Always You

by Missy Johnson

  I giggled. “Yeah, the things we do for our addictions.”

  He raised his eyebrows at me and I blushed. I hadn’t meant for that to sound so dirty. “So let me guess . . . you’re a straight-up espresso kind of guy.”

  He looked offended. “You think I’m that boring? I’ll have you know it’s a mocha double-strength latte, all the way.”

  I love the way his eyes twinkle when he jokes with me.

  “Hey, me too!” I smiled.

  He chuckled at my enthusiasm. “So, you’re here alone?” he asked.

  I shook my head, and pointed to Kass and Trina, who were still making out in the booth. I cringed, but he just laughed.

  “Good to see you relaxing.”

  “You don’t think I relax? I relax too much. I’m the queen of procrastination,” I proclaimed.

  He smiled and raised his eyebrows. Great, he doesn’t believe me.

  “You seriously think I need to relax?”

  “You always look so serious in class. I know, I’ve only been there a little over a week, but it’s just the vibe I got from you. You work hard.”

  “At school, yes, I’m focused, because I know where I want to be and what I need to do to get there. Not only that, but school doesn’t exactly fill me with feelings of happiness.” I paused, realizing I was teetering on the edge of being too forthcoming. “I get bullied a lot, so I don’t enjoy school. It’s simply a means to an end for me. Nothing about that place fills me with warm fuzzy feelings.”

  “You handle it remarkably well,” he offered. He paused, his expression becoming serious. “If it makes you feel any better, I used to get bullied, too.”

  “You?” I said, arching my eyebrow. I wanted to roll my eyes. This was as bad as those celebrity specials on TV where they all share their sob stories about being bullied as kids.

  “Yes, me.” He laughed. “What, you don’t think a hip, cool guy like me could be teased?”

  I blushed again.

  Hip? I was thinking more along the lines of hot…sexy…amazing…

  “You blush a lot, Wrenn. You should really get that under control. It gives away everything,” he said with a wink. And just like that, he was next in line.

  He placed his order,and then turned around. “What are you girls having?”

  I relayed our order to the cashier. We stood off to the side together to wait for our drinks.

  “You didn’t have to buy our coffees,” I said shyly. “I wouldn’t want to get you into any trouble.”

  “It’s coffee, Wrenn, not a joint,” he smiled and I blushed again. God, I did need to work on my blushing. He chuckled, and shook his head as I ordered.

  We stood next to one another, waiting. Could he see how nervous he made me? I was a wreck. My hands were shaking, my mouth was dry, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how wonderful he smelled.

  The barista placed our coffees on the counter. Dalton smiled at me as he reached for his.

  “Have a good day, Wrenn.”

  Carrying our drinks over to the booth, Kass stared at me, her eyes narrowed.

  “Was that our hot teacher I saw you talking to?” she accused.

  “You came up for air long enough to see that, huh?” I grinned, setting down the tray. Trina laughed and reached for her cup.

  “Yes. So was it?”

  “Yes. He was in front of me, so we chatted.” I shrugged innocently.

  “Do you think he’s hot?” she asked with a giggle.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Oh, do you! You’re hot for teacher! Go for it Wrenn, slut it up and make him want you.”

  “Shut up,” I said, giving her the finger.

  She laughed, taking a sip of her latte.

  “I’m not going to throw myself at him like the rest of the school population.” I was happy just admiring the view from a distance.

  Chapter Seven

  Dalton

  “Mr. Reid, can I get help with this?”

  I glanced up. Paige Warner stood in front of me, her hands resting on my desk.

  “What’s up, Ms. Warner?”

  “This homework assignment—I wondered if you could have a look at it for me and make sure it’s okay?” She leaned over, her blonde hair falling over her shoulder as she tilted her head, eyeing me seductively.

  “Paige, this is due today. There’s not much you can do at this point if it’s not correct.”

  Her face went red.

  I stood up and clapped my hands together. “Okay, guys, take your seats.” My eyes swept over Wrenn in her usual spot in the back row. I gave her a wink, and she smiled.

  Grabbing the handful of papers on my desk, most covered in red pen, I began to hand them out.

  “Your homework assignments from last week. A few of you did really well. Some of you need to put a little more effort into your studies.” I dropped a C-graded paper on Paige’s desk. “Perhaps if you spent as much time on your homework as you did on shopping, this would be an A.” Sniggers filled the room as she scowled at me. I placed Wrenn’s paper down on her desk: A+.

  “Good work,” I said to her with another wink. She blushed, tilting her head as she gazed up at me.

  “Yeah, it’s not that hard to get good grades when your aunt pays the teachers’ wages,” muttered Paige. Her comment was greeted with laughter from the other students.

  Wrenn stared down at her paper, refusing to bite.

  “Enough, Paige,” I snapped. “One more comment like that, and you’ll fail my class. Are we clear?”

  Her jaw dropped as she narrowed her eyes at me. She muttered a yes.

  “Hand this week’s assignment up to the front, and open your books to page seventy-three,” I snapped, shooting another glance in Wrenn’s direction. Her head was still down.

  I glanced around the room. Some students eyed me with awe, impressed by my ability to shut Paige up. Others didn’t look so impressed. Wrenn wore a tiny smile on her lips that made my heart skip.

  Made my heart skip? What was I, a twelve-year-old girl?

  Never mind the fact that any kind of heart-skipping behavior caused by a student was totally inappropriate. Wherever my heart—or any other parts of my body for that matter—was going with this, it needed to stop.

  The bell rang and the girls began to pack up their things. While everyone else shot out of the room as quickly as possible, Wrenn seemed to be taking her time, handling each pen one by one as she placed them neatly in her backpack. By the time she stood up, the room was nearly empty, the last of the students filing out.

  From the corner of my eye, I caught Paige glaring in my direction as she stomped out of the room. That girl made me shudder. One look at Paige and all I saw was trouble.

  Wrenn, still smiling, approached the desk. Her green eyes were so bright with warmth that I couldn’t help but feel good.

  “Thanks for that. What you said to Paige.” She paused, sweeping her hair over her shoulder. “But don’t underestimate how much trouble that girl is. Even for you.”

  “I appreciate your concern, but I think I can handle it,” I chuckled. If Paige wanted to learn how tough I could be, I was more than happy to show her. Girls like her made my skin crawl. She had no empathy or feelings for anyone but herself.

  “Okay, if you say so.” She smiled at me, her finger tracing the edge of my desk. I could feel my heart begin to race, and I had no idea why. I refused to believe it was because of her.

  “You shouldn’t be afraid to stand up to her, Wrenn.”

  She looked up, surprised, her eyes meeting mine. Then she shrugged, as if it were no big deal.

  “Standing up for myself would just create more drama. I’d rather not have to deal with that. I’ve got bigger things on my mind than Paige and her petty comments.” She smiled wistfully. “I’d rather focus my attention on the people I actually give a damn about. Does that make sense?”

  “Perfect sense, actually,” I mumbled, rubbing my neck, her comments hitting a little too close to home. “S
o, you’re from Washington, and you like horror movies. What else is there to know about Wrenn?” I don’t know why, but I didn’t want her to leave yet. I wanted to keep this conversation going for as long as possible, without seeming like a complete creep.

  She made a face, looking deep in thought.

  “There’s not much to know,” she said truthfully. “I’m pretty boring, I guess. I love cars, and I hate shopping. I love things that make me think, like a good book. I’m quite opinionated, but I pride myself on seeing both sides of the argument. And I’ve wanted to be a lawyer since I was little.”

  “Any particular area of law?”

  “Criminal law. Prosecution,” she answered immediately. She glanced down at her phone. “And I’m late for class,” she added sheepishly.

  “I’ll write you a hall-pass so you don’t get into to trouble.” I grinned, grabbing my pad. I scribbled out the note and handed it to her. Our fingers brushed against one another, her touch leaving me numb. She smiled at me, tiled her head down, and then walked out of the room.

  Sinking back into my chair, I tried to process what had just happened. What was I doing? Creating little fantasies in my head over a student was just plain wrong. But there was something about her, something different. Something special that made me want—no, need—to know more.

  Chapter Eight

  Wrenn

  I found myself looking forward to History classes much more than I should have. After two weeks of Dalton being in my life, any chance I got to see him was something I looked forward to.

  A schoolgirl crush? Maybe. I wasn’t sure.

  In class he always treated me the same as everyone else, but unlike some of my other teachers, he didn’t sit back and ignore Paige’s snarky comments. There was no special treatment toward me—perhaps I imagined a glance here and a smile there, but nothing concrete. Out of class, he treated me like an equal.

  It was something that would never go anywhere, but it gave me comfort to think about him as being something more than just my teacher. I didn’t for a second dream that my crush would be reciprocated. I wasn’t stupid. He had been nothing but above board when he was with me, in and out of class.

  Still, I couldn’t stop myself from fantasizing about him when I lay in bed at night, or imagining what it would be like to kiss him. As each day progressed, I found myself thinking about him more and more.

  ***

  I practically skipped to class on Thursday, which earned me an odd look from Kass. She never saw me this happy about school, so I didn’t blame her skepticism.

  “What the hell is with you?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

  Shit. I needed to settle down. Nobody was this excited about History. “Nothing. Just feeling good today. Being almost the weekend, and all.”

  She seemed to accept that and proceeded to ramble on about her plans for the weekend.

  “Wrenn?”

  “Huh?” I said, embarrassed that she had caught me lost in thought.

  “I said you should come with us. Up the coast.”

  This weekend? Hanging around the school gave me the chance to possibly see Dalton. I wasn’t about to give that up. Besides, a weekend away with those two, watching them make out? I think I’ll pass.

  “I promised I’d help my aunt with something,” I fibbed, biting my lip. The chances of running into him were small, but I’d still take it. Besides, I knew Kass and Trina enjoyed their alone time.

  Kass nodded. “Too bad. If you get out of it, let me know. It’ll be fun.”

  We walked into the room, taking our usual seats in the back. Dalton was there already. Paige and her sidekick, Deena, stood next to him, giggling and flicking their hair. I almost chuckled at how uncomfortable he looked. Obviously his handling of her behavior on Monday hadn’t dampened her interest in him. His eyes caught mine and narrowed slightly as I giggled. It was those little connections we had, like just then, that made me wonder…

  “What’s funny?” Kass asked, interrupting my thoughts.

  “Paige and Deena. Look at how awkward Mr. Reid looks.”

  Kass glanced over at them and began to snigger loudly. Paige glared back at us, her expression one of pure hatred.

  “Okay guys, settle down.” Mr. Reid waited as the last few students scuffled into class and sat down. He held up some papers. “I have your assignments to give back. Some are excellent, and some of you need to focus more.” He began to work his way around the room, handing back papers. He winked as he reached me, dropping my A+ paper down on my desk.

  “Good job, again,” he muttered softly. I couldn’t help it, I was grinning like an idiot. Paige rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything. I didn’t even care.

  Even she couldn’t ruin how good I felt right now.

  ***

  “You wanna come to mine?” Kass bit down on her apple as we walked outside. It was overcast and cold, a typical day for this time of year. All I wanted to do was curl up in front of the fire with a book, or maybe a movie.

  “Nah, I might have an early night. I’m exhausted.” I yawned and stretched out my arms.

  Kass rolled her eyes. “You’re weak,” she said with a grin as she walked toward the parking lot. “But okay. See you tomorrow!”

  I spent the evening stretched out on the sofa watching Dawn of the Dead. He was right: it was a damn good movie, and scary as hell. My stomach somersaulted when I thought about him. He’d gone out of his way to lend me this movie. Did he mean anything by it? Or was he just being nice? I was trying so hard not to read into every little interaction because I just knew I was setting myself up to be hurt. I was his student. He was my teacher. That was the only thing I knew for sure.

  Chapter Nine

  Wrenn

  Wow, I was exciting.

  Saturday night and I was at home, studying. My aunt and uncle saw more action than I did. They had gone out for the afternoon—and evening—to a wedding.

  Kass had asked me again to go with her and Trina, but I honestly just felt like staying home. I liked having the house to myself, and studying meant my mind was kept occupied. When my mind was occupied, I didn’t dwell on the past. It was that simple.

  Hearing the doorbell, I ran downstairs to answer it. I swung the door open and gaped in surprise. Dalton stood there, looking devilishly sexy in a pair of jeans and a Jacket. He flashed me that gorgeous crooked smile. He looked pleased to see me.

  “Wrenn, hey. Is Layna home?” He held up a small package wrapped neatly with a bright pink ribbon. “A present from my mom,” he explained with a sheepish grin. I giggled. That was so cute.

  I stood aside and let him in. Shutting the door, I motioned for him to go through to the kitchen.

  “She and Dan are at a wedding. Can I get you a drink?” I asked.

  He hesitated, and then nodded. “A soda would be nice, thanks.” He placed the present down on the counter, watching me as I poured two glasses of soda. Could he see how much my hands were shaking?

  I handed him one of the glasses and smiled, taking a sip as I walked over to the table. He followed, sliding into the chair opposite me.

  Is this really happening?

  Dalton, alone with me in my house, inches away from me. I could stretch my leg out right now and it would accidentally brush past his. Not that I would. My heart was racing, and I was shaking like crazy. Could he see how nervous he made me? Fuck, I hoped not. I wanted to exude calm and cool, not a hot mess.

  “I thought the entire student population would be out tonight, being a Saturday night,” he said lightly, his eyes on mine.

  I shrugged and fiddled with the rim of my glass, the tip of my finger going round and round. I glanced up and caught him staring. He looked flustered when his eyes met mine.

  “What can I say? I’m boring,” I said with a smile. “I was accepted into prelaw at Boston University, but it’s a provisional acceptance dependent on my grades. Any spare time I have goes into that.”

  “And scary movies,” he added, his
eyes twinkling.

  I laughed. “Yes. Speaking of which…” I stood up, my drink in hand, waving for him to follow me.

  He raised an eyebrow and looked at me suspiciously.

  “I’m taking you into the living room. I’m not planning on assaulting you,” I joked.

  His face flushed, which only made me giggle harder.

  Worst attempt at humor ever. Someone needs to stop me. Intervention please.

  In the living room, I set down my drink and reached for the stack of DVDs on the coffee table.

  “This is yours,” I said, handing him back Dawn of the Dead.

  “Did you enjoy it?” he asked.

  “Loved it,” I admitted. I handed him the rest of the DVDs. “And these all came yesterday, express mail.” I’d gone more than a little crazy ordering up on Amazon.

  “Holy shit, nice choice,” he said, holding up my copy of Rosemary’s Baby.

  “I’ve never seen it,” I said with a smile.

  He gasped, shaking his head in mock horror. “And you call yourself a horror buff? Fuck homework. You need to watch this now. Right now,” he declared. “Even if it means you don’t get into college, it’ll be worth it. It’s imperative you see this movie.”

  “Why don’t you stay? Layna and Dan will be a while, still, and if it’s as scary as you say it is, there is no way in hell I’m watching it alone.” Ha, bullshit. I lived for horror movies, but I wasn’t letting him leave without a fight.

  He hesitated for half a second, and then shrugged. “Okay, what the hell. Let’s do this.”

  I tried to contain my excitement. He said yes? I had so not expected him to say yes! My excitement turned to horror as it sank in. Holy shit, how can I sit next to him for two freaking hours and sixteen minutes?

  “If you put it on, I’ll order a pizza,” he said, decisively. “Any particular kind?” he asked.

  I shook my head.

  He fished out his phone and called the delivery place while I fiddled with the DVD player, my stomach feeling like it was home to a rave full of moths on acid.