Page 51 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 2

"I love board games."

"Great, now I'm getting ganged up on by the two of you."

"So, what's a board game you do like, Sean?"

"One that stays in a box."

"He's teasing. He always complains before we start, but once we get going, he loves to play as much as I do."

"Fine. If we must, I vote for Chinese Checkers."

"You always vote for Chinese Checkers, Dad."

"You asked."

Traci interjected. "I love Chinese Checkers too. It's been years since I've played."

"Okay, but next time I get to pick."

Ashley headed down a hallway to her bedroom. As soon as she was out of sight, Sean leaned close to kiss Traci's cheek. "I can't believe how well tonight is going. I hope you're having fun too."

"Are you kidding me? I'm having a wonderful time. Ashley is amazing, Sean. You're doing a great job with her."

"I'm surprised, honestly. She's been kind of down lately. She must feel better tonight. I was worried my dating might be hard on her, but maybe I was wrong."

Ashley was back with the game and the three of them played three games. The girls swept up with Ashley winning twice and Traci once. At least Sean wasn't a sore loser.

"Well, I have some homework to do. I have a quiz to study for, so I think I'll call it a night." Ashley had picked up the game. Her father raised an eyebrow in surprise. Traci suspected Ashley volunteering to do her homework wasn't a normal event in the Campbell household.

Traci stood to hug Ashley and was suddenly melancholy at the possibility of never seeing her again. As they separated, Traci could see the same fear on Ashley's face. She had to be strong. "It was awesome to meet you, Ashley. I sure hope I get to see you more before I leave Chicago, but if I don't, I'll be waiting for you to come for your skiing lessons next winter."

"That's great. I'll look forward to it. Night."

"Night."

After she was out of sight, Sean stood to hug Traci. "All right spill it. How the hell did you get her to drop her impenetrable teenage angst shield for a whole night?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. We just hit is off."

Sean hugged tighter and when she refused to answer, he began to playfully tickle her. "I know you have some trick up your sleeve, Traci. Ah, I see you're ticklish. You'd better be careful. If you won't tell me your secret, I might have to spank the truth out of you, although you'd probably like that."

The second the words were out of Sean's mouth they both froze. Time stood still as the room started to spin for Traci. She tried to think rationally, but his off-handed comment had caught her with her guard down. It had been a direct hit. Before she could think through the implications, she pushed away from him, spinning to confront Sean.

Traci went on offense. She worked to keep her voice low enough to avoid Ashley hearing. "I knew this was too good to be true. I expect Robert Young to say shit like that. He likes to take pot shots at my research topic, but not you, Sean. I can't believe you're going to ridicule me, too."

She could feel tears forming and knew she needed to get the hell out of there. She spun towards the door and had her hand on the doorknob before she said her parting words. "Goodbye, Sean."

Chapter Five

Sean was so shocked by his own words that he was slow to recognize how badly he'd just hurt Traci. She was already at the door when he sprang into action. The door was open several inches by the time he reacted. He reached around Traci's shoulders to slam the door closed with a crash, trapping Traci between him and the hard wood. As if he didn't feel like a big enough asshole for his careless comment, her answering sob as she melted into tears wrenched his stomach into knots.

Time to grovel.

"Traci, I'm so sorry. Please believe me, the last thing I was trying to do was poke fun at you or your research. You have to believe me, honey. We were just goofing around and it sort of came out."

Her quiet tears were his only answer. He pressed closer and brought his hands down to pull her into his arms, but she remained stiff and closed off.

"Please don't go. Come back in so we can talk." She didn't answer, but he could feel her relaxing into his arms. She still didn't answer him.

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