“Whoa, I’m the first one you are telling?” he asked, frowning down at his phone.
“Yep.”
He shoved his phone into his back pocket and said, “This is getting pretty serious really fast.”
“If you want me to slow down, I can keep my good news to myself.”
“Tell me.”
“Well, I’ve been helping at the school for a couple of years now, and last year I got to come in as a teacher’s assistant and help them grade papers if they got bogged down with the workload or took vacation days.”
“Uh huh?”
“And I’ve been hoping for a substitute teaching gig there.”
“Uh huh?”
“And today they called me and told me one of the teachers is going on maternity leave until summer, and that some of the kids specifically asked that I be their substitute teacher.”
“Wait, you got the position?”
“It’s nothing permanent or anything.”
“But it means something to you.”
“Yeah. I get a classroom until the end of the year. I start in two weeks.”
Dodger shook her shoulder gently and then pulled her into a hug against his side and left his arm around her shoulders as they walked. “Congratulations. Will they still want you to be the crossing guard?”
“Oh yeah. I’m going to have to run outside faster than the kids after the last bell, but I can do it. I run on the treadmill four times a week. I’m very fast,” she teased.
“You’re a very wholesome person.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you’re taking care of kids. You’re not a stripper or one of the workers at that bikini coffee shop place. I just don’t know people like you. Good people.”
“Ummm, is that your normal type? Strippers or bikini coffee girls”
“Yep.”
She laughed and shook her head. “I am not that. No judgement though. They probably make way more money than me. And their dance moves are probably way better at seducing you.”
“I just kissed a human in a dressing room,” he murmured. “I don’t think it matters what your job is. You seduce me just fine.”
Her cheeks heated with a pleased blush. “I didn’t think anyone would ever say that about me.”
“You didn’t get asked out on dates? Come on. You did. I know you did.”
“Well, I did, but I didn’t want to engage. I got good at saying no and being cold to anyone who was interested.”
“I don’t hate that. Less men for me to hate. Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Starving. I’m regretting leaving my delicious salad behind.”
“Yeah, well, I left a steak. It was soggy from your splish-splash move, but I would’ve eaten it. I’ve lost my damn mind today. If you would’ve told me a day ago I would leave a good steak I paid for behind just to chase some human woman so I could apologize for being an asshole, I would’ve laughed. Come on. I know a spot.”
He removed his arm from her shoulders, and she felt a tinge of disappointment before he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the edge of the street to cross. He held her right behind him while a few cars passed and then led her across the street. Two more blocks down and he took a left toward the food truck park.
