See Me After Class(82)

“Me neither.” He stuffs his hands in his pockets. “I appreciate you wanting to listen.”

“I know this may be weird, but do you want to maybe exchange phone numbers, that way we can continue to help each other if need be?”

“Glad you asked.” He pulls his phone out. “I could use the friend.”

“Me too. My friends are teachers or Arlo’s sister. Can’t quite communicate about this with them.”

“Not so much.” He hands me his phone and I plug in my info. He then sends me a text and I save his contact information. “Jason is probably going to cry when he finds out we’re just going to be friends.”

“That’s the second time someone mentioned Jason crying. Is he overly emotional?”

“You could say that.” Walker shifts. “Would it be weird to send him a picture of us together? Maybe to ease his mind, and then I can break the news to him later?”

“As long as you don’t tell him what we talked about.”

“That shit’s between us,” Walker says in a serious tone. “You don’t have to worry about me mentioning that to anyone.”

“Thank you.” I snuggle against him and say, “Let’s take that picture.”

Holding out his phone, he turns it to selfie mode and we take a quick picture that Walker sends to Jason. His response is immediate.

Emoji heart eyes.

“He’s going to be crushed,” I say.

“Yup.” He gives me a quick hug, and then we’re on our way.

Even though it wasn’t a love connection, I still feel lighter, happier, than when I first arrived. In fact, the time with Walker has given me hope. There are good guys out there, who, like Walker, are essentially reserved. Arlo’s reserve is a deliberate choice. A controlling choice. I take a deep breath, knowing I’m going to be okay.





Chapter Nineteen





ARLO





“Good morning,” Gunner says, strolling into my classroom. “How was your weekend?”

Painful.

Miserable.

A goddamn agonizing two days.

“Fine,” I answer, opening my laptop and firing it up for the day.

“Just fine?”

“Yeah, just fine. What do you want me to do? Perform a dance number associated with my weekend?”

“I mean, I wouldn’t mind it.” Gunner laughs. “I took Dylan and Lindsay to the Bobbies game this Sunday. Dylan was living his best life in the box seats and went home with a massively sick belly from how much he ate, but he had one hell of a time. Pretty sure he’s going to be a Bobbie for life. Jason will try to convert him over to a Rebel, though. No doubt about it.”

“Glad you had a good time,” I say curtly.

“Dude, you okay? You look really tense.”

“Yeah, fine.”

“Morning,” Romeo says, walking into my classroom as well. He sets a pastry box on my desk and says, “Stopped by Frankie Donuts this morning. Made the extra trip because they started this new donut-of-the-week promotion and I couldn’t resist this week’s.” He flips the bakery lid open, revealing the best donuts in Chicago. The smell alone makes my mouth water. “Pi?a colada. Coconut and pineapple frosting, yeast donut, with a cherry and coconut flakes to top it off. How I waited to eat one until now is beyond me.” He reaches in, grabs a donut, and takes a massive bite. After a few moans and groans, he says, “Fuck, this is good.”

Gunner picks one up and says, “This isn’t on the pyramid of health we’re talking about today, but to hell with it, I’m an adult.” He takes a large bite as well and moans, then they both stare down at me, waiting for me to indulge.

Hell, might as well, given my current state of high-level irritation.

I pick up a donut and take a bite.

Yup, that’s good.

That’s really fucking good.

“I’m contemplating between putting the rest in the teachers’ lounge or keeping them for myself,” Romeo says. “After I deliver one to Stella, of course. She’d murder me if I didn’t give her first dibs.”

“Don’t forget Greer,” Gunner says.

“Oh, shit, I almost forgot. Guess what Jason sent me last night?” Romeo takes his phone out of his pocket and scrolls through it for a few seconds before turning the screen toward us.

On the screen is a picture of Walker and Greer, snuggled in close, smiling at the camera.

What the fuck . . .

“Looks like they had a great time and hit it off well. Jason tried to pry for details, but didn’t get anything from Walker, just the picture. I told him I’d ask during lunch today.”

“He must be squealing with excitement,” Gunner says.

“He told me he was full of emotions last night and couldn’t quite work through them.”

“He’s such an idiot.” Gunner chuckles and they go on about Jason, but I tune them out, because all I can think about it how comfortable Greer looked in the picture.

Are they going out on another date?

Did he kiss her goodnight?

Fuck . . .

If he kissed her, I’m going to fucking lose my goddamn mind.

I haven’t even tasted those lips.