"I bet you do," I replied, a laugh thick in my words. "And where should I find you and your balls?"
"In the closet."
I blinked. Once, twice. "Excuse me?"
The smirk deepened. "That's where they keep me around here. In the closet." Max gestured to the dark hallway. "My office is the phys ed supply closet. The imagery isn't lost on me."
At that, I laughed out loud. "I believe you mean the irony."
He snapped his fingers, pointed at me as he bobbed his head. "Yeah, that.Irony."
"Is that something I should be aware of here?" I swept a glance down the hall, adding, "The closet and such?"
Pausing, he gifted me another up-and-down look. "This is a good place. Good people. Everyone is welcome here and we make a point of it. I've been at Bayside since the doors opened and I've never regretted it." His gaze locked onto my belt buckle before meeting my eyes. "Like I said, come find me later. I'll show you around and introduce you to the good copier and tell you anything you want to know about this school. Or anything else."
His words loosened something inside me. Something buried deep, far past the brittle overgrowth of cynicism and distrust. "I might do that, Coach."
2
Max
Six hoursafter watching Jory step into the library, my hands were still shaking.
Shaking.
I'd made four completely unnecessary trips to the front office in that time. All on the off chance of catching a glimpse of him while strolling past the library. But the problem with doors and walls was I couldn't see through them.
I didn't need much. Just one look at Jory, one clear-eyed look. I had to see that green, checkered shirt and Superman hair. I needed to confirm he was all right, to see for myself that the worried gleam in his eyes and apprehensive twist of his lips was gone. I couldn't explain why my gut churned with an unbearable urge to guard and protect him from anything that might cause him distress.
I couldn't explain it, but that was how I felt.
And I had a million questions for Jory. Maybe more. I wanted to know what he ate for lunch and whether he had a favorite Premier League team. I wanted to know why he liked teaching middle school science and if he wanted to carpool. I wanted to know if he wore glasses because I'd noticed a faint tan line at his temples, and I needed to prepare myself for the gut-punch of sexy nerd glasses along with his impatient frowns, the flawless light olive skin, and all that gorgeous Superman hair. And more than anything else, I wanted to know whether someone held a claim on him. I needed to know what I was up against.
I leaned back in my desk chair, bouncing my hands against the armrests as I watched the clock. That, plus some pointless pacing, was all I'd accomplished today. No ordering, no organizing, no sorting.
I'd made a solid effort at paging through a phys ed supply catalog around noon, but one look at a kit of oversized bowling pins had me calling up an old-fashioned candlepin bowling alley and asking about their hours. Something told me Jory, with his weird crab tie, would like the vintage vibe.
Jory and anyone else from the staff I could gather for bowling and beers, of course. Unless Jory wanted to keep it small. Just the two of us.
"Oh my god, stop it," I said to myself. I rolled my chair away from the desk, braced my elbows on my thighs, and dropped my head into my hands. I had to stop. I couldn't keep fueling this fantasy fire. We'd talked forminutes. For all I knew, Jory was being polite and I was inventing all of this. I always did that. I invented things and jumped ten steps ahead and fell before there were feelings to fall into, and I stayed there like an overturned turtle long after realizing I'd fallen for all the wrong reasons. "Stop, stop,stop."
A knock sounded behind me, and then, "Is this a bad time?"
Oh mygod. I dropped my hands and jerked out of my chair with a force that sent it crashing into a tower of stacked soccer nets. They skittered to the side, knocking over a pillar of orange safety cones and a bag of softballs, sending both straight for Jory's head.
"What is wrong with me?" I panted, diving in front of him to snatch the bag and steady the cones before they flattened him on the floor. I gained control of the equipment before it could do any damage, but I'd also shaved a few years off my life.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to sneak up on you like that." Jory folded his lips together and blinked away from me. "Thanks for intervening, though. You've got some reflexes."
I settled my hands on my waist and blew out a ragged breath. Jory was here in my office, wearing adorable dark-rimmed glasses and just being perfect while my hot mess of athletic equipment almost welcomed him with a concussion. "I didn't hear anything you just said because I'm still reliving the moment when a sack of softballs went flying toward your head."
"You did warn me about phys ed teachers and all their balls." Jory ducked his head, laughing. "How about that tour?"
* * *
At the headof the hallway, I spread my hands out in front of me. "Welcome to the land of short people, also known as the elementary floor." I motioned to the doors closest to us. "This end is early elementary. That's Zucconi's room. She's kindergarten." I pulled open the door, glanced inside. "I'm surprised Shay isn't here today. She's usually the first one in the building when we get the all-clear to start classroom setup."
"Is that common?" Jory asked. "Do teachers spend a lot of time on preparation?"
