Getting Schooled (The Wright Brothers #1)(36)

Mama nodded. “Yes, which means you need to scoot your little booty right on over to your own house please.”

“I can’t stay to see you off on your date?”

“You mean be nosy?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

She shook her head as she checked her appearance in the full-length mirror, adjusting a few hairs, smoothing over her dress. “Then absolutely not. Get yourself some business little girl. Shouldn’t you be… I don’t know, out with Devyn?”

“Devyn is studying, and then she has a certification exam tomorrow.”

“Other friends?”

I frowned. “I’m not feeling super trusting toward anybody except Devyn after that mess with Olivia. I’m still cooling off.”

“Definitely get that.” She turned around, studying me for a few moments. “What about you and Mr. Wright? What’s going on there? Don’t think I haven’t noticed the googly eyes.”

“Googly eyes?! What googly eyes? There were no googly eyes!”

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.” Her mouth spread into a knowing smile. “But you could do much, much worse than a young man like Jason Wright. He’s intelligent, grounded, he’s seen the world, and he’s not a stuffy, stuck up, intellectual type, like what you usually go for even though they do nothing for you.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Okay, first… you don’t think it’s weird to push me to date your boyfriend’s son? Second, I have done worse, remember? Third… what do you mean they do nothing for me? I would think you’d want me to go for a suit and tie kind of man.”

“Why? I’m not into those types, why would I want that for you?”

I shrugged. “Culture, stability—”

“Ennui…,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Trust me – you want a man that lights a fire in you. Your father did that for me. Now, our relationship didn’t work because he couldn’t keep his penis just between us, but one thing I can’t say is that I have any regrets about the time he was mine. I know you, my dear. And I’ve not gotten to see it first hand, but based on what I have seen, I know Mr. Wright stokes your little heart flames.”

I didn’t bother denying it. I just looked away.

“To address your other concerns, there’s no blood relation dear, first of all. And,” she said, stepping over to where I was still kneeling on the bed. She raised a hand to my face, lifting my chin to look me in the eyes. “Of course I remember that you haven’t always made the best choices in partners. But I certainly wish you would forget. It was the past, Reesie. You made a mistake, and you did what you were supposed to do when you realized it. Nothing that happened after that is your fault. Do you remember that?”

I pulled my lip between my teeth, and nodded. “Yes, mama.”

“Good.” She smiled. “I know I’ve spent enough time over the last six years trying to get it through your big head.”

“My head isn’t big!”

She twisted her mouth. “I pushed you out, child. My vagina would beg to differ.”

“Mama ewwww!” I squealed, laughing as she pulled me into a hug.

“I love you Reesie.”

“I love you too.”

“Okay,” she said, swatting my butt. “Now get on, get out of here. I was serious about you not being here when Joseph arrives. Who knows if we’ll actually make it out of the house?”

“Mama!”



- & -



This is crazy.

I thought those words at least a billion times between going back to my house, logging on to my BSU dashboard, and hunting down the contact information all of my mother’s students had given her at the beginning of the semester.

Were the ethics a little questionable? Perhaps.

But if we were thinking it through, I’d already slept with one of my mother’s students, and she was dating his father. Me looking up his cell number had to be lower on the list of violations than any of that.

Once I had it in front of me, I punched it into my phone, and then promptly deposited my phone on the coffee table in front of me.

This is crazy.

There was no way I was about to call this man, unannounced, using a phone number he hadn’t given to me. At least that’s what I told myself, all the way up until the point that the phone was against my ear, and I was listening to the tone as it rang.

Once.

Twice.

A third time.

Okay, so he wasn’t answering.

Should I let it go to voicemail?

Should I leave a message?

Should I hang up now?

Yeah, you should hang up now.

Now!

“Hello?”

I dropped the phone to my lap in surprise, and then hurriedly snatched it back up, pressing it to my ear. “Hello?” I asked, hoping he hadn’t hung before I could right my awkwardness.

“Hello…?”

Dear God, what kind of sorcery was it that he could possibly sound better over the phone? Or… shit, what if it wasn’t him?

“Um, I was calling to speak to Jason.”

Silence, and then a quiet chuckle. “Reese, it’s me. This is Jay.”

“Oh! Okay. How did you know it was me?”