She shrugs and lowers her gaze. “Working late. Had some paperwork to finish up.”
My intestines tie themselves in a knot around my stomach, wondering how long she’s been here and what she saw. “So you’ve been, what? Hiding in the shadows and spying on me?”
Her eyes lift back to mine. “I was just coming out of the gym and saw you locking the gate. You walked right past me on your way down here.”
I can see it in her eyes. She had suspicions after the night we brought Bruce home and she hoped to catch me doing something I shouldn’t be with Addie. If she’d been a few minutes earlier, she’d have me dead to rights.
“Listen, Deanna,” I say as I reach my truck and click the locks. “It’s been a really long day and all I want right now is a hot shower and to crash, so…” I gesture to her car. “You’ll be okay getting home?”
Her eyes narrow. “You’re lucky it was me, Marcus. If anyone else had seen you alone in the pool cage after hours with a female student…” She trails off and leaves me to fill in the blanks.
“It was nothing, Deanna.” I yank the door open and climb into my truck. “See you tomorrow.”
I drop the truck into gear and peal out. A chill fingers up my spine when I think about how close I came to getting caught with my hands all over Addie. I’d be risking enough if she were just some random girl I met. But I’m her coach. I work for her school. If Deanna decides to make a big deal about this, any hope I have of teaching is gone. I’ll be lucky not to land in jail like Caiden.
I can’t take that risk.
But the knot in my stomach isn’t only because of the close call. It’s because my hands shouldn’t have been on Addie in the first place. She’s just a kid. Christ, she’s still a virgin.
After everything that Blaire went through at Addie’s same age, I can’t believe I even touched her. I’m not going to put Addie through that. I have way too much respect for her.
I haul myself out of the truck when I get home and head to the shower, where I brace my hands against the cool tile and let the water run over me. But instead of washing away all my guilt over the memory of Addie’s body against mine, I feel it all over again—the trickle of water droplets, warm at first, then hotter as Addie grinds herself along my erection; the taste of her mouth, sweet and hot, as she devoured mine; her skin, so soft and warm under my hands, the slow spread of wildfire under my skin as her roaming fingers trailed over my body.
I open my eyes and glance down at my growing boner. Who I’m falling for doesn’t seem to be the only thing out of my control. I’ll have to figure out a way to tame that before practice tomorrow.
Because what I know from the way I’m feeling right now is, if Deanna hadn’t shown up in the parking lot, I would have taken Addie home. I would have gone into that empty house with her. I would have kissed her again. And I’m not sure her virginity would have survived.
Chapter 16
Addie
Trying to pretend I never kissed Marcus has taken acting skills I never knew I possessed. I’ve spent all week trying to remember how I acted Before Kiss but it’s hard, because that kiss rocked my world and changed my perspective on everything.
How do you pretend the most intense thing that ever happened to you didn’t?
But Marcus doesn’t seem fazed by it at all, so I’m just following his lead. I know why he can’t acknowledge kissing me—after all, we nearly got caught by the gym teacher from hell—but there’s a big part of me that wonders if he truly wishes it never happened. What if he’s feeling none of what I am?
So, more than anything, I’m mortified to look him in the eye. Thankfully, I have a legitimate excuse not to. I swim at the free end of the pool while Marcus runs practice. I’ve slowly worked my time up this week, and so far, no headaches or symptoms. I help run the scrimmages near the end of practice, but Marcus mostly sits back and watches, so I haven’t been forced to talk to him much.
I get home from my daily two hours of torture—ie. being within eyeshot of Marcus and trying to pretend every cell in my body isn’t screaming for his touch—and find a package on the front porch. It’s from Aunt Becky and postmarked from Phoenix. On top is a note that says she’s working her way north and will be home on Wednesday. That gives me six days to get the house and yard together.
The second I pull apart the packaging and see what she sent, I think of Marcus again. Inside is a bag of Boss Hog’s Chocolate Covered Bacon. I’m guessing that would be a new food for his bucket list. But I think the bucket list is off. I set the box on the table and rub my eyes.
I think everything when it comes to Marcus and me is off.