by BJ Bentley
“Georgia, since you’re here, why don’t we all go support Tierney. She’s presenting our class project to some other parents right now. I’m sure she’d love to show you.”
“I didn’t come here to-”
“Georgia,” Damon warned, his voice low and deadly. It wasn’t even directed at me, but it sent a shiver down my spine.
She huffed, turning on a pencil-thin heel, and muttered, “Fine.”
The three of us walked back to my class’s table, which was situated next to Stella’s table and directly across from Mrs. Cushing’s table. With my students huddled mostly behind the table and students from other grades and parents gathered around the front, it was a tight squeeze. I herded both Damon and Georgia to the far side of the table, so they had a clear view, and then I moved back around the table to stand behind Tierney as she spoke quietly and demonstrated how their project worked. I met Damon’s eyes across the table, and the pride in them was unmistakable. I fell just a little bit more in love with him as he watched his daughter more or less follow in his footsteps.
The longer our gazes held, the softer his expression became. His eyes were warm when he looked at Tierney, but they heated in an entirely different way when he looked at me. I shot him a smile that probably made me look a little psychotic considering how my thoughts of love were making me so nervous. He returned my smile, though he looked less psychotic and a little concerned. I couldn’t blame him; I was on the edge of hysteria.
Movement over Damon’s shoulder tore my attention away from him, and I noticed that Georgia had backed up to the point that she mingled with the sparse crowd in front of Mrs. Cushing’s table. I couldn’t tell if she was just trying to disentangle herself from the crowd in front of my table or if she was trying to slink away. My question would go unanswered. I watched in morbid fascination as the volcano experiment behind her began to bubble and fizz more than it was probably intended. One of Mrs. Cushing’s students frantically grabbed for the liquid dish soap to cull the eruption, but in his panic, grabbed the bottle of vinegar instead. I leaned around the edge of the table to grab Damon’s arm at the same time my eyes widened in horror.
Before anyone could stop him, he dumped the entire bottle of vinegar into the volcano and induced an eruption that put Mount Vesuvius to shame. Shrieks of panic filled the gymnasium as people frantically dove for cover. Foam flew into the air and arced gracefully, achieving a reach of several feet in nearly every direction.
And, there, standing directly in the line of fire, in her blush colored silk blouse and cream wool pencil skirt, was Georgia. Georgia, who was now sporting vinegar, baking soda, and red #40 in addition to that silk blouse and wool skirt.
I knew it was going to happen. I watched it like it was in slow motion. I even had the time and foresight to grab Damon’s arm and tug him out of firing range. What I didn’t do was warn Georgia. I kept right on struttin’ down the low road.
Once the shock wore off, Georgia’s inner pterodactyl made its presence known. She squealed and screeched and screamed at decibels that I had previously thought only dogs could hear.
“You stupid, stupid brats!” Her anger turned to upset, or possibly embarrassment, and tears streamed down her face, leaving trails of mascara through the red stains on her cheeks.
I kept one eye on Georgia as she stormed out of the gym and one eye on Tierney. “What was she even doing here?” I asked Damon.
“She wanted money. Got pissed when I told her no.”
I clenched my jaw to keep from cursing in front of the kids. She came here to ask for money and not to see her daughter? “That’s it. As soon as we leave here, we’re getting fro-yo and clearing the place out of all their best toppings. We’ll have cheesecake bites coming out our ears.”
“Sounds good to me,” Tierney muttered.
I swore, nothing ever fazed this kid.
***
As I carried our award winning solar powered robot and first place ribbon back to my classroom, Tierney and Damon headed out to Damon’s Escalade. Once I tacked our ribbon to the bulletin board and did one last lap around the gym to make sure all my students had been picked up, I went out to my own car and followed Damon to the frozen yogurt place.
Tierney and I ate our weight in pistachio (for her) and vanilla bean (for me) fro-yo and all the toppings we could fit into our cups while Damon opted for a reasonable portion size of chocolate mint. I only felt slightly guilty about taking what was left of the cheesecake bites, which were Damon’s favorite, so when he was distracted by a group of exuberant teenagers bursting in the door, I covertly spooned some from my cup into his.
“You know, I never understood why people whistled when they wanted to appear innocent. Seems to me you’re just drawing more attention to yourself.”
I stopped whistling.
He shoved all the cheesecake bites that were in his cup into his mouth at once. “Thanks, doll.”
I watched him chew, admiring the way his lips moved and the muscles in his jaw flexed. He’d neglected to shave this morning, and the dark whiskers only drew attention to the sharp angles of his face. The way he watched me watching him was hypnotic, it was almost as good as one of his kisses.
“I love you,” I blurted.
He swallowed and his eyes quickly darted over my shoulder and then back to my face, reminding me that Tierney had just witnessed my totally unromantic declaration in the middle of the yogurt shop on a random day in November. His twinkling eyes did not put me at ease. I slowly turned to face Tierney, hoping she wouldn’t hate me.
She was beaming.
Her smile didn’t quite register in my brain, though. “I’m sorry, nugget, that should have been private. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“Do I look uncomfortable?” she laughed.
“Well, no, actually. Are you...happy?”
“Totally. You can be my mom now!” She dropped that bomb and happily went back to eating her yogurt.
I turned wide eyes on Damon. “What just happened?” I whispered.
His only response was to wink.
Chapter 36
Sophie
“So,” Damon drawled, backing me up against the edge of his bed. “You love me.” It, of course, was a statement, not a question. He didn’t need to ask for confirmation; he’d known it all along.
I swallowed roughly. “I do. Very much.”
His eyes flared, and as he roughly yanked me into his body, I could tell that his eyes weren’t the only evidence of his excitement. His hard length pressed into my belly and turned my knees to jelly. He was giving me that look, the one that said he was about to lay claim to my body and he wasn’t going to be particularly gentle about it.
“Do you want to know what I’m thinking?” His voice was gravelly with his need, and I responded in kind.
“Yes.”
His nimble fingers unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans in one graceful movement. “You’ve earned yourself quite the fucking, doll. In fact, I feel like a reward is in order.”
“I thought only bad girls got rewarded,” I croaked, all the saliva in my mouth dried up.
“Oh, but you are bad.”
“I am?”
“I know what you did,” he whispered, nipping at my ear.
“Wha-what did I do?” My brain was scrambled from his touch, and my body was aching to get closer. I could barely think a coherent thought, so the fact that I’d managed to even ask the question was an impressive feat.
“You let Georgia succumb to that volcano.”
Oh. Busted.
“And as twisted as it might make me, I have never been so turned on in my life.” He’d been whispering in my ear, but at that moment, he pulled back to look me in the eye. My heavy-lidded, lust-filled eyes. “My cock is harder than a diamond, and the need to fuck you raw is stronger than graphene.”
Oh. That’s…. “What’s graphene?”
His brow furrowed slightly. “Oh, it’s a single layer of carbon atoms, and even
in that miniscule amount, it’s the strongest material known to man.”
“It makes me so wet when you go all nerd on me.”
Those might have been the last words I spoke before Damon followed through on his urge to fuck me raw.
And, boy, was it rewarding.
***
When Damon was satisfied that I’d be walking bowlegged for the next week, we unceremoniously rolled from the bed to the floor and army crawled across the room for fresh clothes, grunting as we tugged them on.
Once we’d gotten back to his place from our fro-yo excursion, Chloe had distracted Tierney, so Damon and I could privately celebrate the fact that I had finally admitted my feelings for him.
And so Damon could reward me.
With nipple clamps.
I hobbled my way down the stairs like a newborn filly trying out her knobby-kneed legs for the first time. Damon didn’t fare much better.
“I think I pulled a glute,” he grumbled. “What are the chances I can get you to kiss it and make it better?”
“You’re the one who insisted on running a one-man train on me. So, I’ll see your pulled glute and raise you one bruised vulva.”
By the time we reached the bottom of the steps, Tierney was waiting for us. “Chloe and I already ate, but we saved you some.”
“Thanks, baby girl. What are we eating?”
“Pizza. Chloe didn’t feel like cooking.”
“Sounds good to me; I don’t feel like cooking either.”
“I feel like I could eat an entire sheet pizza by myself.” My declaration was punctuated by my rumbling stomach, making Tierney giggle and Damon snort.
“You heading up to bed, kiddo?”
Tierney looked to her father. “Yep. Can Sophie tuck me in?”
“You want Sophie to tuck you in?” Damon shot back with mock offense. When Tierney nodded, he narrowed his eyes. “What am I- chopped liver?”
She smirked at him. “You can come, too.”
Damon harrumphed, which is not something I’d expect a man like him to do, but I was learning all kinds of new things about the man I loved lately, and this was just one more surprise. “Alright, get out of here. Sophie and I will eat, and then we’ll be up.”
With Tierney traipsing up the stairs, Damon and I moved into the kitchen to find Chloe tucking the rest of the pizza in the oven. “Oh, don’t bother, Chloe, I’m about to eat whatever’s left.”
“Alright, but make sure you save me one of those garlic knots. I’m working on my research paper tonight, and somehow I just know I’m going to need a midnight snack.”
“Not a chance. You’re on your own,” I fired back with a wink.
She shook her head, smiling, and said goodnight before heading up to her room.
“You really lucked out with her, you know?”
Damon nodded. “I know. She’s been a godsend. It’s gonna suck when she graduates and doesn’t need this job anymore.”
“Tierney will miss her.”
“Yeah, but she’ll have you.”
“Yeah, she will.” Something warm moved through my chest at the thought of being able to guide and nurture Tierney even after I was no longer her teacher. I’d be something else to her. I loved the thought of being a parental figure to that sweet girl with her giant nerd brain. Which reminded me…. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about her.” As I spoke I ripped off some paper towels and tore a slice of pizza out of the box, letting Damon fend for himself.
“About Tierney?”
“Yeah. I know you have your reasons for keeping her in public school, but she’s far too bright. She should be in a special program.”
He sighed. “I know. I’ve known it for a while now, but I want so badly for her childhood to be as normal as possible. She might not be in the public eye in another school, but it’s just one more way for her to feel like she’s different from her peers. I don’t want her to feel singled out.”
“I get that; I do. But, I’ve been thinking-”
“Fuck me,” he muttered teasingly.
“You’re cut off, first of all. At least until I have feeling back in my nipples and the swelling in my favorite constellation goes back down.”
“Your favorite constellation?” he asked, shooting me a quizzical look.
“Never mind.” I steered the conversation back to the topic at hand. “About Tierney. Our school district has an enrichment program for exceptional students, but even if you don’t want to enroll her in that, I was hoping you’d let me work with her privately.”
“You want to be her private tutor? Like homeschool?”
“No, no, that’s not what I mean. Keep her in her regular classes now, but I could work with her one on one outside of regular school hours. Maybe after school a few times a week, or I could come over here and….” I let my words trail off.
“Okay, you’re hired.”
My shoulders went back. “I didn’t mean you’d have to pay me. I’m not working for you if we’re together.”
“Calm down, doll, I was joking,” he said, laughing in the face of my irritation. “I’d appreciate it if you worked with Tierney, and I know she’d love it because she loves you.”
I swallowed thickly. “I love her, too.”
“You admitted that a lot easier than you admitted loving me.”
“She’s not obnoxiously arrogant like you.”
“I just decided that this new teaching arrangement comes with a condition.”
Uh oh. “What’s the condition?”
“You move in with us.”
My eyes widened to the size of serving platters, or, at least, I imagined they did. “Move in? Here? With you?”
“Yep,” he said, popping the p and taking a huge bite of his veggie supreme pizza.
“I don’t know, Damon. That’s huge.” I set my slice down, unsure that I could swallow anything past the lump in my throat.
“Are you going to make me work for it?”
I licked my dry lips, chapped from his earlier kisses. “No.”
“No?” He looked hurt but unsurprised.
“No, I’m not going to make you work for it. And, yes, I’ll move in.”
Leaning over the breakfast bar between us, he pulled me in for a kiss. “You won’t regret it, Sophie, I promise.”
“I believe you. Besides, it’s not like it’s the craziest thing I’ve ever done.”
He chuckled, granting me another kiss. “Actually, it just might be.”
Chapter 37
Tierney
Second week of school - Monday
I dumped the garbage from my lunch bag and tucked my book under my arm. I ignored Kyle when he started yelling, “Hey, nerd!” even though I knew it was directed at me. He was such a bonehead, and he really needed to come up with some new material. I smiled to myself as I got closer to Miss James’s classroom. I was looking forward to curling up in the reading nook and finishing my book on Pluto.
Halfway down the hall I saw Mr. Cotton. I didn’t know him that well because he taught third grade. I hoped I didn’t have him next year. He seemed nice enough, I guess, but I preferred Miss James. Unfortunately, I knew Mr. Cotton liked Miss James too. There was something about that I didn’t like, but I didn’t really know why.
“Hi, Mr. Cotton,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. It wasn’t that I was trying to be quiet, that was just how I spoke. People tended to mistake me for being shy because of it, but it was really just because I didn’t like being the center of attention. There was a difference. I wasn’t afraid of people, I just didn’t want them all looking at me.
“Oh, hi, uh…” he trailed off because he probably didn’t know who I was.
“Tierney.”
“Right! Tierney. You’re not going out to recess?”
I shook my head. “Miss James lets me stay in and read.” I indicated the book tucked into my arm.
“I see. Well, enjoy your book.”
“Mr. Cotton,” I called when he sta
rted to leave. “I know I shouldn’t say anything because I’m not an adult and gossiping is bad, but…”
“Yes?”
I shrugged. “I overheard Miss Franklin talking.” Miss Franklin was the school nurse. She was nice too. I leaned in to whisper my secret. “I heard her say that she thinks you’re really cool.” It was true, I did hear her say that when she was talking to one of the secretaries from the office, but I had my own reasons for sharing that with Mr. Cotton.
“Oh.” His eyes widened. “Well, you’re right, Tierney, gossiping is bad. But I’m glad you told me.” He gave me a crooked smile, and I shrugged as I turned and headed back to my classroom with a smile of my own.
***
I watched Miss James run funny toward the restrooms outside the movie theater at the mall. Mr. Fellows looked like he didn’t want to be here. I glanced over my shoulder, making sure my dad was still on his phone call. He was always taking calls. He was a busy man. I didn’t mind though, because he always made sure that we had our special time together. I knew once the movie started, he’d turn his phone off, and I’d have his undivided attention the rest of the evening. Well, me and Miss James. Daddy really liked Miss James, I could tell. So did I.
“Mr. Fellows, are you really Miss James’s boyfriend?”
“Uh. I’m not really sure, kiddo.”
I rolled my eyes. I hated being called ‘kiddo.’ Except when Miss James did it. When Miss James did it, it sounded nice. I think maybe she liked me too. But I didn’t like it when anybody else said it. They all made it sound like they said it because they couldn’t be bothered to remember my name or they thought I was a baby. I hated being treated like a baby.
“My dad wants her to be his girlfriend,” I said. I wasn’t entirely sure that was true, but I thought it might be, and I hoped I was right.
“What? He does?” His eyes darted to where my dad was standing.
I noticed that my dad’s attention wasn’t really on his call anymore. His eyes kept moving between where I was standing and the restroom where Miss James had gone. That made me smile.
