“Yep.”
“Wow.” He turned to Becca. “How do you two know each other?”
A loud bell buzzed in the hall.
“Time to get to class,” she said to me.
I looked up at the clock in the room. First period started in five minutes.
“We went to college together,” Becca told Connor as the three of us headed to the door.
“That’s cool,” he answered.
Out in the hall, students were hurrying past to get to their classes.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Becca said to me. She put her hand on my arm and squeezed. “Good luck.” She looked up at Connor and smiled. “Later.”
She totally likes him.
That would explain why she hadn’t said anything when the other teachers gushed about Connor. She didn’t want to reveal too much.
Connor smiled back at her, and if you asked me, the feeling was mutual.
I snuck away from their lovey-dovey smiles, feeling like an outsider, and headed to my classroom.
“Hey, wait up.”
I turned to see Connor jogging to catch up to me.
“I’m going the same way you are. Let me walk you to class.”
“Okay,” I said. I looked over my shoulder to see Becca heading the opposite way to her classroom. “Thank you. But you don’t have to win any points with me to get in my friend’s good graces.”
She already likes you, buddy, and so far as I can tell, you’re a nice guy.
Connor looked shocked. “Excuse me?”
I laughed. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
We walked toward my classroom, and since I didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable about my earlier statement, I changed the subject.
“You’re a math teacher and an assistant coach on the football team, correct?”
“Yep.”
I furrowed my brow.
“You look confused.”
“It’s just that I didn’t see you at the game on Friday.”
We reached the door to my classroom as his eyes lit up. “You went?”
“Yeah. Becca took me.”
His smile widened more. “Did you have a good time?”
Sure?
“Yeah, it was great.”
“Great. I had to miss it because I had a stomach bug.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Not sorrier than I am. I’m never going to live down missing the first game of the season.”
I chuckled. “So, if you weren’t there, who was the guy with Coach Fischer? He had on a jersey that said Wagner on the back.”
“Ah,” he said, understanding why I was confused. “He’s my cousin, Mace. He’s just coming off an injury, which is why you saw him on the sidelines with Coach.”
“Oh.” That explained the same last name and similar features. “Well, hopefully, one day, I can meet him,” I said to be polite. Now that I didn’t need to come face-to-face with the guy I’d been staring at on Friday night, I was relieved to be spared any embarrassment.
“Today’s your lucky day.”
“I’m sorry?”
Connor looked at someone behind me and grinned.
As I pivoted on my heel, the feeling I’d had in the lounge settled over me like a dark cloud. I just knew I wasn’t going to like what I saw when I turned around.
“Mace, I’d like you to meet the new science teacher.”
I turned and took in the tall, muscular body in jeans that seemed tailored for him and up over a T-shirt that fit perfectly over an exquisite set of pecs and biceps. Then, I looked up into the bluest eyes I’d ever seen, smack in the middle of that Adonis face that I’d been caught checking out on Friday.
A moment of hope went through me as I prayed he wouldn’t remember me.
But, when my gaze traveled down to his full lips that turned up in a smirk, I knew he recognized me.
Fuck. Me. I was so screwed.
“Oh, yeah? We’ve kind of already met,” he said to Connor. He looked at me. “How’s it going … Teach?”
Connor gave me a confused look. “I thought you two hadn’t met yet?”
“We really haven’t.” I looked down at my watch. “You’d better get to class. I’ll talk to you later.” And, without missing a beat, I turned and walked into my classroom.
It was probably rude of me not to say anything to a student I’d just been introduced to, but I was on unfamiliar ground. I’d never been caught checking out a student before, and I needed to collect my thoughts.
How old is the guy anyway?
He sure as hell didn’t look like he was in high school.
“Why’d you run away?”
I jumped and turned around. Mace was standing much too close. I looked at the rest of the class, but no one seemed to be paying attention.
I squared my shoulders. “I didn’t run away. Class is going to start soon.” I looked behind him. “Shouldn’t you be heading in that direction?”
Mace grinned. “I believe I’m already here. AP chemistry, right?”
I swallowed. Shit, shit, shit.
“Yes, you’re in the right place.”
Say something authoritative, Eden. Let this guy know who’s in charge.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Why did you tell Con—Mr. Wagner that we’d already met when we haven’t?”
“Technically, I said we’ve kind of already met.”
“But it’s not true.”
He leaned closer, and I caught a whiff of him. It took all my willpower not to close my eyes and inhale. Not only did he look like a man, but he smelled like one, too.
“When someone looks at me from across the way with fuck-me eyes, I like to think that we can say we kind of already know each other a little.”
My eyes widened, and I stood up straight. I could not believe he’d just spoken to a teacher like that.
Mace raised his eyebrow, waiting to see how I was going to react. It wasn’t so much an I dare you to punish me look that I would expect, but more of a what’s she going to say next look.
I certainly didn’t want to punish a student during the first period of class on my first day. But I couldn’t let him get away with saying I’d looked at him with … fuck-me eyes either.
I had to make a decision and quick.
“Hey, Mace,” someone yelled from the back of the room.
Mace and I both looked over to see a football flying at us. Mace reached out and caught it with ease, and Becca’s words came back to me.
“Make sure that nothing you do gets in the way of them playing.”
“Mr. Wagner,” I said, using his last name to put some formality between us, “I would appreciate it if you never spoke to me like that again.”
The bell rang, and I jumped again.
Mace smirked. “Whatever you say”—his eyes traveled up to the whiteboard behind me—“Ms. F.”
I nodded and looked down at the class roster in front of me.
A hot breath floated across my neck.
“But, just so you know … I’m eighteen. And we’ll keep your fuck-me eyes between the two of us.”
I took a deep breath and looked up. Mace was already at the back of the room, fist-bumping the guy who had thrown him the football.
I hadn’t even considered that he could tell someone what had happened at the game. It was an innocent mistake, but I was new here, and I wasn’t sure that it would turn out in my favor.
I thanked God that he was eighteen, legally an adult and old enough to consent, but I was still his teacher. I might not go to jail, but I could sure as hell get fired. And wouldn’t that look good on my résumé?
But I didn’t understand why he’d offered up his age to me. I certainly wasn’t going to ask.
I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye. He was leaning toward a pretty girl next to him. He grinned at her, and she blushed.
I felt like I was a high school student again. I used to watch my crush, Joe Morrow, praying he would gi
ve me the kind of attention he had given the beautiful, skinny girls all the time.
If I could, I would go back and shake some sense into my former self because Joe Morrow’s attention was the worst thing that had happened to me that year.
But I supposed, I had learned a lesson from all that. Joe had been messing with me, and that was what Mace was doing to me now. I didn’t know if it was because he got off on stringing the chubby girls along, if it was that he saw me as a challenge because I was a teacher, or if it was something else. But I was smarter than seventeen-year-old Eden, and he was my student. I couldn’t let him affect me—or worse, let him know he affected me.
I was older and wiser, and thanks to my college boyfriend, I had gained a lot of confidence that I hadn’t had back then. I knew I was never going to be a model, and that was okay. But I didn’t need some gorgeous jock reminding me of my old insecurities. Plus, I had a job to do. Right now.
I looked out at the sea of new faces and smiled. “Hello, everyone. I’m Ms. Fijalkowski, but you can call me Ms. F. My last name is quite a mouthful.” I smiled. “As you’ve probably already guessed by my accent, I’m not from around here. I’m originally from South Dakota, and I graduated college from Nebraska. I moved to town about a month ago, and I’m excited to be working here.”
I looked down to my desk and picked up the class roster.
“I’m going to go through everyone’s names. Let me know if there is something else you go by. Also, tell us something you did over the summer or something you’d like to share.”
The class nodded.
“Lawrence Adams?”
A lanky brunette raised his hand. “You can call me Ren.”
“Hello, Ren. What did you do over the summer?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know. Went to visit my grandparents. Hung out with friends.”
“Sounds fun,” I told him.
He looked me up and down. “How come you’re dressed like that? Aren’t there cowboys in South Dakota?”
“No more than there are in Texas. Why are you dressed like that?” I asked with a raised brow, nodding my head toward his T-shirt and shorts.
The students laughed, including Ren, and I moved on down the list.
When I got to the last student, I took a deep breath and said, “Mason Wagner?”
I didn’t want to look at him, but it would look like something was wrong if I didn’t.
“Mace,” he said when I met his eyes. “You can call me Mace.”
“And what did you do this summer, Mace?”
“Football camp.”
A couple of other students had said the same thing, so I wasn’t surprised.
“Until I got a groin injury,” he added.
“Excuse me?”
He pushed his chair back and rubbed his hand over the area right above his leg and, of course, right next to his penis. “I pulled my groin. Right here.”
The student who had thrown him the football—I now knew his name was Logan—thrust his pelvis in the air. “He did it while fucking.”
The class laughed, and I gasped at the F-word.
Do they all swear in front of their teachers?
Mace laughed and shook his dark head. “I did it while overcompensating for your bad pass, asshole.” He met my eyes. “I injured myself while playing football.”
I had no idea why he’d directed that comment at me, but I didn’t know what to do with that.
I glanced up at the clock. Thank God first period was almost over.
“We’re almost done for today. Does anyone have any questions?”
A couple of students raised their hands. I looked at the notes I’d made by the names on my sheet to keep them all straight and called on them.
I answered questions about the syllabus, homework, and if I believed in pop quizzes.
I looked at the clock again and saw the bell was about to ring.
“Thanks, everyone, for a good first period. We’ll get started tomorrow on the first lesson.”
The bell rang, and everyone got up to leave.
I looked at Mace and Logan, narrowing my eyes. “Keep the swear words out of the classroom though, huh?”
Mace winked, and Logan mock saluted me as they walked out.
It was going to be a long day and an even longer year.
The rest of the school day went well. So well that I almost forgot about what had happened with Mace Wagner. The whole thing didn’t seem like such a big deal anymore.
I had some great kids in my classes, and I could already tell who I was going to get the most responses out of and who was probably going to be the most difficult.
I finished up a few reminder notes for the next day and took my purse from the bottom of my desk, and then I went in search of Becca.
I found her in her classroom.
“Hey, lady,” I called out.
She looked up from her computer at her desk and smiled. “Hey. I’m almost finished.”
“Take your time.” I sat down in the front row, but the minute my butt hit the seat, she said, “Done.”
I narrowed my eyes, and Becca laughed.
We both stood and grabbed our stuff when Connor showed up in Becca’s doorway. “Hey. You two leaving for the day?” He was wearing a white polo shirt and track pants.
“Yep.”
“You want to have drinks to celebrate the first day? Maybe have some dinner?” Connor looked at me. “Both of you.”
I was ready to offer to go home alone, but Becca spoke up first, “Rain check? Eden and I already have plans.”
We do?
This was news to me. We’d casually talked about picking up takeout, but I wouldn’t have said they were plans.
Connor smiled, unfazed. “Friday?”
“Uh …”
I took a step forward and nudged Becca with my elbow. “We’d love to.” Unless Connor was thinking it was a date. “I mean, if you’re inviting both of us.”
Becca stiffened next to me.
“Of course.”
Becca relaxed but just a little.
“Friday it is.” Connor smacked his hand against the doorway. “See you two ladies tomorrow.”
“Later,” I called out as he walked away. As soon as I was sure he was out of earshot, I asked Becca, “Are you mad?”
She hadn’t said anything since her elegant, “Uh …”
“No.”
“Then, why didn’t you want to go out with him tonight? We don’t really have—”
“Shh. Not here.”
“Okay. In the car then.”
We walked out toward the back doors of the school to where Becca’s car was parked. We said good-bye to other teachers taking off for the day and the few students milling around.
Once we both closed the car doors, I said, “Okay, spill. What’s up? We don’t really have plans tonight. Why didn’t you want to go with Connor? I could have sworn you liked him.”
Becca started her car and pulled out of the parking spot. “I do like him, but we work together.”
“If you’re worried about getting in trouble, there aren’t any rules against fraternization.”
Becca whipped her head to look at me and lifted her brow. “And you know this how?”
I shrugged. “My parents met while teaching at the same school. What if my future husband worked here, and I couldn’t date him? I had to check that shit out before I started working here.”
Becca laughed. “You’re a dork.”
I scoffed but only just to tease her.
“But you’re my dork.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and pretended to be mad. “That’s better.”
“Anyway, I didn’t even think about the fraternization part. I was thinking, what if we dated and then broke up? We’d still have to work with each other. Work could be miserable.”
It was my turn to laugh. “You’re not even dating the guy, and you’re already breaking up with him. If I were you, I’d go for it.”
She looked at me out of the corner of her eye. “Why don’t you then?”
I shook my head at her silly comment. “Because he doesn’t like me. He likes you. And who wouldn’t? You’re short and pretty.”
“Hey,” she objected. “You’re pretty, too. And you’re blonde.”
I patted her on the shoulder. “You’re sweet. But my hair is barely blonde. It’s the darkest shade it can be before it’s brown. I’m nowhere near as cute as you, and we both know it. Plus, I’m a giant. Guys might like to look at models, but in real life, they want the kind of girl they can pick up and carry in their pocket.”
I might feel confident about myself most of the time, but I was still a realist. Guys were never going to fall down at my feet.
Becca tilted her head. “Eden, not all men like the same thing. What about Adam?”
I smiled. “Adam was special.”
Adam had been my first steady boyfriend and the guy I’d lost my virginity to. We’d met in college and been very serious. We actually talked about marriage more than once, but then Adam got a graduate school opportunity he couldn’t pass up. It was all the way in Oregon, and while I had one year of undergrad school, plus my own graduate schooling left, we had to say good-bye. We’d tried to make it work, but long distance had pushed us apart. We were still friends but hadn’t been romantically involved in years. He still lived in Oregon, and I now lived in Texas. I’d dated a few guys after Adam, but none had been as serious.
“He was a good guy. And he’s not going to be the last and only guy who loved you.”
I sighed and dropped my head back against the headrest. “I know. But I sure wish my future boyfriend would hurry up and meet me.”
Becca laughed.
“We got off topic. You need to give Connor a chance. Start out as friends.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay. I suppose I can do that.”
I chuckled. “You suppose?”
“Yes. But, if we’re going to be friends first, that means you have to go with.”
“What? No.”
“Yes. If you’re along, he’ll know we’re just friends. Besides, I’m the only person you know here. It’ll give you the opportunity to meet people. Maybe find that boyfriend who’s MIA.”
“Okay. Maybe you’re right.” I turned to face Becca. “But the minute you two start draping yourselves all over each other, I’m out.”
Wicked Chemistry Page 2