by Lucy Score
I jerked my head toward Lou who, until that point, had been holding Amanda back with a good grip on her summer sweater.
“Seems we’ve got ourselves a family conference,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Judging from how your daughter turned out, don’t think for a second that I’m falling for this show of familial support,” Mrs. Felch sniffed. “Waylay Witt is a juvenile delinquent, and her mother is a home-wrecking, pill-popping boil on the bottom of society.”
“Thought you said there’s no need for language.”
“Crap on a cracker,” Amanda whispered, and I guessed she’d just spotted her granddaughter’s hiding place.
“Huh?” Lou was a little slower on the uptake until his wife pointed out the situation. “Ah, hell,” he muttered under his breath. He stepped up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with me. Amanda moved to his right. Together, we created a wall between Waylay and her shitty teacher.
Naomi looked relieved, then turned back to face the kraken. “Mrs. Felch,” she snapped, bringing the woman’s attention back to her.
I snapped my fingers at Waylay and pointed to the door. She started to belly-crawl her way toward the door.
Naomi waved her arms and paced toward the opposite side of the classroom like she was throwing a fit. “I have empathy for your situation. I really do. You certainly didn’t deserve what your husband and my sister did to you. However, you are responsible for not just teaching these students but for making them feel safe in your classroom. And I have it on good authority that you are failing in spectacular fashion when it comes to that duty.”
Waylay’s sneakers disappeared into the hallway.
“Tina took my husband into her bed and—”
“Enough.” I bit out the word, and the woman’s lip trembled.
“Yeah. What he said,” Amanda agreed, backing toward the door. “Oh, dear! I just remembered. I left my purse in the hallway.” She hustled out the door…holding her purse.
Naomi returned to stand in front of me. “I’ll give you the weekend to decide whether you’re going to modify your behavior so that all your students, including my niece, feel safe in your classroom. If you refuse, then I’ll not only have Waylay removed from your class, I’ll go to the school board and I will raise hell.”
I reached an arm around her chest and pulled her back to my front. Naomi the Spitfire could be just a little terrifying when she wasn’t screaming her frustrations into a pillow.
“She’ll do it too,” Lou cut in proudly. “She won’t stop until you’re out of the classroom. And the rest of us will be there to back her up every step of the way.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Mrs. Felch whispered. She sank wearily into the desk chair. “We were supposed to retire together. We were going to drive the RV cross-country. Now I can’t even look at him. The only reason he stayed is because she dropped him as quick as she picked him up.”
I guessed it couldn’t be easy for Lou to hear this about one of his daughters. But the man hid it well.
I felt Naomi’s anger drain out of her.
“You didn’t deserve what happened to you,” Naomi said again, her voice softer now. “But neither does Waylay. And I’m not going to let anyone make her feel like she’s responsible for the decisions adults make. You and Waylay both deserve better than the hands you were dealt.”
Mrs. Felch flinched, then sagged back in her chair.
I gave Naomi an approving squeeze.
“We’ll leave you to your weekend,” she said. “Feel free to email me your decision. Otherwise, I’ll see you Monday morning.”
“Waylay Regina Witt!”
Apparently Naomi wasn’t done yelling when we returned to the parking lot, where Amanda and Waylay stood next to my grandmother’s car.
“Now, Naomi,” Amanda began.
“Don’t you ‘now, Naomi’ me, Mom. Someone under five feet with blue streaks in her hair had better start explaining why I came down to discuss a situation with her teacher only to find my niece hiding in the coatroom with a jar of mice! You’re supposed to be at Liza’s with your grandparents.”
Waylay looked at the toes of her sneakers. They were the pink ones I’d bought her. She’d added a heart charm to the laces. There were two mice nestled on a cushion of dried grass in the jar at her feet.
“Mrs. Felch was bein’ a pain in the a—”
“Do not finish that sentence,” Naomi said. “You’re already in trouble.”
Waylay’s face went mutinous. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I showed up to school on the first day, and she was mean to me. Like really mean. She yelled at me in front of everyone in the cafeteria when I spilled my chocolate milk. She took recess time away from everyone and said it was my fault for not respecting what belonged to other people. Then, when she was handing out papers about some dumb bake sale to take home to our parents, she said I didn’t need one since my mom was too busy in the bedroom to find the kitchen.”
Naomi looked like she was about to have an aneurysm. “Get it together,” I warned her, tucking her behind my back.
I put my hand on Waylay’s shoulder and squeezed.
“Look, kid. I think we all get that you’re not used to havin’ an adult around who has your back. But you need to get used to it. Naomi’s not goin’ anywhere. You’ve got your grandparents too. And you’ve got me and Liza J and Nash. But you scared the shit out of all of us running off like that.”
She scuffed her foot on the asphalt. “Sorry,” she said sullenly.
“What I’m sayin’ is you have a lot of people in your corner now. You don’t need to go it alone. And your Aunt Naomi can do a hell of a lot more than leave some mice in a teacher’s desk drawer.”
“I was also gonna give her computer a virus. One of those annoying ones that adds extra letters and numbers when you’re typing,” she said, her cheeks pink with indignation.
I hid my grin by biting the inside of my cheek. “Okay. That’s pretty good,” I admitted. “But it’s not a long-term solution. Your teacher is a problem that you can’t solve on your own. You need to tell your aunt this shit so she can deal with it like she just did in there.”
“Mrs. Felch looked scared,” Waylay said, chancing a glance behind me at Naomi.
“Your aunt can be real scary when she stops taking her screaming into pillows.”
“Am I in trouble?” Waylay asked.
“Yes,” Naomi said firmly.
Just as Amanda insisted, “Of course not, sweetheart.”
“Mom!”
“What?” Amanda asked, wide-eyed. “She’s been through a traumatic few days at school, Naomi.”
“Your mother is right,” Lou said. “We should call an emergency appointment with the principal and the superintendent. Maybe they can convene a special school board meeting tonight.”
“This is so embarrassing,” Waylay groaned.
I didn’t know what the hell I was doing wading into a family disagreement, but I did anyway. “Why don’t we let Mrs. Felch stew for the weekend? Naomi already laid it out for her real clear. We’ll deal with whatever needs dealt with Monday morning,” I said.
“Why are you even here?” Lou demanded, turning his anger on me.
“Dad!” It looked like it was Naomi’s turn to be embarrassed as she stepped to my side.
“Waylay, go let the mice out over there on the tree line,” I ordered.
She shot me a wary look before scampering off toward the skinny strip of woods between the school and Knockemout Pretzels. I waited until she was out of earshot before turning back to Lou.
“I’m here because Naomi was walking into a situation she didn’t know anything about. Felch has had a hard-on for Tina ever since her husband banged Tina this summer. The whole town was talking about it. Now, once again, Naomi’s cleaning up a mess that Tina left behind. Something I get the feeling she’s spent her whole life doing. So maybe you can cut her some slack or, better yet, help her out with the clean-u
p this time around.”
Lou looked like he wanted to take a shot at me, but I saw my words had landed with Amanda. She put her hand on her husband’s arm. “Knox is right, Lou. Us second-guessing Naomi isn’t helping anyone.”
Naomi took a breath and blew it out slowly. I ran my hand up her back, then down again.
“I need to get back to work,” she said. “I’ve already missed an hour of my shift. Will you two please take Waylay home and try to keep her from running off again?”
“Of course, sweetheart. And now that we know that she’s sneaky, we’ll keep a closer watch on her.”
“I’ll take the front tire off her bike,” Lou decided.
“I need to skip ahead to the chapter on discipline in my library book,” Naomi decided. “Damn it! I hate reading out of chronological order.”
“Judith’s daughter changes the Wi-Fi password on her kids and doesn’t change it back until they’re ungrounded,” Amanda suggested helpfully.
Waylay returned with a now empty jar, and I felt Naomi take another deep breath.
“Mrs. Felch is in way more trouble than you are, Waylay. But Knox is right. You have to come to me with this stuff. Don’t tell me everything’s fine when it’s not fine. I’m here to help. You can’t be sneaking out and exacting revenge on everyone who wrongs you. Especially not with innocent little field mice.”
“I brought food and I was going to put water in the drawer with them,” Waylay explained.
“We’ll talk about this in the morning,” Naomi said. “Your grandparents are going to take you home. It’s up to them whether you have to scrub floors or if you still get to watch movies tonight.”
“It’ll definitely be movies,” Lou whispered.
“But you have to do all the dinner dishes,” Amanda added.
“I’m sorry for worrying you,” Waylay said quietly. She lifted her eyes to look at Naomi. “And I’m sorry for not telling you.”
“Apology accepted,” Naomi said. She swooped down and gave the girl a quick hug. “Now, I have to get back to work.”
“I’ll drive you,” I volunteered.
“Thank you. I’ll see everyone in the morning,” she said wearily.
There was a chorus of good-byes, and Naomi headed for the truck.
I waited until she opened the passenger door, then interrupted Amanda, who was making plans to stop for ice cream on their way home. “Can you two do me a favor and swing by Honky Tonk to pick up your Explorer? I’ll drive Naomi home tonight.”
I had plans for her.
TWENTY-EIGHT
THIRD BASE
Knox
“She ran away from home,” Naomi said, staring out the window and clutching the bag of warm pretzels in her lap.
“She didn’t run away. She snuck out,” I argued.
“Either way, how does that make me look as a guardian? I let an eleven-year-old walk into town with a jar of mice and a computer virus.”
“Daze, you need to stop gettin’ yourself so worked up over this custody thing. Do you really think any judge in their right mind is going to decide Way is better off with her mom?”
She turned flashing eyes on me. “How about when your life choices are under a microscope by the legal system, you can decide not to get worked up?”
I shook my head and turned onto a trail barely wide enough for my truck.
“This isn’t work,” she observed.
“Not goin’ back to work yet,” I told her as we bumped along the rutted track.
“I need to get back. I have a shift that I should have already been working,” she insisted.
“Baby, you need to stop obsessing about the things you should be doing and make some time for the shit you wanna do.”
“I want to get back to work. I don’t have time for you to murder me in the woods today.”
The trees parted, and a field of tall grass opened up before us.
“Knox, what are you doing?”
“I just watched you stand up to that bully who was trying to take her shit out on a kid,” I began.
“Some people don’t know what to do with their pain,” Naomi said, looking out the window again. “So they take it out on whoever is nearby.”
“Yeah, well, I liked watching you in that excuse for a skirt standing up to a bully.”
“So you kidnapped me?” she asked. “Where are we?”
I brought the truck to a stop along the treeline and shut off the engine. “Third Base. Least, that’s what it was called when I was in high school. We used to sneak beers and hold bonfires out here. Half of my class lost their virginity in this field.”
A hint of a smile played on her lips. “Did you?”
I slid my arm around the back of her seat. “Nah. Lost mine in Laura Beyler’s barn.”
“Knox Morgan, did you bring me out here to neck when I’m supposed to be at work?”
She sounded adorably appalled.
“Oh, I plan on doing more than necking,” I said, leaning over to release her seatbelt. Task accomplished, I plucked the pretzels off her lap and threw the bag into the backseat.
“You can’t be serious. I have work.”
“Baby, I don’t joke about sex. Besides, you work for me.”
“Yeah. In your bar, which is full of PMS-ing women waiting for their pretzels.”
I shook my head. “Everyone in town knows it’s a Code Red. It’ll be a slow night.”
“I am really uncomfortable with the idea of an entire town tracking its women’s menstrual cycles.”
“Hey, we’re normalizing period shit,” I argued. “Now, get your sexy ass over here.”
Good Girl Naomi was warring with Bad Girl Naomi, but I could tell which one was going to win by the way she was biting her lip.
“Between that skirt and the way you stood up for Way, I barely managed to keep my hands off you in front of Way and your parents, and it almost killed me. We’re lucky I got us here, driving with my dick so hard there’s no blood left for my brain.”
“Are you saying you’re turned on by me yelling at people?”
“Daze, the sooner you stop talking, the sooner I can drag you across this console and make you forget all about work and shitty teachers.”
She stared at me through heavy lids for a beat. “Okay.”
I didn’t give her a chance to reconsider. I hooked her under the arms and pulled her into my lap so she was straddling my thighs, her denim skirt bunched high around her waist.
“Did I mention how much I love these skirts?” I asked before crushing my mouth to hers.
She pulled away from me. “Actually you said you hated them. Remember?”
I gritted my teeth as she grinned evilly and ground down on my cock through my jeans. “I lied.”
“This is very irresponsible of us,” she said.
I yanked the neckline of her Honky Tonk tank down, taking her bra with it so her bare tits were in my face. Her nipples were already begging for my mouth. If there had been an ounce of blood left in my brain, it headed south at that view.
“It’s more irresponsible to make me watch you work your whole shift in that fucking skirt without getting you off first.”
“I know I should be offended when you talk like that, but—”
I leaned in and took one perky, pink nipple between my lips. I didn’t need her to finish the sentence. Through my jeans, I could already feel how wet she was for me. I knew what my words did to her. And it was nothing compared to what the rest of me was capable of.
She shuddered against me once as I began to suck, and then her fingers were at my belt.
I shifted my hips to give her better access, and the horn sounded.
She gasped. “Oops! Sorry. That was my butt. I mean, my butt hitting your horn. Not like my butt.”
I found myself grinning against her breast. The woman was entertaining on more than just the most obvious levels.
Between the two of us, we managed to slide my jeans down to mid-thigh freeing my thr
obbing cock and only setting off the horn once more. I didn’t want to wait. I needed to be inside her and judging from the breathy little moans that were clawing their way out of her throat, Naomi was with me. I lifted her with an arm around her hips and used my other hand to guide the head of my dick right where I needed it to be, nestled against that tight, wet wonderland.
My tight, wet wonderland.
Naomi belonged to me. For now at least. And that was enough.
With both hands at her hips, I yanked her down as I thrust up, sheathing myself inside her.
She screamed my name, and I had to run through my emergency mental gymnastics to keep from coming right then and there. Her quivering pussy had every inch of my cock in a stranglehold.
I held her there, impaled on me, as my mouth rediscovered her perfect breast. I swore I could feel the echo of each hard suck in the walls that held me captive.
It felt like heaven. It felt—
“Fuck, baby,” I said, releasing her breast. “Fuck. Condom.”
She let out a low moan. “Knox, if you move a muscle, I’m going to come. And if I come—”
“You’re gonna milk mine right out of me,” I surmised.
Her eyes were squeezed shut, lips parted. The picture of ecstasy in the late afternoon sun.
I wasn’t some teenage kid. I didn’t forget protection. Hell, not only did I have a condom in my wallet like any responsible man, I also had a handful in my glove box.
“You ever—”
She shook her head before I could get the rest of the question out. “Never.”
“Me either.” I ghosted my fingers over and around her breasts.
She opened her eyes then and bit her lip. “This feels too good.”
“I don’t want you doing anything you don’t want to do,” I warned.
But I wanted this. I wanted to finish bare. I wanted to let loose inside her and feel our releases mix. I wanted to be the first man to go there. To plant my flag in her memory as the first of something memorable.
“I-I’m on birth control,” she said tentatively.
I let my tongue dart out to tease her other nipple. “I’m clean,” I murmured. “I can show you.”