“Perfect, now that we have that handled, can we focus on more important matters?” Emma takes charge of the conversation and stands up, Benny waving to give her the floor. He turns to walk towards the back of the group, but instead of standing by Malcolm like he normally does, he keeps walking. I watch from the corner of my eye until he is out of my peripheral view, then hearing his footsteps slow as he stands beside me.
Every muscle in my back tightens as he leans his hand over onto the back of my chair, hovering slightly above my head. No one says a word, as if it is completely natural for Benny to be in another person’s bubble like this.
Which it isnot.
Benny, the king of boundaries and personal space, always standing as far from the faculty circle as possible. Benny, the man who never partakes in the group hugs and is almost on par with Malcolm and the distance he creates between himself and the group.
But now, the physical distance is nonexistent as he stands right next to me, his pant leg brushing against the armrest of my chair, sending chills down my arms and into my palms. I rub them against my jeans, dissolving the feeling, and try to focus my attention on Emma.
“Alright, the party is tomorrow night. We have our final store run this afternoon, the party is at eight p.m., and youmustdress up.” She points her pen at Malcolm, who rolls his eyes and downs the last of his coffee.
Wiping leftover droplets from his beard he whispers, “We’ll see about that.”
“I’m serious! No costume, no entry!” Emma says pointedly.
“The best you get from me is a bowtie.”
“Better than nothing. Now are there any questions?” she asks the group.
The bell rings as everyone responds no, gathering their things and heading to their respective classrooms. Benny stays standing beside me, I can see out of the corner of my eye he shifts his weight closer to my chair.
Once we are the only two in the breakroom, he rests his hand at the nape of my neck, underneath my pinned up hair. He tugs at a loose piece before resting his thumb against my bare skin.
My eyes feel heavy as his thumb moves back and forth along the hem of my turtleneck. Traces of heat are left behind each pass. A quivering breath escapes me as I turn to look up at him.
His dark eyes are pinned on me. “Hey there,” he whispers.
“Hi,” my voice shakes as I close my eyes, and enjoy his closeness. He sits on the edge of my chair so my head falls against his stomach. His abs tighten as I make contact, his heart bounding across his entire middle.
“Ahem . . .”
We snap our heads to the doorway to see Garrett Connors resting against his crutches, a devilish smirk across his face.
“Mr. Connors, how are you this morning?” Benny says, his hand still resting on my neck and shoulder, unbothered that a student is witnessing him touch me. Like it doesn’t matter to him if anyone sees us together.
The urge to jump out of the chair and put ten feet between Benny and myself takes over as I abruptly stand up. “Garrett, you ready?” I ask, gathering my stuff together and throwing it in my bag. Benny bends down to pick up the sticky note pad I dropped. Without even thinking, I rush past him, disregarding the pad and his gentle touch goodbye and race into the hallway, Garrett hobling on his crutches, closely behind.
“Damn, this ain’t a marathon, slow down,” Garrett calls behind me as I weave in and out of students standing and gabbing in the hall.
“Come on, we’re on a time crunch!” I rush into my office and throw my things down, powering up my computer. I chug my coffee and start rapidly pulling out different applications and forms to go over with Garrett as the adrenaline courses through my veins. Unsure if it’s the excitement I have for the plan I’ve developed for Garrett, or the guilt from running away from Benny fueling it.
Garrett wobbles in, setting his crutches against the wall as he sits across from me. “Dude, you pretty much abandoned a puppy just now.”
Deciding to ignore the hurt that was most definitely etched across Benny’s face when I ran past him, I clasp my hands together under my desk. “That was not my intention,” I respond, feeling a slight tremble in my voice. I clear my throat, gathering my thoughts and turn my focus to Garrett.
“Well you could have at least kissed the guy bye if you—”
“This is not the time.”
“I’m just saying, he really likes you. You can tell—”
“Mr. Connors,” I snap at him, causing his eyes to widen and shoulders deflate, irritation swelling in my chest. “This is not an appropriate conversation.”
“My bad.” His face changes from amused to cautious as he looks away from me to watch the other students walking by, the silence in my little office extremely loud.
“Now, let’s talk about your application. Did you talk to your parents?”
Still not looking at me he says, “I did. They think it’s a good plan.”
