The Carol Wyatt Collection

by Carol Wyatt

  Cam’s hips rose to meet her tongue and it wasn’t long before she was coming again. She didn’t know what Jackie was doing to her, but she didn’t think she’d ever get enough of it.

  Chapter 24

  Jackie woke up the next morning, her naked body tangled in the sheets. She rolled over, surprised to find the space beside her empty.

  Last night happened, right?

  Jackie sat up, running her hand through her long jet-black hair as she swung her legs out of the bed, her bare feet hitting the cold wooden floor boards.

  She stood up, stretching her hands above her head and took a few steps, her calves burning. Her lips moved into a smile.

  Yes… Last night definitely did happen.

  Coffee. That’s what she needed right now. She went into her closet and took her white robe off its hanger and slipped it on. The bathroom door was opened, and it was clearly empty.

  Jackie padded down the hall and into the kitchen, expecting to find Cam but there was no sign of her.

  Jackie’s mind ran through last night’s events. They’d been up for most of the night. She’d lost track of the number of orgasms they’d had.

  Nothing bad had happened though. No one had said anything awkward. Why would Cam just leave?

  Jackie turned to go back into her bedroom to check her phone. Maybe she’d left her a message.

  The front door opened a second later and there was Cam with her winter jacket and scarf on, her cheeks flushed, carrying two cups of coffee.

  “Hey… Sorry,” Cam said, handing her one of the cups. “I didn’t want to wake you. And I had no idea how to work that fancy coffee machine,” she said, glancing over at the kitchen. “I remembered that there was a deli around the corner so… I hope this is okay? It’s just a cappuccino.”

  “Thanks,” Jackie said, her lips moving into a smile.

  She leaned in to give Cam a kiss, lightly brushing her lips across hers but Cam’s free hand was around her waist and things quickly escalated. Jackie moaned softly into her mouth as she pulled away.

  “I um…,” Cam started as she pulled away. “As much as I want to, I can’t. I have to go… I take the Saturday morning meetings at the youth center.”

  “When does it start?”

  “In a half hour. There’s a taxi on the way.”

  “I could have drove you.”

  “It’s fine. But thank you for offering.”

  Jackie nodded. “So…”

  “Last night,” Cam said with a slight smile.

  “I know you don’t have time to talk right now… I just wanted to say that I had a great time.”

  “Me too.”

  “And I… I know that this whole thing is crazy and that it probably shouldn’t be happening but… It felt really good… I’m not just talking about the sex,” Jackie said with a warm smile. “Which was mind blowing by the way. I like being around you Cam.”

  “I know exactly what you mean,” she said, returning her smile. “Are you free later?”

  “I have nothing planned this week. Just to relax.”

  “I’ll be in touch then.” A car horn interrupted them. “I better go.”

  Cam leaned in for a quick kiss before she opened the door.

  “Bye,” Jackie called after her as she left.

  She brought her coffee over to the couch and put her feet up, taking a sip.

  How were they supposed to continue this? Every time they met she would be risking her job.

  Or would she? She really needed to find the school’s handbook and see if there was anything definitive in it about this kind of situation.

  She wanted to talk to Linda about it, but she’s been so judgmental about Cam. She’d let Jackie know exactly what she thought, and Jackie knew her friend wouldn’t be impressed to find out that Cam had spent the night.

  Jackie sighed. It probably didn’t matter if they never saw each other again or if they did continue this. Either way, they’d already slept together and if that turned out to be against college policy, Jackie was screwed anyway.

  She might as well keep going. Jackie smiled to herself. She didn’t know how she could do anything else.

  Jackie took another drink, letting the coffee warm her up.

  Who is this person? If someone told me a year ago that I would be doing this, I’d have told them that they were out of their minds.

  Maybe I needed Cam to shake up my life. Maybe I was getting a little too boring, playing things a little too safe.

  There was another problem though that had been at the back of Jackie’s mind as if she didn’t already have enough of them. She knew that she was falling for Cam and she had no idea what that would mean.

  Even if they weren’t technically breaking any rules, there was still the fourteen-year age gap. Cam would hardly want to settle down.

  It was so unlikely that this was going to work out well for her. Maybe she should have listened to Linda.

  But how could something so wrong, feel so right?

  Chapter 25

  Cam had gotten to the youth center a few minutes before the meeting started which was plenty of time to get set up and the meeting had gone well. They’d had sixteen people show up and they’d had a few debates over political issues and one about whether or not it was worth it to go to college.

  She took a chair from the circle and folded it up, carrying it over to the back wall. She carried them over one by one, leaning them up against it so that they were ready for the next meeting.

  Cam looked up when she heard a noise. She’d thought everyone had left but she heard footsteps coming from the short hallway. It was probably just someone using the bathroom.

  “Hey, Grace,” Cam said when she saw who it was. She hadn’t participated in the meeting today even though she normally did. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah… I just wanted to talk to you about something… If that’s okay?”

  “Of course. Have a seat,” Cam said, motioning to the chairs she’d yet to fold up.

  Grace sat down across from her, sweeping her long red hair over one shoulder as she left her bag at her feet.

  “Um… So, I’ve known that I was gay for a few years now,” Grace said, her voice quieter than normal. “I just turned eighteen last month and I’m thinking about setting up a profile and trying online dating.”

  “Okay…”

  “I feel like that’s what I should be doing anyway… But I uh… I already really like someone, and I think she likes me back.”

  “Is she a senior too?” Cam asked.

  “No… She’s my um… She’s my biology teacher.”

  “Ah… Right.”

  Cam’s mind was already skipping ahead. Should she stop Grace before she said too much? Cam would have to report anything to the police if Grace started telling her about how she’d slept with her teacher when she was underage.

  “Nothing’s happened. At all,” Grace said quickly. “I just feel like our eyes catch sometimes…I’ve bumped into her a few times after school, at a coffee shop. I feel like if I wasn’t in her class, we’d have gone on a date by now,” Grace said, tucking a lock of her red hair behind her ear. “This is probably silly… I don’t know why I’m telling you.”

  Cam could feel her heart rate increasing. Was this some kind of a sign? A warning to stop things with Jackie before they got out of hand?

  “It’s good to have a chat about stuff like this,” Cam said with a smile. “You probably don’t want to tell your friends?”

  “No… I haven’t really come out yet.”

  “That’s okay. There’s plenty of time for that. I don’t want to give you too much advice. I’m technically not a counsellor… Not yet, anyway. But I think you should forget about her.”

  “But-”

  “You have to think about her… She could be crazy about you but if you encourage her and you start dating… And you get physical. She could get fired, go to jail… She won’t be able to teach again. You have to think about the bigger p
icture, about the future. I know that’s hard to do right now, especially when that kind of attraction is there.”

  “But I’m eighteen.”

  “And you’re also her student.”

  Grace blinked back tears. Cam knew she was being harsh, but she had to be. She couldn’t have Grace leaving here with any hope of getting involved with her teacher.

  “I know this is hard… But almost everyone has a crush on one of their teachers at some point. It’s natural. You look up to them. They’re mature, intelligent. You spend so much time with them. But it’s a really, really bad idea.”

  “Okay.”

  “You’re so young. If it’s meant to happen, you can wait a few more months. You’re graduating in June, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Exactly. So, you’ll still see her around. You live in the same town. If those feelings are still there… Think about saying something then.”

  “Thanks, Cam.”

  “No problem. I hope that I didn’t upset you.”

  “No… I think I needed to hear that. I don’t have anyone to talk to about this.”

  “I know,” Cam said. “Well, I’m here if you want to chat again. I won’t say anything to anyone about this, okay?”

  “Thanks,” Grace said, standing up. “I better get going.”

  “Okay. See you next week.”

  “Bye.”

  Cam watched her leave and then she put away the last few chairs. She slung her messenger bag over her shoulder and locked up.

  She couldn’t shake this uneasy feeling. Why couldn’t she just listen to her own advice? She knew that she shouldn’t have gone to Jackie’s house last night, but she couldn’t seem to stay away from her.

  Cam was still looking forward to seeing Jackie later, but she was starting to feel guilty. Yes, Jackie was a willing participant, but Cam had nothing to lose and she had everything to lose.

  How would she live with herself if she got Jackie fired?

  Chapter 26

  Jackie was feeling more relaxed than she had in a long time. She’d sipped on her coffee, stretched out on the couch in her robe in the morning and then went for a run after that, something she liked to do at least once a week.

  She came home and had a long shower. She even started thinking about the next semester.

  Jackie made herself another cup of coffee and went over her schedule and the classes she’d have. She didn’t want to be thinking about it the weekend before they went back in January. She loved being prepared and knowing exactly what was happening when she went back to college in the new year.

  Cam had sent her a text in the afternoon and Jackie had suggested that she come over whenever it suited her. Jackie was free all evening, but she didn’t want to sound too desperate. She did her best to play it cool and replied casually. They agreed on seven o’clock.

  Jackie glanced down at her watch, hardly believing that it was six o’clock already. The day had flown by. She turned off her laptop and took one last look at her schedule for the next semester. It was actually a pretty light load compared with the first semester. Maybe volunteering to take over the behavioral psychology class was paying off now.

  Jackie went to get changed into white wash skinny jeans and a gray sweater. Her coal black hair was down, and she ran a brush through it before putting on a light layer of natural looking makeup.

  She padded into the kitchen after taking one last look in the mirror and poured herself a glass of wine.

  The doorbell rang just after seven o’clock and Jackie opened the door to see Cam standing on her doorstep holding a bottle of white wine. Her auburn hair was straight, flowing down over her shoulders, a few snow flurries clinging to her locks.

  “Hey,” Jackie said with a smile as she stood back to let Cam in.

  “Hi… Glad to see you drink white.”

  “I drink practically anything,” Jackie said as she closed the door.

  Jackie took the bottle from her while Cam took off her coat and scarf. She was wearing dark skinny jeans and a black long-sleeved top that hugged her athletic figure.

  “I have a bottle of Pinot Grigio chilling in the fridge. Can I get you glass?”

  “Sure.”

  “Make yourself at home.”

  Jackie went into the kitchen and found the bottle that she’d just opened, pouring out a glass for Cam and topping up her own. She noticed her hand shaking slightly. She was nervous and that surprised her as much as it scared her.

  They would probably have to have a serious conversation at some point this evening. They needed to know where they stood. It wasn’t fair on either of them to pretend that this wasn’t a big deal.

  Jackie found herself thinking throughout the day, ‘What’s a job anyway?’

  But really, she’d worked too hard to throw it all away. And for what? Cam was so young. This could all just be lust that would wear off in a few weeks.

  Jackie returned to the living room, her bare feet crossing the wooden floors. She’d lit the fire earlier and the living room was already nice and toasty.

  “Here you go,” Jackie said, handing Cam her glass and sitting down beside her.

  “Thanks.”

  “So, how’d your meeting go?”

  Cam laughed softly. “It was interesting… I mean, the meeting itself was fine… The usual but I had a girl stay after for a few minutes.”

  “She wanted to talk?”

  “Yeah. It’s normal for someone to linger if they need to talk about something but this girl… It turns out she’s crazy about her teacher and she thinks it’s mutual.”

  “Ah.”

  “Yeah… So, here I am telling this eighteen-year-old girl to stay clear of her teacher because the whole situation is trouble and I’m sitting here doing the exact opposite.”

  “I’d like to think that our situation is different…”

  “Is it though?”

  Jackie took in a deep breath. She wasn’t expecting that response.

  “We don’t know each other really,” Cam continued. “We’ve just acted on this attraction…”

  “You’re having second thoughts.”

  Cam sighed. “I just feel like I’m smarter than this… I’ve always tried to live in the moment. I have been spontaneous in so many different ways, so this isn’t new to me. This isn’t out of character for me, but it affects more than just me.”

  “I’m a grown woman…”

  “Yes, but have you really thought about the consequences? If we get caught, your career is more than likely over. How can you live with that? How can I live with that?”

  “I’ve lived my life cautiously,” Jackie said after she’d taken a drink. “Up until now anyway… I’ve lived in anything but the present moment. I dwelled on my affair with Linda for years. I’ve thought about my career and what I want to achieve in the future, the kind of car I wanted, this house…”

  “We’re very different then.”

  “I know but that doesn’t mean that this can’t work,” Jackie said, reaching for her hand.

  “I’ve never felt as lost as I do right now,” Cam said, her voice cracking. “I’ve wandered through life not worrying about a thing and all I do is worry now… That I’ve made a mistake, that we’ll get caught, that you’ll end up hating me…”

  “Tell me,” Jackie said softly, sensing that there was more to Cam’s emotion than their dilemma.

  “My brother, Stephen… He died seven years ago.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “In a car accident. I was badly injured…”

  Jackie squeezed her hand and waited for her to continue.

  “I’ve tried not to take life too seriously since then. When you lose someone that close to you, that suddenly… It changes you. I don’t think I’ve ever really let anyone in…”

  “Because you were afraid you might lose them?”

  “Yes.”

  “Cam, I don’t know what’s happening here or where this is going to go. I’m just going
to say that I’m crazy about you. I was from that start… And I want a chance. I can’t guarantee anything. It’ll have to be a secret for a while of course, which I know isn’t ideal.”

  Cam’s eyes were locked onto hers. “You mean that?”