Professor Daddy (Dark Daddies 5)

“Working,” I say.

The two boys come over to me. Howard sneers and Parker’s grinning like they were just talking about me.

I bet they were.

“Makes sense, you need the extra time,” Howard says.

“Why are you here, then?”

He shrugs. “We were bored, thought we’d come in and get some stuff finished.”

“Bored? I guess you really don’t have a life.”

I know I shouldn’t have said it. The words just tumble out of my mouth. Howard glares at me and Parker blinks, surprised.

“Don’t be a bitch, Clara,” Howard says.

“Seriously. This is why nobody likes you.”

I tense up, anger flaring through me. They started this crap, and here they are acting like I’m out of line.

This is the problem with being a woman. You either sit back and take their asshole bullshit, or you fight back and suddenly you’re a bitch. It drives me absolutely insane. It’s just another double standard I’m forced to deal with on a daily basis, and I hate it.

“Just sit down and leave me alone,” I say to them. “You guys are just big babies.”

Howard shakes his head. “Seriously, I don’t even know why you’re here. Everyone knows you suck at this stuff.”

“I don’t suck at anything,” I say.

“Except dick,” Parker adds, and the two guys laugh.

“Great one, idiot. I bet nobody’s ever touched your dick, except for maybe Howard here.”

Howard glares. “I’ve never touched his dick.”

“Yeah, seriously,” Parker adds.

I roll my eyes. “Oh my god, you guys are so insecure, it’s pathetic. Who cares if you’re gay? It’s freaking 2018.”

“I’m not gay,” Parker stutters. “Seriously, I’m not.”

“Shut up, idiot,” Howard says to him, and looks back at me. “You’re just a nasty bitch, you know that?”

“You guys came in here and started this,” I say. “You want me to roll over and take it.”

“Yeah,” Howard says dangerously, taking a step closer, “I really do.”

We stare at each other and nobody speaks. I can feel Howard’s anger, matching mine at least. Parker looks between us, uncomfortable, uncertain. He takes a step back, not sure he wants to be involved in this.

But he doesn’t have anywhere to go. The door opens again, and this time, Jason walks inside.

We all turn toward him, surprised. He looks at the three of us, frowning.

“What are you three doing here?” he asks, suspiciously looking between me and Howard.

“We, uh, came to get work done,” Parker says. “Clara was already here, so, yeah.”

“Clara?” Jason asks.

“I wanted to get ahead,” I say. “They had the same idea, I guess.”

Jason sighs. “You two, get out. Clara, save your stuff.”

Howard and Parker hesitate, but they obey. They quickly leave the room as I start to save the work I got done before they interrupted me.

Once the door shuts, Jason walks over to me. “Are you okay?” he asks.

“I’m fine.”

“I could feel the tension.”

“I’m fine,” I repeat. I finish saving my work, shut down the computer, and stand. “Seriously, they’re just little boys.”

“Little, angry boys,” he corrects. “Are you sure you’re fine?”

“I’m fine,” I say again, a hint of annoyance in my voice. “What are you doing here anyway?”

He sighs and smiles. “I guess we all had the same idea. I come here most nights and get some work done.”

“Really?”

“Really.” He shrugs. “Beats sitting in my apartment alone.”

“How about we get a drink?” The words tumble from my lips before I can think about it.

He hesitates. “Okay,” he says. “I think I’d like that. Beats coding.”

“Come on.” I walk past him, grabbing his hand. He follows behind me, clearly a little bewildered.

I don’t know why I’m taking charge like this, but I’m angry. I’m sick of being treated like some inferior little girl just because I don’t have a dick.

Jason clearly doesn’t think of me that way. He’s the first man I’ve met that seems to actually take me seriously. All of my tasks are more difficult than anything the boys are doing, except for maybe Howard. They know it, too, and it drives them insane.

I hate that they found me here. It’ll only feed their belief that I’m not good enough. They’ll think I need this extra time more than I really do.

Truth is, I just wanted to lose myself in the work for an hour, and maybe feel close to Jason while doing it.

We step out onto the street. Howard and Parker are nowhere to be seen. I guess they ran off, happy to have gotten out of there in one piece.

“Where to?” Jason asks me.

“This way.” I lead him down the block, turn at the intersection, and head away from campus.

“Nice town,” he comments.

I laugh lightly. “Not much around here.”

“No, not really.” He shrugs. “Still nice.”

“I like the northeast. Lots of trees.”

“And lots of pizza places.”

“There’s one on every corner and they all make the same pizza.”

“Right? I’ve noticed that. Not much variation.”

“It’s always good, though. Philly area has the best pizza around.”