my shoulder as one arm held tight to a ratty looking something, and one moved beneath her body, a faint purr escaping her lungs as she breathed deep, settling into my arms. I looked down at her chubby little cheeks, noticing my hand covering her entire back, trying to decipher the unfamiliar feelings. I followed Kit, keeping my eyes on this little person nestled in my arms while she talked. My little person.
Kit talked about their trip, how excited Bay was on the plane, and then food. “I’m starving. What are your plans for supper?”
“I—I don’t know. I guess whatever you want.”
“I think we should cook and stay in. I want her to be familiar with everything before I leave. Nice seat, good job,” she praised, with a smile I knew wasn’t meant to be sexy, but it was. It was sexy and I was in deep shit.
“You know my cooking usually leads to forking, right?”
Kit sputtered a laugh through her lips while snatching Bay back, again without warning. She finagled Bay around like nothing, fastened her in her seat in two seconds without waking her, and turned to me. “You’ve used that line before. It’s how Bay got here.”
I lied my ass off, praying for a miracle and a wild weekend of sex with a sexy grin and, please let me fuck
you, eyes. “Yes, I remember, just thought I’d go for two since it worked the first time.”
Kit laughed and stepped around me. “You’re still an ass. I wasn’t serious.”
“Oh, I never said that?”
“Not to me.”
“Damn,” I teased, two fingers snapping for added drama. “Does she always sleep this sound?”
Our eyes met and stayed locked while she walked around and climbed into the other side. “Yes, lucky for you, she’s a very sound sleeper, but just for the record…no girls until she’s in bed. Got it?”
God, she was so pretty. I shook my head, realizing how much I needed to get laid, hearing half of what she said.
Our drive home was spent with her lecturing me on things that made my head spin, scaring the shit out of me with each word. I had to back out of this mess. I couldn’t remember to cut off the crust on peanut butter sandwiches, but not her toast. She likes strawberry jam on one and grape on the other.
“You expect me to remember all of this? We need a month, not a weekend.”
Her head tilted to the side and her eyes did that condescending thing where she thought she was better than me. “I think I suggested that over a month ago.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, you said no way. Don’t worry. I’ve got an entire notebook full of everything. You’ll be fine, and I’m going to talk to you every night. You can always ask me.”
That did make me feel a little better, but not great. “Okay, yeah. That’s true.”
“Where are we going?”
I pulled between the two rows of palms and entered Cul-de-sac Circle, a frown toward Kit. “Home, I thought that’s where you wanted to go.”
“You don’t live here.”
“Yes I do. What did you think? Did you think I would rent a house on wheels in some park or something?”
I Pick You Page 7
