Page 4 of Forever the Bully
Even with all the blood in my body deserting my brain to pool in my dick, I remember to direct us to a quiet area of the restaurant. She and the other faculty usually sit at the big tables in the center of the room. If I really cared about convincing our peers she’s dating me because I’m a nice guy, I’d want a table close to all the action. Hopefully, Hazel doesn’t realize I’m doing pretty much the opposite since I want her all to myself.
Time passes easily across the table from my dream girl, but then, I’d expected it would. I’m still not ready to leave when the leftovers are packed up and the last bit of dessert has been devoured.
“I can’t believe you’ve never tried any of the sweets on the menu. The kluay kae are perfect for you. Banana fritters with coconut in the crispy batter? That’s absolutely a Hazel combination.” It might be creepy letting her know how much I’ve noticed about her, but I want her to understand how incorrect her perception of my dislike was.
“You know so much about me. I feel bad that I know so little about you. I guess I need to get caught up. Twenty Questions?” The twinkle in her eyes says she’s not upset by how much I’ve obviously observed her.
Hazel may not realize it yet, but there’s not much I won’t agree to as long as she’s the one asking. Even if it means revealing my most embarrassing secrets or letting her see how hopelessly enthralled by her I’ve become.
Chapter Five
Hazel
The annoying thing about fake dating Jeremiah Graley is, I’m not the only one who’s woken to what a stone-cold sexy beast he is. He’s been my pretend boyfriend for less than three weeks, and I hate how well it’s working. I can’t even walk into the teacher’s lounge without someone asking if he’ll be joining me. And excuse me for not realizing it sooner, but there are a lot of extremely thirsty single female teachers at this school. A. Lot.
Worst of all is knowing there’s only a week left in our arrangement. Starting next Thursday, he won’t be my fake boyfriend anymore, and I won’t be able to push my way between Jeremiah and his newly acquired legion of admirers. What is it about wanting what we can’t have that makes us humans so hungry?
I don’t just mean my colleagues, either. Honestly, it’s no real shock they notice him, now he’s demonstrating what a lovable, quirky guy he is. The stunner is discovering how jealous it makesme whenever one of them asks me if he’s as good a kisser as he looks like he’d be. Or if it’s true what they say about big hands equaling big…other things.
Because I have no idea what the answers are. Three weeks of dates that weren’t dates, going places where our peers would be around, and not a single intimacy beyond having his arm around me or his hand in mine. That first night, I’d been convinced there were actual sparks between us. Guess it’s a good thing I teach in the English department and not the science one, because I clearly know nothing of chemistry.
“You’re staring at that gradebook like it did something to personally offend you. Are your students being shits about their assignments?” Jeremiah moves so silently it nearly always surprises me when he pops into my classroom.
“Just thinking.” The words are out too fast, and I know what comes next. Though that answer would be sufficient for most guys, Jeremiah always pushes to know my every thought.
“About?”
See? Just as I expected. Now, I have to come up with a bullshit thought or admit what’s bothering me.
“You know the other night when we were coming out of the movies?” We’d gone to see the newest superhero film because it turns out we’re both comic book nerds and it helps us to stay current on what our students will be fixated on.
“I was there, so yeah.” A month ago, a response like that would have seemed condescendingly prickish. Now, I can know it’s just how Jeremiah processes information. He realizes my question was rhetorical, but he doesn’t seem to grasp the socially correct way to handle those types non-questioning questions.
“Vanessa Genovese was there, remember?” Vanessa teaches Italian here at Mariposa High. She also really,reallywants to know how serious things are between Jeremiah and me.
“Yes. She insisted on sitting with us for the movie, even though she and her date had bought tickets to the period drama you said you wouldn’t be caught dead watching. She kept blocking the screen with her head, so she could show you students making out in the rows ahead of ours.” The way he recalls the scene is so fact-based I can’t help the kernel of hope that blooms in my chest.
He doesn’t register how she’d maneuvered the seating so she was on Jeremiah’s right side or how she’d found every excuse imaginable to lean over him to whisper to me. She hadn’t given two shits about the kids making out in the rows up front. She’d only wanted a reason to lean over Jeremiah’s lap and push her breasts against him. I clocked her intentions from the moment the trailers started scrolling across the screen.
“She likes you,” I grit out. “And she’s not the only one.”
“Okay. That’s good. It means the arrangement is working, right? The other teachers are realizing I’m not an asshole who thinks he’s too good to be friends with them.”
He has no idea. No freaking clue.
“Not the kind oflikeI mean, Jeremiah.”
And damn him for making me spell it out. Three weeks of his attention, as platonic as it’s been, can never be enough. Not now that I know his aloof outer shell hides a snark-filled nerd who likes action movies, Thai food, and playing with foster puppies at the shelter where we both happen to volunteer.
Jeremiah Graley is the whole package. Smart, quietly funny, sexy in that way only people who are absolutely secure in themselves manage. The whole package but not addressed to me.
Chapter Six
Jeremiah
Hazel is sad, and I’m not astute enough to figure out why. For weeks now, granted the right to observe her from up close since I’m her fake boyfriend, I’ve studied every nuance of her expressions. I’ve seen her flustered and awkward when she’s unsure how to handle situations with our boss. Confident and in control of her classroom and the sometimes unruly teenagers in it. Soft and snuggly while playing with a lapful of foster puppies that are learning how to be social with each other and humans.
The emotions I’ve longed to see the most, the ones circling lust and arousal, are still just fantasies inside my head. Sadness, though? That’s an emotion I could do without seeing. Especially up close where the glossy shine in her eyes is from tears about to fall.
