by K. S. Smith
He swatted my ass as his body shook with laughter underneath me. “Fuck the whipped cream. Don’t need it for what I’m getting ready to do to you.”
A surge of electricity darted straight to my core, and I knew today was going to be an amazing day.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The weekend came and went way too fast. I felt like I hardly had any time with Duke at all. I’d just dismissed my kids from class when I grabbed my lunch and made my way toward Megan’s classroom.
I turned the handle and tried to open the door, but it was locked. So I knocked and waited a minute, hearing stifled murmurs coming from behind the door. My assumption was that it was some of her students, so I waved down the janitor that was a few classrooms away. “Mr. Santos, would you please unlock the door? I think there may be students in Megan’s classroom.”
The tiny old man reached for his keys with his frail hands and unlocked the door.
I thanked him for his help and turned the knob. I pushed the door open and stepped into the room.
Megan was standing in front of her closet, hand over her mouth, holding back hysterics, cheeks flushed red.
“Umm, what in the hell are you doing? Who is in here with you?” I asked.
She sighed with relief as she relaxed back against the closet door before letting out a loud belly laugh, still not answering my question.
So I walked over, moved her from in front of the closet, and pulled the door open. As soon as the closet was open, Tripp came stumbling out, laughing just as hard as Megan still was. I looked at the two of them and gave them my best teacher face, pointing my finger between the two of them. “Busted!”
Tripp threw his arm around Megan’s shoulder. “It appears that way. I just can’t help it. My girl wanted dessert before lunch.”
My eyes widened and mouth fell. “You two just did it?”
Megan slapped Tripp’s muscular arm and began laughing again. “Hell no, I don’t want to lose my job. I was literally having dessert, a cupcake from Wright’s Gourmet House actually. But Tripp started kissing the icing off my lips and… well, you know how that goes.”
I shook my head at the both of them and grinned. “As long as you have a Wright’s cupcake for me, I promise I won’t turn you in.”
Megan clapped her hands together and darted over to her desk. She picked up a clear box with my favorite dessert, a hummingbird cupcake with cream cheese frosting.
Instantly, I snatched it out of her hands and popped the lid open. I took in a long drag of air, relishing in the delicious smell of my favorite bakery item. I collapsed down on to Megan’s chair and took a bite out of my cupcake, moaning in the process. “Oh my God, this is to die for.” I made a pig out of myself, eating the entire thing before engaging in conversation with my best friend and her boy toy.
“So, since you two obviously can’t stay away from each other, I was thinking it would only make sense if the four of us got together this weekend and go out on a double date.”
Tripp scrunched his face. “What? Do you think we’re in high school?”
I shot a quick glance around the room and smiled. “It looks to be that way.”
Megan fist-pumped the air. “I think it’s a perfect idea. We can get all fancied up and go out to a nice restaurant.”
I stood out of her chair and shook my head. “No, no, I’m not in the mood for fancy. I just want to relax. I was actually thinking we could do a barbecue at my parents’ house, maybe grill hamburgers and enjoy some beers. Mom will be in Miami this weekend on business, and Dad has a meeting with some general on the air force base in Panama City, so the house will be free.”
Tripp’s face changed from a grimace to pleasant. “A barbecue I can do. Has Duke agreed yet? If his schedule is free, I know mine is too.”
I slipped my fingers into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. I dialed Duke’s number before putting it on speakerphone.
“Hey, babe, how’s your day going?” he asked.
A grin took hold of my face. “It’s going great so far. I have you on speakerphone with Tripp and Megan. I invited them to get together with us on Saturday night for a barbecue at my parents’ house. Does that work with your schedule?”
I could hear Duke clicking away on the computer in front of him, probably checking his calendar. “Yeah, Saturday night works.”
I shimmied in excitement. “Perfect. It’s a double-date. Call me when you’re finished with work.” Pressing the end button on my cell, I smiled up at Tripp. “I guess your schedule is free.”
Megan stood on her tiptoes and pressed a flirty kiss to Tripp’s lips. “This is so exciting, I can’t wait.”
The days passed so slowly that week. Duke had an emergency for work and had to fly out Monday night and wasn’t sure he was going to be back in time for our Saturday night double-date; but I wasn’t ready to cancel just yet. Although, by the time Friday rolled around, I was beginning to think he wasn’t going to be there.
As Megan and I made our way to our cars, she popped open her trunk and slung a folder full of papers that needed grading into the back, then closed it shut with a loud thump. Her poor car, I thought. She was so rough on them she had to get a new one every year, but then again, those were the perks of having an uncle who owned a high-end car dealership.
“Why don’t we go do some retail therapy? That way, if Duke doesn’t make it home in time for our double-date tomorrow night, I’ll ditch Tripp, and you and I can go out for a night on the town.”
I thought about her offer for a nanosecond before answering. “Reason number ten bazillion you are my very best friend.”
I hopped into my car and hollered out the window, “Follow me to the house so I can drop off my car.”
We both pulled out of the teachers’ parking lot and took off toward my house. My windows were down, chilly air swirled my hair, and country music blasted through the speakers.
When the two of us left the mall, I turned to Megan. “I still haven’t heard from him, and as much as going out for a night on the town sounds marvelous, I really want to have Duke home to get the four of us together.” I turned to look out the window, and my phone vibrated in my lap. I heard his deep voice when I answered it.
“Hey, babe, how was work?” he asked.
Excited, I responded, “Great, but I’m glad the weekend is finally here.” I paused for a moment. “Speaking of, do you think you’ll make it back into town for tomorrow night?”
I heard his sigh through the speakers. “I’m really trying.”
I tried to push the disappointment away. “Okay, I understand. I miss you.”
“Miss you too. I’ll call you later.”
When I hung up, Megan did her best to distract me. “So, what kind of trouble are we getting into tomorrow night?”
I forced my building bad attitude aside. “The bad kind,” I said as I winked over at my best friend.
The next night, Megan and I were getting ready as I slid my feet into my favorite pair of peep-toe heels, admiring my outfit in the mirror. “Damn, I look good.”
Megan let out a loud laugh from the inside of my closet. “You are so full of yourself!”
I posed and snapped a quick selfie then shot back, “I think I have every reason to be.”
Her laughter continued but was unexpectedly interrupted.
“I couldn’t agree more,” a deep voice echoed from the doorway.
My head whipped to the right, and I locked eyes with Duke.
“What are you doing here?” I shouted as I ran across the room and jumped into his arms, plastering kisses all over his face.
His arms wrapped around my tiny body and hoisted me up, kissing me back. “I thought we had a date?”
Megan appeared from inside the closet. “What the hell, Duke. Way to ruin our night out with random guys.”
Duke huffed. “That’s what we were afraid of, hence me being here.”
My body slid down his as he placed me on the ground, and I leaned against hi
m, looking into his eyes. “Well, I better get out of this outfit if we’re staying in.”
I heard Megan groan from behind me, and in that very moment, Tripp walked into the room to join us.
“What the fuck, babe. You’d rather go hook up with some stranger than let me have my way with you tonight?”
A grin spread across her face, and she ran and jumped into his arms. “Of course not! Take advantage of me right here, right now.”
Duke and I laughed aloud at Megan. “Please. Not in my bedroom!” I yelled as Duke pulled me tighter into his frame, leaning down to speak into my ear.
“Change, now,” he demanded.
CHAPTER NINE
Dinner in had been just what the four of us had needed. Duke and Tripp had grilled, and we’d all pigged out on blue-cheese-stuffed turkey burgers, corn on the cob, asparagus, and fruity margaritas for the girls.
After Megan and I cleared the patio table of the dishes, I summoned everyone over toward the dock. “Boat time!” I shouted, excited for a night out on the water with the three of them.
Duke swiped the keys from my hand. “I’ll be the captain tonight. You’ve been drinking a bit too much to steer this ship.”
I glanced up at him, scrunching my nose. “My father always says you never let another man steer your ship.”
A gaudy laugh came from behind me as Tripp chimed in, “Your dad is a smart man, but tonight his rules don’t apply. You want a night out on the boat? Duke drives. Otherwise we stay in.” Tripp’s hands gripped my waist and hoisted me up, over the edge of the boat. He set me down next to Duke, who was already in the boat checking everything before we left.
Halfway around the bay, our boat was cut off by a smaller speedboat. It was filled with way too many people, and, from the looks of it, they were all drinking.
Tripp, of course, started in on them. “Damn kids, trolling the waters in their parents’ boat, not paying attention. Call the coasties, man.”
I sat down on Duke’s lap and reached for the radio, pretending to call for help. “Come in coast guard. There are a group of young kids having way too much fun in the waters of Tampa Bay. Come arrest them right now and add their fancy boat to my collection.”
Megan laughed and added in her own message. “If any of them are legal, send them to my house. I’m taking applications for boyfriends.” She winked at Tripp before falling into his lap and kissing him.
Seconds later, the boat flew past us again, and I could tell by the grimace on Duke’s face that he’d had it. He lifted me off his lap and pointed to the seat next to him.
I rolled my eyes and sat down, sipping my margarita as he took off after them. When we finally caught up to them, I stayed in the chair, trying to avoid being seen by the poor kids whose night was about to be ruined by Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick, Dr. Watson.
Our boat came to a complete stop, and I heard Duke begin in on the kids.
“Look, I’m all about a good time, but that’s the second time you’ve almost sideswiped my boat. You need to get yourselves under control, or I am going to call the coast guard to come out and deal with this situation.”
I listened in, curious as to what their response would be, when I recognized one of the kids’ voices. I stood to see if I knew them and was suddenly face to face with a group of my students. “Son of a bitch,” I whispered under my breath as our resident class clown stood up on the other boat.
“Holy shit, it’s Miss Hamilton.” The entire group of them started cheering.
“Hi, guys.” I waved, setting my drink down as I approached the edge of our boat. “Miss Tate is here as well,” I said, pointing over to Megan while she waved from Tripp’s lap. “What are you all doing out on the water at this hour?”
Mikey, the driver and one of my seniors, tried to answer for everyone. “We were just out on the water having a good time. We’re sorry we came too close to your boat. I promise it won’t happen again.” The rest of the kids all spoke up, ensuring me of the same thing, and I could hear in their voices that they’d all been drinking.
“How much have you all had to drink tonight?” I asked, trying not to sound like their mothers.
Mikey piped again. “Nothing, we haven’t been drinking at all, ma’am.”
I knew better than to believe them, so I continued. “So if I got on your boat, I wouldn’t find any empty beer bottles or smell alcohol on any of your breath?” I asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.
And that’s when Angela Henderson, the current valedictorian of our senior class, broke down in tears. “Yes! We’ve all been drinking. There are beer bottles everywhere. Please, Miss Hamilton, please don’t call the coast guard. I promise we’ll go straight home.”
The rest of the kids groaned, obviously knowing they’d been busted.
“You’re right,” I said sternly. “You’ll go straight home because we are going to see to it that you get there safely.” I glanced over to Tripp. “Your turn to play captain.”
He stood and hopped onto their boat. “My pleasure. Which way are we headed?” he asked the kids, and Angela stood, pointing in the direction of her residence.
Once we’d delivered them all safely back to her house, I made all of them line up on the dock as I began to lecture them. “I know senior year is all about having a good time, but for God’s sake, guys, don’t be stupid. You all have bright futures ahead of you, and one mistake could ruin that in an instant. Just imagine what could have happened had I not been the one to find you all. What if it’d been the actual coast guard who’d pulled you over? You’d all be in a heap of shit right now. I understand you’re going to drink. That’s fine. We all do. But don’t be stupid about it. Stay at home. Have a good time. Don’t be an idiot and get behind the wheel of a vehicle. You could end up killing yourself — or worse, someone else.”
Positive they’d learned their lesson, or at least been scared shitless for the time being, I turned to Duke. “I think it’s time to call it a night.”
He started the engine and made his way back toward my parents’ house while Tripp went on and on the entire way back about what a nice boat those kids had and how he was going to look into buying one for himself.
I walked Megan and Tripp around to the front yard while Duke got everything squared away on the docks. “Thanks for coming over tonight. It’s been fun. Megan, I’ll see you at school on Monday, and Tripp, I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon as well.” I hugged them both before they made their way toward the car to leave.
When I got inside, Duke was sitting on the couch with the TV turned on, watching Fox News. I rolled over the back of the couch next to him and rested my head in his lap. His hand instantly began to rub my head as I snuggled up and closed my eyes. I lay there in silence for a few minutes, and then he asked me a question completely out of left field.
“If those were our kids, would you have wanted their teacher to reach out to us and let us know what’d happened, or would you have wanted her to handle it like you did.”
I opened my eyes and sat up, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. “First off, our kids are going to be perfect angels, so we won’t have to worry about them ever drinking underage and pulling a stupid stunt like that.”
He laughed, amused at my statement.
“But, if for some insane reason, they lost their mind for a split second and acted like that, I would hope that their teacher would use her best judgment and do what she felt to be right.”
“So you wouldn’t want to know about it?” he probed.
I shook my head. “If they were younger, I’d definitely want to know, but those were all of my seniors, good students. Most of them are getting ready to turn eighteen and head off to college in a few short months. Things like this are going to happen, and my hope is that I have made a big enough impact in their life that when I ask them to do something, they do it. I could go into school on Monday, tell the principal, and call all their parents, but what good would that do for any of them? I don’t c
ondone what they did. It was reckless and dangerous, but I don’t think they should be lined up before the firing squad on their first offense. Now you can bet your sweet ass I will rat all of them out if I catch them again, because now they’ve been warned, and they should know better.”
I could tell by the look on his face that he didn’t necessarily agree with me, but that was how he was. Duke was by the book with everything he did, everything except me. With me, it was like he did his best to relax and not take things so seriously.
Still reeling from his question regarding our children, I figured I’d try to keep him on the subject. “So, do you want to have children one day?”
He stretched his arms and locked his fingers behind his head, his taut muscles flexing. “One day, not any time soon though.”
Butterflies began to flutter in my stomach, and I tried my best to hide the smile that was forcing itself onto my face. “How many?” I continued.
Duke inhaled and let out a big breath of air. “Seven or eight, maybe more.”
My hands flew to my mouth, trying to hide the horror on my face. “Eight kids!” I shouted, utterly shocked by his answer.
His lips curled up, and he reached over to me and forced my body up against his. His arm slung tightly around my hip. “I’m kidding. I’d never be able to handle eight kids, at least I don’t think I would. I guess I’ll have to see if that day ever comes. I was an only child, so I never got to experience what siblings were like until I joined the Marine Corps and instantly had tons of brothers. I think it’d be more fun having someone to grow up with, so maybe two or three kids. I guess that’ll be up to my future wife.”
I pushed up on my knees, hopped on top of Duke’s lap, and straddled him. “Well, if I happen to be your future wife, then those numbers sound perfect to me. I loved having an older brother growing up, and I definitely want my children to have siblings. It just makes life more fun. Besides, it’s like having an instant friend who will always be there for you.”
Duke nodded. “Unless they don’t get along. Then it’s a natural-born enemy.”