“You’re going to be up all night drinking that coffee this late.” Abby turns her head to face me and I plant a small kiss on her forehead.
“Good thing neither of us work tomorrow, then.”
She winks and turns back towards the waves. The wind is starting to pick up and I can see the white caps start to form over the water. I keep my grip on her as she leans into me and we just listen to the sound of the waves together.
“Hey, Abby.” Her phone ringing interrupts my sentence as she glances down by her feet to check the caller ID.
“It’s my mom, I’ll call her back.” She settles back into me before trying to pick up where we left off. “What were you saying?”
I run my hand through my hair and try to find the words again to let her know that I want us to be more than what we are, but the smallest sting of fear that she doesn’t feel the same takes over and I keep it to myself. The phone call interrupting me was probably a good thing.
Telling Ford that Mia figured out there was something going on between us was so much easier than I was anticipating. I had myself so worked up over it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it all morning and it was something I wanted to let him know in person, rather than a text or phone call. I haven’t known Mia long, but there’s just this feeling I have that we can trust her not to say anything. Plus Ford must be extremely confident in that since he didn’t bat an eyelash about her knowing.
As we sit out on his patio, Ford has his strong arms wrapped around me, holding me close against his chest, my fingers lightly grazing the outline of one of his tattoos. Sitting here with him brings me so much comfort, like I don’t have to put on any kind of mask or dull down any part of myself when I’m around him. It seemed like he wanted to say something earlier, but after my phone rang, he opted not to. We’ve been enjoying the sound of the waves as I down the rest of my coffee and he’s definitely correct, I won’t be asleep any time soon having this so late in the day.
I turn myself to face him and bring my legs in front of me to sitcriss-cross applesauce, as I call it with my students. His dark hair is so unruly right now and he definitely has some extra scruff on his face that isn’t normally there, but this is one of my favorite looks on him. He looks at me sweetly, and his eyes become a lighter shade of brown, almost gold-like, as his expression softens. The way his sweatpants sit low on his hips is all kinds of distracting right now, especially paired with the black t-shirt that puts the outline of his biceps on display. He catches me checking him out again, and taps my chin with his index finger to nudge my eyes back up to his. I don’t even hide it this time, I just give him a little shrug and a smile as he shakes his head with a grin.
Ford gets up and extends his hand out to me,
“Dance with me.” His smooth voice runs through my body like a warm shot of whiskey. I stare up at him and put my coffee down beside me,
“There isn’t any music.” His arms pull me into him and his chin rests on my head,
“I don’t need music to hold you like this, Abby.” My arms drape around his neck as I’m resting my head on his chest while he holds me close and we move back and forth with only our heartbeats and the waves as the soundtrack.
* * *
The Monday back to school after Thanksgiving break is always chaotic. The kids are officially in Santa mode and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t too. After a busy week with my mom in town and then spending practically all weekend with Ford, I’m definitely feeling sleep deprived today. I gave the students an assignment to look around the room and find objects that start with certain letters, something that I’m hoping will give me some time to get the rest of today’s plan underway.
“D. Desk, door, donuts, dummy,” Karson says as he walks by Harper.
“Karson, we don’t call anyone a dummy. That’s not a kind word. Please apologize.”
He tilts his head and looks over in Harper’s direction. “Sorry,” he says flatly and he continues off on his list.
I let out a big sigh and walk over to Harper's desk as she’s writing out things she sees that start with ‘G.’
“You okay, Harper?” She looks up at me and offers a smile, “Yeah, I’m good.”
I’ve been waiting to tell Harper about the Rec Center downtown until the Art room is completed. I’m sure it’s something she’d love and with them having after school programs, I definitely plan to mention it to her mother next time I speak with her. Harper’s mom tries to be as hands on as possible, but a lot of the time Harper is with a babysitter. She shared that it’s just her and Harper, so she works a lot to make sure Harper doesn’t go without, and honestly, I really admire her for that.
“Green eyes.” She points up at me and begins to draw small ovals on her paper, resembling eyeballs and grabs a green crayon to color them in.
“Very good, just like yours.” We exchange smiles as I head back up to the front of the class to begin the rest of the assignments for the day.
“Ms. Hunt, I’m glad I caught you before you left for the day!” One of the P.E. coaches flags me down as we’re both walking out into the parking lot.
“Hi, Coach Ben.” I continue walking but try to give him my attention.
“You can just call me Ben.” He lets out a quick laugh.
“Just Abby,” I say in reply to him.
Ben is one of the staff members I met the very first day I stepped foot on campus for my in-person interview. He was kind and funny, and he’s attractive in the general sense. He’s the typical blonde hair and blue eyes former athlete who now gets to hang out with kids and do fun sports all day as a P.E. coach. He’s not much taller than me, but his large personality makes up for it.
“A few of the teachers are going out for happy hour on Friday night at Louie's downtown. We’d love for you to join!” He begins naming off the teachers that will be there and random quirks about each one. I’ve zoned out almost completely, but I do catch the end of it.
“So yeah, figured I’d catch you today so it’s not last minute.” I do appreciate the heads up, plus I haven’t really bonded with many of the teachers, only the few that I’m interacting with daily, so this could be a fun way to get to know some of the others outside of the classroom.
