Hot For Teacher

by Anthology

  “Yo! Burke!” He looks over at me from the front door and nods. “Number two keg needs to be changed!” He nods again says something to the other bouncer, whose name I always forget, and walks over to the bar. I finish washing glasses and am wiping my hands off on a rag when people start coming in. “Hey, what can I getcha?” I ask a couple of girls who sat down on the stools at the counter. They barely tell me their orders as they chat and giggle. I start filling their beer glasses when my ears zone into their conversation.

  “He’s so freaking HOT. I hope that bitch doesn’t show up tonight. She got on my last nerve at the last bar they played. She thinks she’s all that, and he doesn’t even look at her.” My eyes shift to her loud gum popping and twirling of her hair and I try not to roll my eyes.

  “I know! And she tried to get up on the stage and had to be carried out, screaming and kicking her legs. What a whore. We all know he only has eyes for you anyway. He always sings your favorite song, looks into your eyes, and all the bitches are just green with envy.”

  I bring over the beers, set them down in front of them and take their money. Great! Another fucking hottie who is full of himself and lives for all the girls’ attention. There went my hope for some good music tonight.

  Pretty soon, I start to get slammed and the other bartender, Trevor, and I have a hard time keeping up with orders. I look up as I pour a beer and see the place is more packed than it’s ever been. Well, at least they’re good for business if nothing else. “Here you go. That’ll be twelve-fifty.” The guy hands me his credit card, and I walk over to the POS system punch in the figures and swipe his card. I hear instruments behind me starting up as I grab his receipt and walk over handing it to him with his card. “What do you need?” I yell as the band’s music begins to play and the women in the crowd start screaming. The girl in front of me turns her head towards the stage, and I scream out again at the customer. “What’s your order?” A familiar voice speaks into the microphone, and I freeze, hand ready to tap the girl’s shoulder. I look out through the crowd and up on the stage. Oh, my freaking God. There with his hand holding the microphone stand, a guitar strap over his shoulder and the guitar hanging down his side, wearing a white wife-beater and black tight jeans, is none other than my music teacher, Mr. Tyler. What in all of God’s holy name is he doing here?

  “Hey! Welcome to Randy’s Place!” Screams of deafening proportions pierce my eardrums making me cover them quickly. His sexy laugh makes my eyes go wide and my heart races as it magnifies from the sound system. “We’re ‘The Forgotten’ but I hope after tonight you don’t forget us or our awesome sounds.” I watch as his head turns back to his bandmates and then the drummer hits his sticks together and the band starts playing.

  “Hey! Two beers!” My head reluctantly turns to a guy waving money over the counter, and I go grab a couple of glasses and start filling them, the girl never turning back around to give me her order. We’re swamped and the women are screaming with every note played, every word sung, making it hard to hear their music, and I almost fall twice trying to hurry to fill drink orders. The crowd roars as the band states they’re taking a quick break, and then the bar counter gets mobbed with people.

  “Yo, Em! Go see what the band wants to drink. I’ll cover ya,” Randy shouts as he walks behind the bar. I wipe my hands off on my jeans and nod, quickly walking behind Trevor and out the back way towards the hallway that leads into the private room we have for the band members. I hear Tina whisper, “Lucky Wench” as my heart starts beating wildly with the thought that if by some miracle he didn’t see me before, he will now. I walk into the room just as he removes his wife-beater using it to wipe the sweat from his brow, and I can’t swallow the lump in my throat or the desire that skyrocketed throughout my body. No one has ever made me feel this way. Oh, there was a guy once, who I kind of liked, but I’ve never had the sensations that are flowing through me now. The butterflies have tied knots in my stomach just looking at him. Shit! I hope I’m not becoming just another one of his groupies.

  “Cool! They’re sending in sexy women into the backroom for us! Totally awesome!” One of the guys says loudly, and I freeze when Mr. Tyler’s eyes flash to mine.

  I smile coyly and look around. “Uh, no. I’m here to take drink orders, sorry.” My eyes shift back to Mr. Tyler’s, and I watch as his smile spreads. I can’t help but look down at his muscular arms, the light wisps of hair on his broad chest, his more than tight abs, and I about choke on my spit.

  “I didn’t know you worked here,” he whispers as his eyes gaze into mine then down my body, and suddenly I’m self-conscious of my half top and put my arms around my waist.

  “Ah, girl, don’t cover up. How ‘bout you get us some beers and shots of tequila and then you can sit on my lap and tell me all about yourself.” One of the guys shouts, and I quickly turn and walk very fast out of there. Fuck my life! I practically run to the side bar. I get their beers and fill the shot glasses with tequila and carry the huge tray back to the room, setting it on the round table in the corner and find myself in between two of the guys. The one who ‘wants to get to know me’ puts his arm around my lower thigh and pulls me onto his lap as I turn to leave. “Hey, not so fast, girlie. Now how about you let me take my shot between your nice girls there, and then we can have a nice….” His eyes move up and down my chest as he licks his lips. “Chat.”

  I look up when Mr. Tyler grabs my hand and pulls me up. My chest hits his hard with the force, and I swear I heard him growl. I thank all that’s holy that he put another wife-beater on so I didn’t hit his naked skin. “Knock it off, Duke,” he sneers back at the other guy.

  “Fuck! You’re no fun!” He grumbles as he lifts his shot glass and tilts his head back as he slams it down.

  Mr. Tyler pulls my hand, and I follow him out of the room and into the small hallway. I remove my hand from the warmth of his and lean back against the wall and watch as he mimics me on the wall across from me. “Sorry about Duke, he’s a mess. How long have you worked here?”

  I look down and start wringing my hands in front of me. “Mr. Tyler, I don’t think….”

  “It’s Josh, at least when we’re not at school,” he whispers and my eyes snap to his, the warmth of his beautiful smile calming me. I’m in so much trouble.

  I can’t help my smile from appearing as I remove my hands from their tight clasp and take a deep breath. “I’ve bartended here for a little over two years, ever since I moved here. And just how long have you been in a band? I have to say I was more than surprised when I saw you up on the stage tonight.”

  He chuckles, and I have to cross my legs to try to contain the ache that develops quickly, and his eyes lower as he rubs the scruff on his face. I find myself wanting to lick where he’s rubbing.

  “We’ve been playing together for about four years now. It’s always quite the experience with these guys but we have fun and we enjoy sharing our love of music.” His eyes roam my body again, and I get more than self-conscious. “You look…. You look beautiful tonight.” He licks his full lips, and I start to slide down the wall to get back to the bar. His hand is suddenly on my arm, stopping my movements, but I dare not look at him. “I’d love to buy you a drink after the bar closes tonight, if…. If you want to.” My heart feels like it could leap out of my chest as I turn my head slightly and see the pleading look in his eyes. I nod shakily and watch his lips move up into a smile as he releases my arm, and I walk quickly back to the bar where it’s safe. This is so wrong. He’s my teacher. But God, since when have I ever played by anyone’s rules? This is so going to be the slowest night of my life.

  § § § §

  Longest show of my life when all I want to do is talk to Emma. The way her gorgeous eyes met mine in the hallway, the way she fidgeted as I looked at her. I could sense her body responding to my voice and shit, what a body and mind. Fuck! Why does she have to be a student of mine? How unlucky am I? Why on earth do I find someone who I actually want to know, be with
, and am not free to do so?

  Finally, we’re about to play the last number and I turn to the guys and whisper, “The Hardest Things.” Duke rolls his eyes and then shrugs as Phillip and Mark wink. “Thanks a ton for being here with us tonight. You all Rock!” The women crowd around the edge of the stage and scream. “This is a new number and you all are the first to hear it. I hope you like it.” They all scream again but as I sit down on the stool and start strumming my guitar they all quiet down.

  How can life be so unfair at times?

  Why can’t it give me what I need?

  Is it too much to ask for the one I love?

  Why is it always the hardest of times for me?

  All I want to do is know you,

  Love you,

  And keep you safe.

  But life has a way to always intervene,

  Keeping us apart.

  Why is it always the hardest of times for me?

  I continue to play and sing, pouring out everything I feel about Emma into this one song. As I reach the end, I look up and see her standing behind the bar. Her blue eyes sparkling from the overhead light and I see her heavy breathing and know in my gut she’s affected by my words. That makes me even more determined to get to know her, want her and try to figure out a way to have her.

  I finish off the last chords of the song but you can’t hear them over the screaming women. A girl I’ve seen at several bars starts to pull herself up to get on the stage and I rise and take a few steps back. “You always play our song for the last one. Why did you have to ruin it? You didn’t play it at all for me tonight.” She cries as she’s almost on the stage. A big bouncer is there just as she stands and starts to run, grabbing her around her waist and carries her off crying, screaming and hitting his arms.

  “Night, everyone! Be careful getting home. Be safe! We’ll see you again tomorrow night!” Screaming and yelling ensues as I walk down the few steps off the stage and make a beeline for the backroom, the guys hot on my heels. When we get into the room, I see a tray of beers and shots and look around, but Emma isn’t here. We all down our shots and sit around drinking our beers then start loading up the instruments we can take with us. We start heading out of the bar through the backdoor, and I turn suddenly, walk back down the hallway and peer around the corner. I see people cleaning up. No customers are left, and Emma is nowhere around. Letting out a big sigh, I turn back and walk towards the backdoor wondering if I made the biggest mistake of my life and scared her off. I push open the door and start walking to my truck. My head down in my frustration but a noise causes me to look up. My smile spreads when I see Emma sitting in her car next to my truck. I jog the rest of the way open my door and place my guitar carefully on the passenger side floor board then turn around and smile as she lowers her passenger window. I walk over lay my arms down on the door and lean in the window and laugh when I see she has sunglasses on. “Uh, I don’t think you need those. I don’t think the sun will be that bright until tomorrow.” I wink as she laughs and then puts her hand on the frames, sliding them down her nose, so I can see her eyes.

  “I’m incognito. We can’t have people seeing us together or you’ll lose your job.” Shit! I hadn’t even thought of that, well I had but not sure I really care. “Come on. Follow me. I know an out of the way café that’s open all night.” My eyebrows raise as I wonder how she would know of such a place. “Hey, when you work until the early hours and are in desperate need of a great cup of coffee and some quiet time, you go looking. Now, get in your truck.” She winks as I smile, turn to my truck and get in. She’s already heading out of the lot by the time I get my seatbelt on. I have no problem catching up to her little car and follow it for what seems like a half an hour until she finally turns into a small parking lot. After I park and get out of my truck, I look up at the sign and smile. I catch up to her and watch her shyness as I open the door to ‘Mabel’s Music’. She walks in, and I follow her over to a corner table in the back. The other side of the place is covered with racks of CD’s, old albums and various posters of bands on the walls. Very nostalgic.

  “This is quite the place.” I smile, and she hands me a small menu right as a woman walks up to the booth. She appears to be maybe in her fifties and has a huge smile on her face.

  “Emma! Where have you been, girl? You haven’t graced me with your presence in several weeks now. How are you, sweetheart?” I look at the woman and see how kind her face is and then look over to Emma, who’s smiling big at her, and I can tell they’ve had a great relationship for a while.

  “Oh, you know, the bar and then school started. Mabel, this is Mr.… Uh…. Josh.” My heart speeds up with her cute stuttering and the sound of my name in her sweet voice. I hold my hand out to her.

  “Mabel, it’s a pleasure.” She smiles and shakes my hand and then looks over at Emma.

  “My! Such a gentleman and a real looker. You’ve been holding out on me, Em. Is he the real reason you haven’t been around? Hmmm?”

  I laugh as Emma brings her menu up to her face to try to cover some of her embarrassment. “Oh, Mabel! Stop! No!” She brings the menu back down and looks into my eyes. “We actually just met and are just here for coffee.”

  I look down at my menu and then back at Mabel when she speaks, “Psh, child. You never eat and barely sleep. You all should at least have one of my homemade cinnamon rolls. You are seriously gonna wither away to nothing. Come on, on the house. My treat.”

  Our eyes continue to stare into each other’s and I grow very serious. “Well, we can’t pass that up.” I look up at Mabel and wink. “I’m in for any kind of homemade cooking. God knows I never get any.” She looks at Emma and she nods at Mabel and then back at me.

  “Okay, I know what my girl drinks, what about you, sugar?”

  “Just black please, but I’ll take some extra cinnamon drizzle on the top of the roll if you have it.” I smile.

  “Only way to eat it right?” She winks and then walks away.

  “So, how do you take your coffee?” I ask Emma and watch her roll her eyes and then laugh, and I feel comfortable already.

  Chapter Three

  “Yeah, so, I have no idea what I want to do with my life but for now, I love working at Randy’s. It pays the bills and I’ll probably flunk Calculus anyway so….” We both laugh, and I’ve never had such a great time. We’ve been sitting here for two hours and I’m not even the least bit tired. I feel so comfortable around him, it’s almost scary. I’ve never met someone like him before.

  “Ha! I’m not gonna let you flunk. Besides how can I take you out officially if you don’t graduate?” My heart stops at his words and we just sit there staring into each other’s eyes. “I…. I wrote that song for you, after I first saw you in class, after we spent time talking at lunch.” He sits up and leans his arms on the table. “I’m serious, Emma. I’d really like to take you out but right now? Well, you know that’s impossible as long as you’re going to school there. I could….”

  I look down at my empty plate and stare. “It’s a whole school year,” I whisper as my feelings change to sadness.

  I watch as he reaches over and takes my hand. The feelings that run through me are indescribable. My eyes shift up slowly and see he’s staring at me and by the look on his face I can tell he’s feeling them too. At least I hope so. “I know. I’ve never felt this way before and I wish things were different. Sad thing is we’ll have to pretend the whole time but I know we can do it, Em. Don’t you think it will be worth the risk in the end?” I nod sadly and squeeze his hand. “Come on. It’s almost five in the morning. You need to try to get at least some sleep.”

  I hated to leave knowing that this will be the hardest thing to do, not being able to be friends like we want, not being able to hold hands, and show how we really feel. But reluctantly, we finally leave, me with a heavy heart and I think he feels that way too. I go home, take a shower and lie in bed, sleep not coming any time soon.

  “Girl, if you don’t get some go
od sleep soon, you’re gonna fall over where you stand,” Tina shrills at me as I’m cleaning glasses behind the bar. “I mean it. Your late night hours, studying and classes are gonna do you in. I think you need an intervention.” I laugh, giggling uncontrollably, and then clamp my mouth shut. Her face then turns serious. “Em, you’re seriously slap happy. Take something that will knock you out or something bad’s gonna happen in the state you’re in. I’m serious!”

  I roll my eyes and lean on the counter. “Tina, you’re one of my best friends.” She gives me her best smirk. “Okay, you’re like one of my two best friends and I appreciate your concern but I’ve been going like this for the last two years. If I stop now it’ll throw me all outta whack.”

  She rolls her eyes and starts to walk away. “Oh, kay! But just remember I warned you.”

  Tonight we were slammed with a bigger crowd than last night. I wanted to stop so many times to watch Josh perform but was killed at the bar. I did manage to sneak over to the hallway, lean against the wall, and watch as he sang the song he wrote for me. His eyes searched the crowd and the bar area, and I know he was trying to find me. Tina asked if I could give her a ride home, and of course I agreed. It’s raining pretty heavily by the time we walk out. I’m soaked to the bone when I get home, shivering and sneezing. Shit! That would be all I need now is to get sick. I go into my kitchen and take a bunch of vitamins and after a hot shower, crawl into bed. Again, sleep doesn’t come easily, but I finally manage to start dozing off after a couple of hours, visioning gleaming blue eyes, a gorgeous smile and all things Josh.