She cracks a smile. "She didn't love you for being a bully."
"Then how'd it happen?"
"She found out you're actually a good person, with a good heart. That's why she fell for you. Now let me past."
I don't move as I stare at her beautiful face, those eyes that seem to see straight through my soul, that mouth that forms a smile that melts my heart.
"Okay, fine." She goes to step over my legs just as I pull them back. She trips and her ass lands on my desk.
I hold her steady, my hands splayed over her hips. "I think we've done this before."
She looks back at me and smiles. "It does seem familiar."
I reach up to kiss her. "Go sit down. They're starting."
She goes to the desk next to mine as the teacher begins his introduction at the front of the room. We're at Jake's school for tech night, an event where all the smart kids like Jake present the projects they've been working on. Jake's is a video game. He loves writing code and using it to make games. He has talent for coding the way I have talent for football. I don't know where the hell he got his brains from. He's smarter than my parents and me combined. I'm so damn proud of him.
"Jake is up next!" Brook whispers to me. It's about time. We've had to sit through three other presentations that about put me to sleep.
"I'm Jake Sanders and I'm here to show you the video game I made." He sounds nervous. His voice is breathy and his shoulders are tight, practically lifted to his ears. They slowly drop when he spots Brook and me at the back of the room.
I look over at Brook. She's at the edge of her seat, mouthing 'you can do it' to Jake, a huge smile spread across her face.
"It's a sports game," Jake says, sounding more relaxed. "I made it because of my brother. He's a football player. He plays defense."
Jake projects an image of his game on the screen behind him. I had no idea what his game was about. He wouldn't tell me. He wanted it to be a surprise.
"I suck at football," Jake says. "So I made this game for people like me. With this game, I can play football with my brother." He smiles at me, all proud of himself.
That little shit's going to make me cry. Dammit!
"He did this for you!" Brook whispers, reaching over to grip my arm. "That is so sweet!"
"I had to code for all the variables," Jake says, pointing to an image of the code. It makes absolutely no sense to me. He's tried to explain code to me but I still don't get it.
He continues to talk about the game, and when he's done, people clap harder and longer than they did for the other three kids. Jake goes to sit down, then looks back at me. I give him a big smile and a thumbs up. Brook jumps to her feet, mouthing the words 'great job'.
She sits down and we wait for the presentations to finish. When they're done, Jake runs back to me.
"Did I do okay?"
"You did awesome." I bring him in for a quick guy hug, shoulders only, so I don't embarrass him, although I doubt he's worried about that. It's kind of a geeky crowd. Jake's the coolest kid here.
"That was so good!" Brook says, giving him a real hug. "That game is amazing!"
"Did you like it, Dean?" Jake asks.
"I loved it! When do I get to try it?"
"You can try it when we get home. I still have to fix some stuff but it works good enough for now." He glances back at the front of the room where the other kids are gathered. "We're supposed to meet with the teacher before we go."
"Go ahead," I tell him.
"You have to leave," he says. "We're meeting in here. You can wait in the hall or go outside."'
"Let's go outside," Brook says, wrapping her arm around mine.
"We'll see you out there," I tell Jake.
