Page 28 of Breakaway

“I cried when Travis had to shoot Old Yeller,” Lindsay confessed. Two boys groaned.

“Hey,” Jase said. “I cried too. He loved that dog. Don’t you think that was a tough choice he had to make?”

Again, he caught Remi’s eyes on him and had to refocus.

As the session drew to a close, Remi retreated to her desk and began tidying up. Jase found his jacket and slid his arms into the sleeves, taking his time, picking up some books and placing them on a table, until the kids were gone and he and Remi were alone.

She looked up at him, her pretty face expressionless, as he approached the desk, a book clasped in his hands.

“Is this what we’re reading for next week?” he asked.

She nodded, lifting an eyebrow. “Yes.”

His face heated. She knew he’d already told her students that. He felt like one of those kids, a kid with a crush on a classmate, practically scuffing his feet on the floor as he hung around on a pretext.

“So, I…uh…” Jesus, she had turned him into a stammering idiot. Why did teachers have that affect on him? He drew in a long slow breath, and forced a smile. She was just a woman. A hot, sexy woman, one whose bell he’d already rung. Repeatedly. Nothing to be afraid of.

He was terrified.

“I’ll…uh…see you next week,” he said and booked it out of there.

Helping kids with reading, being back in school in the classroom, creating hopefully positive experiences for other kids had seemed like an excellent way for him to deal with his own crappy past and the other years he’d done this Stars for Reading program had been great. But this year…why was he getting all screwed up again?

So he’d nailed a teacher. She was just a woman. It didn’t matter if she thought he was big and dumb. It didn’t matter what she thought at all.

Remi watched Jase with the kids. This was now the third week he’d been there in her class and the kids seemed to love him, but she was starting to have doubts about his ability to keep them focused. Seeing as he could barely keep himself focused.

He kept staring off into space or, even worse, staring at her, dammit, and Jessie Doherty had to ask him the same question twice, then twitch his shirt sleeve before he seemed to hear her. “Sorry,” he said to her with a smile, but it wasn’t long before he’d done it again. He rubbed his face, glanced over at Remi, and when he saw her watching, a dark flush stained his cheeks and he frowned at the book in his hands.

With a sigh, she moved over to the group and took control of the discussion about The Chronicles of Narnia, earning a scowl from Jase that tightened her insides. Well, she couldn’t worry about him, she needed to make sure the kids were getting something from this.

Two kids hung around after class, Ryan and Jessie.

Ryan started talking about hockey, while Jessie stood there smiling worshipfully up at Jase.

“You ever come to any Wolves games?” Jase asked Ryan.

“No,” he said glumly. “My mom says tickets are too expensive.”

Jase’s smile disappeared. “Yeah. I guess they are pretty expensive.”

“Well, I guess I better go,” Ryan said.

When he’d gone, Jessie looked up at him. “Are you married?”

He grinned. “Nope.”

She nodded and gave a smile that looked way too mature for a twelve-year old. “When’s your next game?”

“Friday night.” He folded his arms across his wide chest. “You like hockey?”

“I love hockey,” she said breathlessly.

Remi sighed. The pre-teen clearly had a huge crush on Jase.

“Cool,” Jase said.

Jessie made no move to leave.

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