Waiting for Us
Page 26
I open the door to the classroom to find it fairly crowded. Oh great, trying to find a seat in this zoo should be fun. I’m still standing by the door craning my neck, searching for an available spot when I hear a deep, male voice call my name.
“Shelby.” A large male hand connected to a muscular forearm is raised above the heads of the seated students and I gravitate toward it like a glowing beacon on a stormy night. As I slowly make my way over, I pay close attention to the feet and backpacks protruding in the aisle. One wipe-out per day is enough, especially when I’ve already reached my daily quota and it’s only nine o’clock. What can I say, I’m such an overachiever. I smile when I notice who the voice that called my name belongs to. It’s Jeff, my sometimes friend with benefits. Well, he’s always my friend, but I don’t always get the pleasure of seeing him naked. He and I have been hooking up on a fairly regular basis for the past six months. Our arrangement works great for both of us. He’s hot and his benefits are plentiful….wink, wink. We both like sex and neither one of us wants a commitment. Plus, he’s a great guy and lots of fun to hang out with.
“Hey Jeff, I didn’t expect to see you in this class.”
“Yeah, me either, but I needed another English class and this was all that was available. It’s looking better now, though.” He nudges my elbow with his and winks at me.
“Jeff,” I say, with an eye roll. “Your flirting is wasted on me unless you’re just trying to hone your skills. If that’s the case, then hone away.” He smiles at me, making the outer corners of his dark blue eyes crinkle with tiny creases.
“I’m simply trying to butter you up so you’ll come over tonight.”
“Leave the butter out of it Jeff, it’s not necessary and it would make everything way too slippery. Not to mention the grease stains that would get on the sheets. No products exist that can completely remove grease stains.”
I’m about to continue on with all the reasons why sexy times and butter do not go together when Professor Hanlon walks in the room. Damn!
It’s amazing the effect a teacher walking in the room can have on a group of twenty-year-olds. The class goes from loud and chaotic to hear a pin drop silent within mere seconds. It makes me feel like I’m in second grade again and Mrs. Harrington is holding up her peace sign, signaling it’s time for us to use our “listening ears,” for storytime. I half expected Professor Hanlon to greet us with “Good morning boys and girls,” but he doesn’t. There really isn’t much of a greeting given by him at all.
“I’m Professor Hanlon and this is creative writing. If you thought you were in another class, feel free to leave. If you’re supposed to be in another class, you may also leave.” Ironically, at this point we lose five people from the class. Sucks to be them. He passes out the class syllabus before returning to the front of the room to take attendance. He calls out each student’s name, waiting for their reply before continuing on. I’m waiting for him to say my name and my stomach is getting a little nervous. I’m not sure why, though. I’m pretty confident I can manage to pronounce the word “here” even under the worst of circumstances, never mind when I’m stone cold sober like now. It’s four letters and only one syllable. As far as words go, it’s not very impressive at all. It takes more effort to hiccup or burp than it does to articulate it. So what am I worried about? I’m so lost in my musings that I almost miss him calling my name. If it wasn’t for Jeff kicking my leg under the table, I’m not sure if I would have heard him.
“Here,” I reply before kicking Jeff back. “That hurt! Couldn’t you have poked me with your finger or gently nudged me with your hand?” I notice Professor Hanlon has stopped going through the roll call so I direct my gaze toward him. He’s staring intently at me as if he’s waiting for me to stop talking. Oops. I seriously should have stayed in bed this morning.
“Are you done now Miss Tyler or would you like us all to wait while you continue?” I’m suddenly mute and all I can seem to do is shake my head.
“No, you’re not done or no, you are?” He continues. I pray my voice doesn’t fail me now because a head shake isn’t going to suffice.
“No, I’m all set. Please continue with your roll call.” It accidentally comes out in a semi-bitchy tone which is appropriate because I’m semi-bitchy about fifty percent of the time. The probability of catching me at my worst, which is snarky, bitchy and sarcastic, is pretty high. I happen to think that those are some of the best parts of me, though, so I guess it’s all in how you look at it.
“I’m glad I have your permission to continue, Miss Tyler.” Speaking of sarcastic. He finishes taking attendance and goes over the syllabus with us, explaining his expectations.
“I do not tolerate tardiness. You need to be on time or don’t bother coming to my class at all.” He glances in my direction as if he is directing his message at me personally. It seems like this might be a case of “do as I say, not as I do,” since he was late for class too. I stare right back at him, he’s not going to intimidate me.
Jeff leans over and whispers in my ear.
“Why does he keep looking at you?”
“I’ll tell you tonight after you’ve had your wicked way with me.” We both snicker, earning an ice cold glare for our disruption. He seems so prickly like it doesn’t take much to set him off.
Acknowledgements:
There are many people that helped me along in my journey to write this book. My husband Daniel is my inspiration for all the good parts of Marcus and Cory. He’s the best friend I could ever hope for and my biggest cheerleader in life. I feel like I can accomplish anything with him by my side.
My two sons are my greatest blessings. They provide me with endless amounts of love and laughter. I know that they will probably never read my books and I’m not sure that I would want them to.
I have to thank my beta readers - Amy, Renee, Madeline, Tanya, Carol, Angela, Lisa and Dee. Thank you for all the insight you offered and thank you for loving the characters I created. It means the world to me and it was a big motivation for me to publish this book.
Thank you to my writing bestie Renee Kennedy. You cheered me on and encouraged me whenever I needed it. I am forever grateful that we met when we did. “That’s the way we do it.”
Letitia Hasser/RBA Design – Thank you for the beautiful cover you created for my story. It’s everything I hoped it would be and I can’t wait to see what you come up with for the next one.
Laura @ Editing For You- Thank you for all your hard work on Waiting for Us. It means the world to me that you cared about my story and you were invested in my characters. Thank you for putting up with my technologically challenged self. I’m looking forward to working with you on many more books in the future.
I’ve met some really amazing people along this journey and some of them are my favorite authors. – Harper Bentley, Dee Kelly, Anne Mercier, Elizabeth Haley, Robyn Roze, Winter Renshaw and Lucia Franco. You have all been there to answer any questions that I may have had and to offer me advice when I needed it. I admire each and every one of you professionally and personally as well.
Recently I’ve become a part of a group of authors on Facebook and these guys have been absolutely amazing. Ella Emerson, Olivia Howe, Kylie Hillman, ML Preston and CJ Martin, your support is greatly appreciated!
Thank you to all the bloggers and authors out there that have shared my book and teasers. I couldn’t get my book into people’s hands without you guys. I sincerely thank you all for your hard work. I have to give a special thank you to the lovely ladies at Dayreader Reviews – Renee, Donya, Amy, Niketa and Kristy. I adore you all!
Last but definitely not least, I have to thank you all you readers that have purchased my book and reviewed it. I can’t think of sufficient words to even express how much it means to me that you are taking time out of your busy lives to read something that I have personally written. Mwah! xo
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
First time author, Dawn Stanton, writes realistic women’s fiction
with a romantic and risqué edge. With her debut novel Waiting for Us, she fulfilled a life-long dream of becoming a published author.
Stanton, a life-long resident of the east coast, makes her home in New England with her husband, Amazon bestselling author Daniel Stanton, and their two sons. Look for the next book in the Waiting series in January of 2016 and also a collaboration between her and Daniel sometime in the near future.
If you’d like to stay up to date on new releases and all book related news you can go to my Facebook page.
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