Bad Teacher

Suddenly, my phone rings, and we almost bump our heads against the table before coming out from underneath it. I stare at the phone lying on the table, my eyes flicking back and forth between it and Hailey.

“Aren’t you going to pick it up?” she asks after a while.

I swallow away the lump in my throat. “Maybe.”

“Why so hesitant?” She narrows her eyes. “It’s him, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know,” I murmur.

“Yeah, it is.” She grins. “Answer it! I wanna hear his voice.”

“No fucking way,” I say. “He’s not going on speaker.”

“Well, you can’t just ignore him.”

“The hell I can’t.”

“Oh, boy.” She makes a curious face. “You two get into a fight?”

“No … I’m just not speaking to him right now.”

“Since when?” She frowns. “Can’t keep a guy hanging for too long. They’ll lose interest if you do.”

“It’s not about that,” I say, still staring at the buzzing phone. “Last night, we …”

“What? Last night …?” she repeats.

“We …” Goddammit, every time I think about it, my entire face lights up.

“Oh shit …” She laughs. “You had sex with him last night? For the first time? So that’s why you left him high and dry! Feeling the regret already?”

“It was a mistake. That’s it,” I say.

“Yeah, right.” She winks. “That’s what they all say.”

“Whatever,” I say.

“So you gonna pick that up or what?”

“No.” I fold my arms.

“If you won’t, then I will.”

“NO!”

I try to stop her. However, she’s snatched it away right before I could snag it off the table.

Chapter 14

Lesley

“Give that back!” I hiss, but she doesn’t listen.

Instead, she presses the button and puts the phone against her ear. “Hey there, this is Hailey, Lesley’s friend.”

“Hailey!” I whisper-yell, hoping he won’t hear.

“Yeah, of course, she’s here,” Hailey says, coyly sneaking glances my way. “She doesn’t really wanna speak to you.”

“Hailey,” I snarl. She’s just throwing coals on the fire for the fun of it.

“You won’t take no for an answer. Got it.” She’s full-on grinning now. “No wonder she likes you so much.”

“Hailey!” I slam my fist on the table.

“All right, here she is,” she says.

“No, no!” I hiss, but it’s already too late.

Hailey pushes the phone into my hand, and I stare at it for a few seconds then look at Hailey and whisper, “Bitch.”

She giggles silently. I bring the phone to my ear.

“Did you just call me a bitch?”

“What?”

“You said bitch,” TJ says. “Which is really funny because I’ve never been called a bitch before. Sounds hilarious.”

“No, of course not,” I reply.

“What? I think it’s amusing.”

“I didn’t … Ugh, no, I didn’t call you a bitch. God.” I roll my eyes. “Whatever.”

“Not going so well, is it?”

“Oh lord, please don’t.”

“I like it when you beg. Could listen to that all damn day.”

I try to stop my face from getting red again, but it’s no use, and Hailey’s laughing at me because of it.

“Shut up,” I say. “What do you want?”

“You.”

God, why does he have to be so direct? It’s like he wants to embarrass me. Maybe that’s his plan. To make me feel the burn as payback for leaving him in my bed. Fucker.

“Sorry, I’m not interested,” I say.

“Don’t lie,” he says. “It doesn’t suit you.”

“Just tell me why you called.”

“I called because you left something in your bed this morning.”

“What?” I can’t remember leaving anything. “What did I miss?”

“Me.”

I roll my eyes and growl, “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. Do you always leave your dates stranded in your home?”

“No.”

“Because you don’t date.”

“Because I don’t bring them home!” I’m almost shouting; that’s how annoying he is.

“Right. You don’t wanna have sex with them.”

“Excuse me; I have lots of sex and with lots of men, not just you.” Now people are looking at me funny, including Hailey. Goddammit.

“I thought I was the man whore.”

“You are.”

“I’m more than that to you.”

“Look,” I say, sighing, “it was great, and I had an amazing time, but it isn’t right.”

“That’s what you think … but it isn’t what you really want.”

“Because you know me so well,” I retort.

“I’d like to. We should talk more, you know?”

“As professionals during work, yes. Nothing else.”

“Why is that? Didn’t you like what I did to you last night? How I made you sweat and call my name?” he muses, making goose bumps scatter on my skin just from the thought of what he could do with that tongue of his.

“If you wanted something else, you could’ve just asked.”

“It isn’t you,” I say.

“It’s me. That’s what you wanna say, right?”

“Yes.”

“No. You’re avoiding me because you got scared that you might want it more than once.”

“No, I don’t,” I reply.

“Keep saying that. The fact remains you snuck away from your own apartment. How is that not completely avoiding the confrontation?”

He’s right, but I don’t wanna admit it. “I wasn’t sneaking. I was meeting a friend.”

“Me!” Hailey yells, butting into our conversation.

“Yeah, I talked with her,” TJ continues, “She says you like me …”