Mr. Teacher_Single Dad & Virgin Romance

by Kelli Callahan

  Mr. Teacher: Single Dad & Virgin Romance

  Kelli Callahan

  Published by Kelli Callahan Books, 2017.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  MR. TEACHER: SINGLE DAD & VIRGIN ROMANCE

  First edition. November 21, 2017.

  Copyright © 2017 Kelli Callahan.

  Written by Kelli Callahan.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter 1: Charlotte

  Chapter 2: Gavin

  Chapter 3: Charlotte

  Chapter 4: Gavin

  Chapter 5: Charlotte

  Chapter 6: Gavin

  Chapter 7: Charlotte

  Chapter 8: Gavin

  Chapter 9: Charlotte

  Chapter 10: Gavin

  Chapter 11: Charlotte

  Chapter 12: Gavin

  Epilogue: Charlotte

  Epilogue: Gavin

  Chapter 1: Charlotte

  “Your sister is in detention. I’m sure you remember where that is since you spent so much time there.” The school secretary pointed down the hallway as she spoke.

  “Yes ma’am, I do. Thank you.” My lips formed a half-smile and I turned the direction she was pointing.

  I never expected to see the inside of Glendale High School again after I graduated. The years I spent there were filled with memories I didn’t care to revisit. They weren’t all terrible, but most of them were best left in the past. I started walking down the hallway and sighed as I saw the entrance to the room where wayward students spent an hour after school being rehabilitated for their misbehavior. I opened the door and stepped inside.

  “Hello, I’m here to pick up…” My words trailed off when I saw who was sitting behind the desk. “Mr. King!”

  “Charlotte?” He stood up and tilted his head. “Wow, it really is you. How long has it been, three years now?”

  It’s him! Oh my goodness, it’s Mr. King!

  “Come on, sis. Let’s go.” My sister walked by me with her book bag over her shoulder and hit the door hard as she pushed it open.

  “Sorry, I guess the princess needs a nap.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

  “If I would have known she was your sister, I probably wouldn’t have been very surprised to see her sitting in detention.” Mr. King chuckled. “I didn’t connect the names. You look nothing alike.”

  “She takes after our father and I’m a carbon copy of my mother.” I laughed and shrugged. “You would never know we were related.”

  “Except your behavior.” Mr. King winked at me. “Anyway, it’s good to see you again. I hope you’re doing well.”

  “I am, Mr. King.” I nodded and my smile got a little wider. “College is tough, but I’m not getting in trouble anymore, so I guess that’s an improvement. How are things with you? Is Mrs. King still making those awesome cookies?”

  “Oh.” He grimaced and shook his head. “I’m afraid there’s no Mrs. King anymore. We got divorced.”

  “I’m so sorry.” I blinked a couple of times in surprise and I felt like I shoved my foot directly into my mouth. “What about Benjamin? He’s gotta be in school by now.”

  “He’s starting first grade this year.” Mr. King nodded and smiled again. “I don’t get to see him as often as I would like, I’m afraid.”

  I could never forget that smile…

  “That has to be tough…” I sighed and looked over my shoulder. “I guess I better go before Veronica gets herself in anymore trouble.”

  “It’s the first day of school. Hopefully it doesn’t become a trend.” He chuckled slightly and turned back towards the rest of the students. “If it does, I guess I’ll be seeing you again.”

  “I’d like that—well, I mean, not her getting in trouble, obviously.” I felt my face turning red as I stammered over my words.

  Mr. King was my favorite teacher and my high school crush. I wasn’t the only girl fawning over him when he first stepped into the classroom. He was barely out of college when he was hired and he was smoking hot. So many of us dreamed that we would catch his eye, but he was totally out of our league. Our torment was amplified when we saw the photograph of his beautiful wife holding his adorable baby. It never stopped my daydreams about Mr. King, but those unclean thoughts turned into memories after I graduated.

  “Did you have fun flirting with Mr. King?” My sister smirked and pulled out a cigarette when I climbed into the driver’s seat.

  “You are not smoking in my car.” I snatched the cigarette out of her hand before she could light it.

  “You’re so lame.” She rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. “You used to be cool.”

  “I’m still cool.” I pushed the key into the ignition and started my car. “I’m just not high school cool.”

  “College is supposed to be even better than high school.” She looked over at me. “It just turned you into a buzzkill.”

  “I came to get you, didn’t I? I could have let you walk home.” I glared at her as I turned out of the parking lot and started driving towards the highway.

  “Mom would have killed you.” She continued to pout as I drove.

  “Maybe I should call her tonight and ask her. I’m sure she would love to know that you ended up in detention on your first day of school.” I turned my attention back to the road and shook my head in disappointment.

  “It’s a family tradition.” Her pout turned to a grin. “I’m just trying to live up to my big sister’s reputation.”

  I made a name for myself at Glendale High School, but it wasn’t one I was proud of. I thought I was the shit when I was still a student, but most of the things I did made me cringe when I looked back on them. I definitely didn’t set a good example for my little sister. She might not have looked like me, but she was obviously on the same twisted road I paved. If she was walking the road I created, no amount of lecturing would turn her around. Our mom tried that when I was getting in trouble all the time, and none of it stuck. I finally figured out that the world didn’t revolve around me once I got to college. It was a humbling experience, but I was much better off because of it.

  “You’re not really going to tattle on me, are you?” Veronica opened the door once we pulled into our driveway.

  “No.” I shook my head back and forth. “I’m sure you’ll get into plenty of trouble once she gets back from her trip.”

  “I’m an angel.” She stepped out of the car and lit a cigarette.

  “As if.” I rolled my eyes and started walking towards the house.

  It wasn’t my job to raise Veronica. I was nothing more than a glorified babysitter while our mother was on her business trip, and our father had been out of the picture for a long time. As long as Veronica didn’t kill herself or burn the house down, I would consider it a success. I had a couple of weeks before my classes started, so I was glad to help out, but that was about as far as my charity would take me. I would keep Veronica’s secret about detention since I was sure my mother would somehow blame me for what she did. My mother wasn’t completely sold on my transformation. I was fairly certain that the only reason she trusted me to watch Veronica was because she didn’t have any other options. Veronica should have been old enough not to need a babysitter, but it was clear she couldn’t be trusted on her own.

  “AGAIN?” I SHOOK MY head and sighed as the school secretary told me I had to come pick up my sister from detention for the second day in a row.

  My sister was definitely taking after me. The first day she got in trouble for bullying another student. Her second trip to detention w
as for telling her teacher that she didn’t bother to do her homework because it was a stupid fucking assignment. She was obviously my sister. At the rate she was going, there was a good chance she would be suspended before our mother got back from her trip. I wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. I waved at the secretary as I arrived and started down the hallway.

  Well, at least I’ll get to see Mr. King again.

  I pulled the door open and stepped inside, immediately looking over at the desk, but it wasn’t Mr. King that was sitting there. It was an older woman I didn’t recognize. She barely looked up to acknowledge me as my sister nearly ran me over to leave the room. I closed the door and started following Veronica towards the car. I walked to the end of the main hall and saw that Mr. King’s door was still open. Veronica was almost to the door, so I just let her keep going and turned down the hallway. Mr. King was staring intently at his desk when I stepped into his room.

  “Charlotte!” He lifted his head and smiled for a moment, but then his smile faded. “Don’t tell me that your sister ended up in detention again today.”

  “Yes, I’m afraid so.” I shook my head and sighed. “It’s become a trend.”

  “You caught me as I was just about to give up for the day.” He tossed the paper on the desk. “Some of the things these students write make your plagiarism look like Shakespeare.”

  “Plagiarism?” I blinked in surprise. “I was ahead of my time. I figured out how to beat the system with creative editing.”

  “You were good.” He chuckled and nodded. “I believed you were talented until I realized you were just rewriting the classics from the CliffsNotes.”

  “Yet you never busted me for it.” I grinned and shrugged. “You must have liked my creativity.”

  “It was good for a laugh sometimes.” He stood up and picked up his suit jacket. “Technically it didn’t break the rules, even if it was pretty unethical.”

  “I did what I had to do.” I tilted my head and shrugged again. “Anyway, I thought I would say hello since this is hopefully my last trip to pick up my sister before I head back to college.”

  “Oh, so you’re heading back today? Because I’m pretty sure this trend isn’t going to correct itself overnight.” He slid his arms into his suit jacket and walked towards me.

  “No, it probably won’t.” I sighed and shook my head. “So, are you dating anyone—now that you’re single?”

  “Dating?” He raised his eyebrows. “No, I’m not sure I’m ready for that quite yet.”

  “Too bad.” I turned towards the door as he started walking past me. “I bet you’d be a big hit with the cougars.”

  “Cougars?” He chuckled as we exited his classroom. “I might have to look into that.”

  “Or you could just ask me out and let me pretend to think about it before I agree.” I reached out and let my fingers graze his hand.

  I felt a lump rising up in my throat the instant I said the words. I had no idea where they came from. I had never been that forward with a guy before, even if I liked him. Despite my reputation in high school, I had found it difficult to actually date guys once I got to college where I didn’t have my past to fall back on. Finding out that Mr. King was divorced started to stir those dormant thoughts again and I was willing to take a risk. If he rejected me, it would be one more humiliating memory to add to my collection from Glendale High School.

  “I don’t know.” Mr. King looked down at my hand as I pulled it away. “I’m pretty sure the school frowns on that sort of thing, even if you’re not a student here anymore.”

  “Maybe you’ve forgotten…” I grinned and tilted my head. “I’ve never really been one to give a shit about what the school thought.”

  “No.” He shook his head and smiled. “I guess you haven’t. You know what? Screw it. How about I pick you up at seven o’clock?”

  The date was set. We exchanged numbers, I gave him my address, and then I headed to my car. I couldn’t believe Mr. King had actually agreed—technically I was going to have to start calling him Gavin instead of Mr. King if we were going on a date. I practically skipped once I was outside. I had fantasized about a moment like that since I was a student in his class, but I never imagined it becoming reality. He was so hot that it made my blood boil, even after not seeing him for three years.

  “What the fuck took you so long?” Veronica glared at me when I opened the door to my car.

  “Just chatting with a friend.” I smiled and pushed the key into the ignition.

  “Flirting with Mr. King again?” She rolled her eyes. “I thought you were done with that when you graduated.”

  We got back to our house and I was forced to tell Veronica that I was going on a date with Mr. King. We reached a mutual understanding—I wouldn’t tell our mother about her trips to detention if she promised to behave while I was gone for the evening. It cost me twenty dollars on top of my promise, but it was worth it. I put on a red dress, some high heels, and my favorite shade of lipstick. I was barely finished assembling myself when I heard a car in the driveway.

  “He’s here!” Veronica yelled up the stairs.

  Chapter 2: Gavin

  “Fucking hell…” My eyes opened slowly and when I reached over to stop my alarm block from blaring, I knocked over an empty whiskey bottle.

  Life had been hard since my divorce. I married my high school sweetheart before we graduated from college, but we were both too young to understand how the world worked. The marriage was rocky from the start and the baby fixed things for a little bit, but then it went completely off the rails. We were both to blame. It ended with a whimper instead of an explosion, but we both agreed it wasn’t working. The worst part was losing my son. I still got to see him every other weekend, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

  Shower. Coffee. Maybe I should go for coffee first.

  I was never much of a drinker when I was younger. I didn’t party in high school, and college was spent focusing on my GPA. What little free time I had was spent with Amy, the girl I would eventually marry. After the divorce was finalized, I found comfort in the bottle. By day, I was Mr. King, the studious literature teacher at Glendale High School. By night, I was a slave to the only thing that helped me sleep. I wasn’t looking for love or a second chance at eternal happiness. I was just looking to numb the pain so I could put one foot in front of the other when the sun came up. The routine kept me going. The end of the summer meant that my drinking had to be scaled back, at least during the day.

  PLEASE GOD, JUST FOCUS on your work and stop looking at me.

  I was tired of the high school brats I had to teach every day. They were annoying Post-Millennials that barely put any effort into their work. I had considered tendering my resignation over the summer, but I stayed too drunk for any real productivity.

  The worst thing about high school girls was the way they looked at me. I knew I was physically attractive. I had never been much of a narcissist, but when the students weren’t fawning over me, it was my co-workers. There were enough sexual innuendos and silly smiles on both fronts to let me know exactly what they fantasized about. I used to think it was cute, but it had become nothing short of annoying as the years went on.

  “So, will you be up all night grading my paper or thinking about me?” A pretty blonde student that was nothing but jailbait winked at me as she put her paper on my desk.

  “If it is half as bad as your first paragraph, it won’t take me long to write an F on it.” I sighed as I looked at her paper.

  “You’re an asshole.” She glared at me and wrinkled her nose.

  “And you just got yourself a trip to detention, young lady.” I slammed my hand down on the desk. “Go ahead and find a comfortable seat in Principal Wilson’s office.”

  “Whatever.” She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair as she walked towards the door.

  MY STINT AS THE DETENTION warden was over, and while I expected it to be rather boring, I got an interesting surprise when parents started arriv
ing to pick up their brats. Most of them ignored me and concealed their shame with a quick smile. Some gave me a stare that indicated they blamed me, even if I wasn’t the one that made their shining star stay after school.

  One of the brats turned out to be Charlotte Baker’s little sister. Charlotte was one student I would never forget. She had so much potential, but she wasted it because she wanted to be the cool kid. She never gave a shit about her grades and half the work she turned in was crap she stole off the Internet. I had to applaud her creativity though, because she always rewrote her assignments with enough of a change to get by.

  Charlotte Baker. Damn, you got hot.

  It was a brief conversation, but I couldn’t easily ignore the woman she had become. She was one of the brats that always liked to tease me with her innuendos, but I wasn’t interested when I was married and she was young enough to get me arrested. Three years had passed since I had seen her at graduation and while it wasn’t that long, she had developed quite nicely. I never looked at another woman while I was married, much less a high school girl, but I didn’t just look twice at Charlotte—I watched her until she disappeared out of sight. Our conversation had been brief, but it replayed in my head when I got home and twisted the top off of my nightly alcoholic distraction.

  I probably should have just asked her out. She’s not a student at Glendale High School anymore…

  I WAS STILL THINKING about Charlotte the next day when my hangover started to wear off. She was so damn beautiful and I was curious to know if she really had come into her own at college. I didn’t have detention duty on the second day of school, but there was still enough work to keep me busy until most of the teachers were gone. The students that took my class got several assignments to complete over the summer, so I started the year with a backlog of work. I didn’t mind because it gave me a good idea of what I needed to work on when the school year started. Even if was drowning my sorrows nightly, I still wanted to be a good teacher.