Teacher's Pet

"You should go back to sleep," he said, resting one of his hands on my back. Did I sleep better with him, or was everything better with him because I loved being with him so much? If he stays, this doesn’t have to end, I thought. If he stayed, he wouldn't be able to pursue his music career.

I breathed him in deeply because my reality wouldn't be better than my fantasies for much longer. In a perfect world where we weren't who we were, he could have stayed. I couldn't be the reason Nate Stone didn't get a chance at the music career that he deserved. I couldn't do that to him. I wouldn’t.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Nate

"Are you doing anything tonight?" Abby asked me. She was dressed for work, and I was still in bed. Watching her get ready for work every day was something I would miss the shit out when I had to leave. If I was leaving. I was trying not to think that much about it, but had sort of resigned myself to what was happening. It was stupid to pretend that I didn't have to make a decision. Just because I had to leave didn't mean we couldn't make it work somehow.

"No. Are you busy tonight?" I asked. We were together more than we were apart at this point. Since Makani and Keno were spending more time together now, I had Abby almost all to myself. It was a little odd that she was asking whether I was busy. As far as I knew, we were spending the night together.

"I am, actually. So are you," she said, sitting next to me on the bed. "We only have one week left." I closed my eyes.

"Don't remind me."

"I want to do something for you tonight. Something special."

"Movies and room service is already perfect. What do you want to do?"

"It's a surprise. I'm picking you up at seven o'clock sharp."

"Where are we going?"

"You still can't deal with surprises, can you?" she said smiling. "All you need to do is be ready for me to pick you up at seven. Oh. And get yourself a suit."

"Now you gotta tell me," I insisted. She smirked and kissed me before walking away.

"Seven sharp. Don't be late," she said before walking out.

I laughed a little as I went back to my suite. This is basically what I had done to her, and she had hated every second of it until the point that we were actually on our date.

I needed to get a suit, so I figured that was what we were doing, going on a date. A sit-down dinner some place. That was cool. It didn't make that much of a difference to me, as long as we were together. I'd eat leftover white rice and pineapple slices with her on her porch as long as we were doing it together.

Fuck. Getting on that plane was going to kill me.

Sure, I got to remember everything that we had while we had it, but fuck that. I didn't want a goddamn memory because that meant we'd still be apart.

I took a shower and got changed before sitting at the piano. I had gotten the call about the contract on Monday. It was Friday today. Wes Barry had hit me up again for an update, but I had managed to get him to give me a little more time, like a week, before I told him anything. I fed him some bullshit about tying up loose ends with Remus, and he bought it or pretended to buy it.

All I wanted was more time. This decision was more than just making music in LA again. It was also breaking up with this girl who I didn't even know I wanted or needed.

I was getting up to grab something to write on when I heard a knock on my door. I went to get it and found Keno was standing there in a shirt and khakis, not his uniform.

"Keno?"

"You look like you were expecting someone else," he said.

"No, I'm just surprised. Don't you have work?"

"You need a suit today," he said.

"How do you know that?" I asked. He smirked and shook his head.

"You're getting nothing out of me, brother. Come on, let's go."

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I didn't like this. I knew I didn't have to worry about it or anything, but Abby had accomplices now; what the fuck was going on? I bet if I asked Makani what was happening, she'd stonewall me, too. We ended up in his car, taking a short trip to a suit store in the city.