Always You(11)

“At school, yes, I’m focused, because I know where I want to be and what I need to do to get there. Not only that, but school doesn’t exactly fill me with feelings of happiness.” I paused, realizing I was teetering on the edge of being too forthcoming. “I get bullied a lot, so I don’t enjoy school. It’s simply a means to an end for me. Nothing about that place fills me with warm fuzzy feelings.”

“You handle it remarkably well,” he offered. He paused, his expression becoming serious. “If it makes you feel any better, I used to get bullied, too.”

“You?” I said, arching my eyebrow. I wanted to roll my eyes. This was as bad as those celebrity specials on TV where they all share their sob stories about being bullied as kids.

“Yes, me.” He laughed. “What, you don’t think a hip, cool guy like me could be teased?”

I blushed again.

Hip? I was thinking more along the lines of hot...sexy...amazing...

“You blush a lot, Wrenn. You should really get that under control. It gives away everything,” he said with a wink. And just like that, he was next in line.

He placed his order,and then turned around. “What are you girls having?”

I relayed our order to the cashier. We stood off to the side together to wait for our drinks.

“You didn’t have to buy our coffees,” I said shyly. “I wouldn’t want to get you into any trouble.”

“It’s coffee, Wrenn, not a joint,” he smiled and I blushed again. God, I did need to work on my blushing. He chuckled, and shook his head as I ordered.

We stood next to one another, waiting. Could he see how nervous he made me? I was a wreck. My hands were shaking, my mouth was dry, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how wonderful he smelled.

The barista placed our coffees on the counter. Dalton smiled at me as he reached for his.

“Have a good day, Wrenn.”

Carrying our drinks over to the booth, Kass stared at me, her eyes narrowed.

“Was that our hot teacher I saw you talking to?” she accused.

“You came up for air long enough to see that, huh?” I grinned, setting down the tray. Trina laughed and reached for her cup.

“Yes. So was it?”

“Yes. He was in front of me, so we chatted.” I shrugged innocently.

“Do you think he’s hot?” she asked with a giggle.

I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, do you! You’re hot for teacher! Go for it Wrenn, slut it up and make him want you.”

“Shut up,” I said, giving her the finger.

She laughed, taking a sip of her latte.

“I’m not going to throw myself at him like the rest of the school population.” I was happy just admiring the view from a distance.





Chapter Seven


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Dalton

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“Mr. Reid, can I get help with this?”

I glanced up. Paige Warner stood in front of me, her hands resting on my desk.

“What’s up, Ms. Warner?”

“This homework assignment—I wondered if you could have a look at it for me and make sure it’s okay?” She leaned over, her blonde hair falling over her shoulder as she tilted her head, eyeing me seductively.

“Paige, this is due today. There’s not much you can do at this point if it’s not correct.”

Her face went red.

I stood up and clapped my hands together. “Okay, guys, take your seats.” My eyes swept over Wrenn in her usual spot in the back row. I gave her a wink, and she smiled.

Grabbing the handful of papers on my desk, most covered in red pen, I began to hand them out.

“Your homework assignments from last week. A few of you did really well. Some of you need to put a little more effort into your studies.” I dropped a C-graded paper on Paige’s desk. “Perhaps if you spent as much time on your homework as you did on shopping, this would be an A.” Sniggers filled the room as she scowled at me. I placed Wrenn’s paper down on her desk: A+.

“Good work,” I said to her with another wink. She blushed, tilting her head as she gazed up at me.

“Yeah, it’s not that hard to get good grades when your aunt pays the teachers’ wages,” muttered Paige. Her comment was greeted with laughter from the other students.

Wrenn stared down at her paper, refusing to bite.

“Enough, Paige,” I snapped. “One more comment like that, and you’ll fail my class. Are we clear?”

Her jaw dropped as she narrowed her eyes at me. She muttered a yes.

“Hand this week’s assignment up to the front, and open your books to page seventy-three,” I snapped, shooting another glance in Wrenn’s direction. Her head was still down.

I glanced around the room. Some students eyed me with awe, impressed by my ability to shut Paige up. Others didn’t look so impressed. Wrenn wore a tiny smile on her lips that made my heart skip.

Made my heart skip? What was I, a twelve-year-old girl?

Never mind the fact that any kind of heart-skipping behavior caused by a student was totally inappropriate. Wherever my heart—or any other parts of my body for that matter—was going with this, it needed to stop.