The Not So Bad Boy: Give up EVERYTHING for a bad-boy charm?

by Raquel Belle

  James was smiling widely as Hayley waved at him and he held out his hand for a shake when she grew close enough.

  “Hayley, right?” he said in a deep, sultry baritone that wrapped around her like silk.

  “Yup, that’s me! Let’s get inside where it’s warmer,” she said, unlocking the doors with one of the keys on the key ring attached to her purse. Facing away from James gave her some much-needed time to collect herself.

  James followed her inside to the teacher’s lounge, where she began filling the coffee maker. “Coffee or tea?” she asked.

  James was standing by the bookshelf near the door, inspecting the various educational textbooks gracing its shelves. He turned around at the sound of Hayley’s voice.

  “Oh, uh, coffee please. Do you need any help?”

  Hayley waved his offer off and motioned for him to sit down at one of the tables nearby. There was a box of chocolates and a few packets of Oreos scattered around the table from their most recent team meeting, and James grabbed a few cookies and began munching, while she poured coffee into two mugs.

  “How do you take it?” she asked, turning around to look at James. The harsh lighting of the school wasn’t the most flattering, but somehow James managed to look even more gorgeous than he had a moment earlier in the early morning sunshine. She could see dark auburn highlights running through his hair and a little scar slashed through one eyebrow. Piercing? She thought. Brightside was pretty lenient about how teachers could dress, but facial piercings were a no-no, simply because kids could be a bit too hands-on when there was metal on a face near them. Hayley longed to see him, all his tattoos and piercings out for her viewing pleasure. She’d take her time inspecting each one with her fingers and mouth, before moving lower to…

  “Black, with a little sugar,” James said, interrupting her thoughts. She turned her back to him, grateful for the opportunity to hide her blush, because her mind had not only been thinking sexy thoughts but also making the connection of leather jacket+eyebrow piercing= bad boy and that was not a direction she wanted it to go. Bad boys were what she was trying to get away from.

  Hayley finished putting sugar in her mug and took both hers and James’ to the table, sitting across from him and grabbing an Oreo so she’d have something to munch on. She hadn’t had time to eat breakfast that morning, and she was feeling peckish.

  “So, what has Dan told you about the school?” she asked, taking a sip of her coffee and settling more comfortably into the small, red padded chair.

  “I know it’s a charter school and puts a lot of focus on the visual arts and fostering kids’ creativity. He also told me that you guys do a lot of hands-on activities, field trips, et cetera, and said you’re really great at planning out lessons so the kids stay engaged. He actually spent a good bit of the time he was supposed to be briefing me about the job raving about you.”

  Hayley blushed. Dan had done this with all of Hayley’s professors in grad school, as well as the school board at annual meetings. He loved all his teachers, but he had once told her that he saw a bit of himself in her, and she liked to think she was his favorite.

  “Your uncle’s a sweet guy and a great boss. So where are you doing your degree?”

  James took a sip of his coffee before answering. He closed his eyes briefly and hummed with pleasure, then looked at Hayley and went, “Damn, this is good coffee.” Hayley smiled. She could think of a thousand other things she could do to him to get him to hum with that much pleasure again.

  “But to answer your question, I’m doing my masters at Northwestern. It’s actually where I did my undergrad as well, though it’s been a while.”

  “No way! I went to Northwestern as well! What did you study?”

  “I started with art, but ended up switching to Chemistry mid-way through my second year. Had a brief flirtation with the idea of going to med school, though I thankfully changed my mind. I actually worked with my dad at his tattoo shop for a few years out of school. I was his apprentice for a while and eventually became his partner and lead artist at the shop.”

  Ha! I was right about the tattoos! Hayley thought, trying to keep herself from daydreaming about where exactly those tattoos were on James’ body. Now was not the time to be thinking about her co-worker naked.

  “And do you still tattoo?” she asked.

  “A bit. My dad’s shop closed down last year, so I’ve been doing some guest spots at local shops, but nothing serious. I want to do teaching full-time.”

  Hayley nodded. “Well, I’m sure Dan told you Brightside is pretty lenient about tattoos showing, so you’ll be able to show them off once the weather warms up and it’s t-shirt time.”

  James smiled and nodded, then gulped down the last of his coffee and stood up. “Can we go to the classroom? I want to get the lay of the land before the kids come rushing in and everything gets overwhelming.”

  “Sure.”

  They walked down the hall together, and James stopped occasionally to admire the art on the walls. Brightside hung up every single piece of artwork the kids made each year, putting the work everywhere from the halls to the lunchroom to the teachers’ restrooms. It made the whole place look cheery and, combined with the soft, carpeted floor and plush chairs and pillows in every room, pretty cozy as well.

  They rounded the door to Hayley’s, and now James’, classroom, and Hayley pointed out the cubby next to the door. “That’s where kids take their shoes off. I usually do as well most of the time. I feel like I can get down to their level a bit easier, you know?”

  James nodded and bent down to start untying his shoes. “Oh, you don’t have to now! We usually go out to greet the parents at drop off, so you’ll need them for that. Might as well keep them on for now.”

  “Whoops, sorry. Got a little excited there. I hate wearing shoes, so any excuse to take them off is always welcome.”

  Hayley smiled at him and walked further into the room. She pointed out the craft supply closet, the reading nook, the desk that she and James would share. “And the coat closet is here, and here’s an extra key for it,” she said, grabbing a key ring from a painted cup on her desk and handing it to James. “Definitely use it, because trust me, you do not want a five-year-old knowing where you keep your belongings. My first day here I made the mistake of leaving the coat closet open, and when I went to fish my house keys out of my pocket when I got home, there was a snotty tissue in there.”

  “Noted,” James said, smiling at her as he shrugged off his coat. Without it, she could make out the lines of his muscles even better, and she could clearly see that he was wearing a Ramones t-shirt under his button down.

  “You a punk rock fan, then?” Hayley said, motioning to his t-shirt as she slipped her denim jacket off her shoulders and onto a hanger.

  “Hell yeah. My dad raised me on a diet of The Sex Pistols and Johnny Thunder and the Heartbreakers. Do you like them?”

  “Absolutely, though I have to say that The Clash is my all-time favorite.”

  “Cool. I have some of their stuff on vinyl, actually. Got them from my dad. You should come by and listen to them some time.”

  And you could show me your tattoos, Hayley thought but quickly shook off the thought. What am I thinking? I haven’t even officially broken up with Eric and I’m already eyeing a co-worker?

  Hayley nodded and said something non-committal to James, then moved to the desk to show him where the sign-in sheet for attendance was and gave him time to look over the lessons she had planned for that day. She made an excuse about leaving something in her car [she didn’t have a car, and James had definitely seen her walking to the school gates], so she could go to the women’s bathroom and take a few minutes.

  Hayley was on her last of ten deep breaths when her best friend Kerry walked into the bathroom.

  “What the hell happened to you? You’re flushed, and you have crazy eyes,” she said, moving toward Hayley.

  “James. My teaching assistant,” was all she could get out.r />
  Kerry looked at her with concern. “Oh no, is he as incompetent as Thomas? I swear, what is it with the assistants here? Remember the one I had last year that brought a PB&J for lunch even though I clearly told her that Anders Bensen was allergic to tree nuts? I’m so glad she’s gone, and I have Sara. She’s a dream. What’s up with your new guy?” She asked as she walked toward the mirror to touch up her hot-pink lipstick.

  “He’s… hot,” Hayley whispered, turning to look at Kerry in the mirror. “Like, beautiful, gorgeously attractive, and I think I might melt into a puddle of sexual frustration if I have to look him in the eye today, let alone for the next six months.”

  Kerry stopped midway through reapplying her lipstick to turn and look at her. “Excuse me, what?! Your assistant is hot? That’s great news!”

  “How is that great news?!” Hayley asked, throwing her hands in the air and turning to lean against the counter. “I’m supposed to be focusing on molding the minds of tomorrow’s youth, not fantasizing about where my assistant’s tattoos might be. This is terrible.”

  “Tattoos, eh?” Kerry winked before turning back to finish her lipstick.

  “Tattoos. And a potential eyebrow piercing. And he was wearing a leather jacket when I came in. Also, there’s a Ramones t-shirt under his button-down.”

  “Sounds like just your type,” Kerry mused. It was true that Hannah loved bad boys—her first crush had been on her older brother’s friend Michael, a steely-eyed guitar player in the local rock band with long, flowing blonde hair and ripped jeans. He was classic 90’s rock, and Hayley had filled up whole journals with love letters to him. Their five-year age difference meant that he went off to college right when Hayley was finally mustering up the courage to declare her love to him, but ever since then, she’d been falling for music-loving bad boys left and right. Eric was supposed to be her move toward a healthier way of dating, a more stable kind of boyfriend, but obviously you can’t change bad taste.

  “He is. That’s the problem. I’m supposed to be with Eric, not thinking about maybe kissing my assistant after knowing him for all of ten minutes.”

  “I thought you texted me last night that Eric was a douchebag, and that you were going to break up with him. In fact,” Kerry said, fishing her phone from the back pocket of her skinny black capris, “I have the textual evidence to prove it.”

  Sure enough, there in Kerry’s iMessages were four texts from Hayley, reading “Eric is a fuckboy” and ending with “Fuck him. I’m worth way more. Breaking up with him this weekend!”

  “I dunno…” Hayley said. After she’d run out all her frustration, she’d spent the rest of the morning thinking about her and Eric’s relationship. It was sweet, really, that he’d been so jealous of Thomas and James. It meant he really cared about her and that was more than she could say for any of her previous boyfriends. They’d all been busy sleeping with other people, ignoring her texts ,and generally making her feel worthless.

  “Please tell me you’re not going to take him back, Hayley. You’re better off alone than with someone who doesn’t treat you well.”

  “But he does treat me well!” Hayley said.

  “He made fun of your job, got jealous because, God forbid, you work with men, and he gas lighted you. And I bet it wasn’t the first time.”

  Hayley stayed quiet, unsure what to say. She was torn between forgiving Eric and letting him back into her life. He was what she needed, a stable, caring, loving man who would never intentionally do anything to hurt her. Wasn’t that what was most important, that he hadn’t meant to offend her?

  Hayley never had time to ask Kerry this, however, because the alarm on Kerry’s Apple Watch went on, signaling that it was time to go greet the kids. Hayley would just have to table all her feelings until after work.

  Chapter Three

  The day was hectic, with all of her students understandably excited at having a new teacher and confused about where Thomas had gone. Hayley had had no idea how she was going to explain his sudden disappearance to the students, but James came to her rescue, telling the class an elaborate story about how Thomas had gone off to use his artistic skills in the London music scene, and he’d asked James, who loved art, to step in and fill his shoes.

  The kids had immediately wanted to see if his finger-painting skills were up to snuff, and they were delighted when he hand-painted a cute, woodland scene with trees, squirrels, deer, and foxes for everyone. Hayley put it on the coat closet with some masking tape and whispered, “Nice work” as she and James passed each other in the supply closet later that day.

  Hayley had had a meeting with the mother of Jimmy Thompson, one of her more unruly students, at lunch, so she didn’t get to properly catch up with James until the end of the day when they were packing up and getting ready to head home. “So, how was your first day?” Hayley asked as she shrugged on her coat and weaved her scarf around her neck.

  “It was amazing. I loved it. I’m definitely going to need to drink a few more cups of coffee in the morning to keep me that peppy, but all the kids are so wonderful and honest and interesting. I can’t wait to get to know them a little better.”

  Hayley smiled. It was true that James had a natural affinity for kids—even Jimmy, who hated nearly every teacher and spent most of every day throwing temper tantrums and trying to eat the finger paint, calmed down around James. Dan was right—he was a natural.

  “Well, the field trip in a few weeks should take care of that. Did you get a chance to chat to any of the other teachers at lunch? Sorry I couldn’t join you.”

  James zipped up his leather jacket, adjusting the laces on his boots, then stood to face Hayley. “Yeah. Kerry seems really nice, and Dan bought me a coffee during nap time and gave me a bit of a debriefing.”

  Hayley stilled at the mention of Kerry. She knew Kerry would never divulge to James that Hayley was crushing on him, but the fact that he and Kerry had officially met and were now acquainted meant that Hayley could expect an onslaught of texts that evening with things like “damn he’s hot!” and “go for him, girl!” from Kerry, especially now that her suspicions about Eric had come to fruition. Kerry had taken one look at his Hinge profile the night of his and Hayley’s first date and declared him an “asshole.” Hayley hated that she might’ve been right.

  Speaking of the devil—Hayley and James had just locked up the classroom and were walking toward the main entry doors when her phone vibrated in her pocket, signaling she had a call. It was Eric.

  James was in the midst of asking her a question when Hayley said, “Sorry, I need to take this. I’ll see you tomorrow at normal time, 8:30?”

  James gave her an understanding smile and waved, wishing her a goodnight. Hayley jogged out into the late winter sunlight and hit “answer.”

  ***

  Three hours later she was at Eric’s, naked in his bed after a spirited makeup sex session. For all his faults, Eric was a wizard in the sack. He knew exactly what Hayley liked and how to give it to her, and seemed totally content to let her take the reigns when the desire hit her. He’d gone to make them a snack, and was now coming back into the room, boxers slung low on his muscular stomach, with two cubs of herbal tea and some granola bars.

  Hayley sat up in bed, the sheet falling to expose one breast, as she reached out to grab a mug from him. Eric settled in next to her, kissing her shoulder but ignoring her exposed nipple. Which was a shame because despite Eric’s good moves, he always ignored her breasts. And she had great tits, if she did say so herself. They were round and firm and big enough to give her a nice amount of cleavage no matter what kind of top she wore. They were also extremely sensitive, but no matter how often Hayley told Eric how much she loved having them touched, kissed, sucked and bitten, in the heat of the moment, his focus always went straight to getting her wet enough to slide into her and make her come. Which she appreciated, but not as much as she’d appreciate some nice nipple play.

  “So, how was the new guy? Better than Thomas?
” Eric asked as he pulled the covers up to his stomach and leaned back on one of the fluffy pillows he always bought from Macy’s. Hayley preferred flatter pillows, but Eric said that they made him snore, so they’d reached a compromise: her side had flat, “wimpy” pillows, while Eric’s had huge, fluffy pillows that were, in Hayley’s opinion, destined to give him a permanent crick in his neck.

  “He was great! So good with the kids and really enthusiastic. He also seems like he’ll actually help with planning, which will make my life a lot easier.”

  Eric nodded and Hayley smiled at him. She’d gone to his apartment straight from school. He’d made her a romantic dinner, during which he profusely apologized for being such a sexist asshole and begged her to forgive him. Which she readily did, because she liked Eric. He was good for her. How many other guys would cook her dinner and then give her two orgasms, back-to-back, as an apology? She had to hang onto him. The other night must have just been a blip.

  “That’s good to hear. You deserve a bit of a break. You work so hard,” Eric said, setting aside his tea and turning Hayley’s back to him so he could rub her shoulders. The feeling was hypnotic, and Hayley became so relaxed that she nearly spilled the remnants of her tea on herself when the mug slipped from her grasp. Luckily, it landed on the sheets, and Hayley moved it to the bedside table before crawling down onto her stomach so Eric could better reach both sides of her.