“Flint,” Libby repeats. “Try the muffin.”
“Forgot to plan my lesson,” I stutter as Maisey’s gaze lands on me.
And like a total chickenshit, I hightail it out of the lounge before Libby can force-feed me the muffin in my own hand.
Which she would absolutely do.
But instead of heading to my classroom, I wait just around the corner.
I don’t know if I have a headache or if I’m having an allergic reaction to being attracted to Maisey.
Whatever it is, I have to fix it.
And there’s exactly one way to do that.
More students are arriving as it gets closer to the bell, and while I know Juneshouldbe in the cafeteria,should beandisaren’t always the same.
So when Maisey strolls past, I grab her by the elbow, ignore her startled gasp, and haul her into the janitor’s closet during a moment of empty hallway.
“We need to talk,” I say when I have her alone.
She squeaks again.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Dropping off Junie’s treats.”
“Whyhere?”
“Because we had a ton leftover after stopping at the fire station and the sheriff’s outpost and the senior center, and school is where you take baked goods.”
I need to let her go. I need to block her permanently from my brain, walk away, and replace all images of her in my head with something terrible and awful, like Earl. Every time I think of Maisey, I need to force myself to picture Earl in a bathrobe or Earl in nothing but an apron or Earl licking my dick, and see if that solves anything.
“I don’t date my students’ parents,” I blurt.
“So you assured Junie,” she replies.
“But you keep showing up—”
“I’m not here foryou, andyouwere very kind to drop Junie off on Wednesday, but as we’ve established, that was a parenting fail andnot an attempt to seduce you. Oh my God.”
“There’s a serious appearance of favoritism—”
“There isnot. Junie says you give kids rides home all the time.”
“If I date you.”
“I’m not dating anyone, least of all you.”
“I saw how you were looking at me on Wednesday—”
Her nostrils flare.
Her eyes go dark.
She visibly swallows.
And I am so hard my dick could hammer a hole in my jeans right now.
