Chapter 31

As my metal spoon ka-tank-a-tanked around a yellow porcelain cereal bowl, I released a lengthy breath of air. It was Monday. Bleh. And, duh, of course, Mrs. Cameron hadn’t called. While I shouldn’t have expected it, I had hoped. All day Sunday, I’d found any excuse to peek at my phone while not waiting for her call. At Shayna’s nudge into my thigh, I glanced at her. Despite the lack of golden flecks, those beautiful emerald pools peered up at me.

With her eyes twinkling, she dragged her tongue along my trousers.

“Yeh, I said it. You’re beautiful,” I murmured.

Her eyes blazed.

Well, at least I’d see Jeri. At last. My heart raced. Her silken body, so alive, gliding beneath my fingertips. The way light glinted across her dark form. Highlighted, the lighter orange and shining auburn skin rippling with each twist of her lean arms or roll of her toned shoulders.

At the sudden louder rattle of my spoon against the ceramic, dad looked at me. My daydream ended. Under his furled brow, narrowing eyes locked onto my wrist. Yeh, it was trembling again.

“Gonna get you in with Doc Andersson today,” he said, while gesturing at my arm with his fork. “Right after school,”

“But I’ve got tutoring with Ms. Richardson.”

“Not anymore.” As he shook his head, his face became drawn. “Your health’s more important, Kyle.”

My health! I’d been disintegrating forever. Every single minute of every single day. And the one woman who’d helped me the most was waiting for me. After being apart for a month. A whole darned month!

Despite my jaw pulsing and heat flaring up my neck, my dad said nothing more. And of course, I remained silent, because ... Because how would I explain Jeri? Ever?

After a long sigh, I shoveled the last of the soggy cereal into my maw while staring at the damp deck and glittering grass. At least the rain had stopped. And I’d get to see Jeri in the morning, if only for twenty minutes. Another loud exhale brought my dad’s narrowed eyes back to me.

“I know, son.” He nodded as if he had a clue what was actually floating around in my brain. “But we’ll find you help. Dr. Andersson’s one of the best and he’s willing to cram you into his busy schedule. Don’t worry.”

Even as I returned his nod, my guts twisted. To be honest, I didn’t care about my health. It was going to do what it’d been doing for years—fail me. No. I was focused on the near future. No matter how short it might’ve been. Then again, nobody’d expected me to live that long, so...?

Just then, my mother appeared. Her eyes were twin dull blue pools surrounded by red and black-rimmed. Awkward and twisted, her hair was uncombed. While supporting her rounded belly, she waddled past us. After only swapping glances—knowing glances—with dad the silence grew heavier.

While I wasn’t in on that knowing, I possessed crates full of suspicions. It wouldn’t be long now. Yippee. I’d have “siblings.” At the way she’d spoken that word, my brains shifted to Mrs. Cameron. Maybe she’d call later?

Once my mother had eased, groaning, to a chair with a mug in her shaky hand, she spared me a glance. While crinkling, her tired blue eyes managed a faint gleam. Okay, fine. Not Jeri alone. Two women had helped me the most. Yeh, both had done the most. As I chuckled at my shitty math, my mother’s trembling nails slipped onto my arm.

“You’ll be alright, mom.”

At my soft words, her eyes widened; she’d been worried about me. Parents, they talk. When I glanced at the globular stomach beneath her slate-gray tent-like dress, she sighed.

Despite being “New Kyle” living in his “New Normal,” it seemed for a long minute it was still the same old, same old. As they always had, my parents continued to fret over me. And me...? After scanning dad, I swallowed. As he looked at my mother, his hands quivered. In turn, I was worried about them.

Since my brain went on whirling over that box of suspicions, I didn’t remember the school bus ride. At all.

Once I’d been lowered to the concrete before the main building, at a peal of thunder, I glanced towards the darkening sky. So much for the storms ending. With the first heavy drops of the next squall line spattering behind me, I motored from the puddle-covered pavement into the noisy main hall. Crowded with students, the long echo chamber carried their laughing, yelling voices. And another high-pitched whining noise.

At Shayna’s tilting head, I glanced into the dimness while weaving towards my class. In gray overalls, a pair of men on a battered light blue metal ladder worked on an air handler unit. Beyond them, wire and hoses weaved along the side of the hall while other workers shifted equipment and packing material. The door to Ms. Richardson’s room was open.

Even as I thumped over the threshold with my hand raising to wave, my heart tumbled into my stomach. The morning greeting I’d begun became a muffled curse. In a flash, Monday and my entire world succeeded in sucking even more. Several guys in overalls moved around, laying out silvery flex-tubing. Another, hammering on the old air-conditioning unit, was balanced atop a faded green ladder.

Jeri looked so tiny. With her dark, wavy tresses gathered in a high ponytail that swept her bare, gleaming shoulders, she sat behind her desk. Thin lace straps held up a flowery lace-trimmed deep purple top that hugged the wondrous swell of her chest. A glance at the dangling hem of her short, satin black miniskirt sent my blood surging.

When I halted just inside the doorway, the sadness in her eyes brought a lump to my throat. My spot or her desk? Though I hesitated, Shayna slid forward. After hopping over a fat brown cardboard packing tube, she slipped past a worker to sit by Jeri’s chair. At least that got Jeri’s face brightening. She managed a smile at me as her shiny red nails dropped to rake through Shayna’s thick neck fur.

Yeh, well, the dog could get away with that, but not me. As Shayna pressed her muzzle along the top of Jeri’s bare, muscular thigh, a spark of jealousy raced through me. Unfair.

Oh, and I wasn’t the only jealous one there. A pair of workers shot hungry sidelong glances her way before whispering to each other. Yet Jeri gazed only at me, her pursing red lips glinting under the stark overhead lights. After a much louder exhale than I’d intended, I headed for my place to await the bell.

Once class began, the closest contact we managed was while Jeri moved around, checking our work. After halting beside the chariot, she leaned down to scan my paper. The flowery, elegant scent of her perfume sent tingles through my—everything.

With a soft sigh, Jeri pressed into my forearm, and I pushed back, dragging my skin along the sleek skirt. Though her lips pulled apart and her hungering eyes gleamed, she could only rub against me a few times before moving.

Yeh, that entire day sucked.

Bonus suckage. Suckicity? Whatever. The doctor’s appointment was anti-climactic. Need more tests. Go here. Go there. Wait for the results.

Somehow, Tuesday managed to be even worse. In a tiny fuchsia minidress—she’d clearly been hopeful as well—Jeri could only watch as the workers yanked the old unit before dragging a new one, screeching, into the room on wooden skids. Couldn’t they do this after-hours?

Nope. According to the word in the halls. Union rules. Oh, and budget restrictions. So, nope. Another day ... Well, half the day sucked. No, now that I look back, the entire day sucked, but for two entirely different reasons.

Why did the first half continue to suck?

To begin with, as Jeri moved around the class in the morning, I glanced behind her. Everyone was leaning into their schoolwork. Actually, their phones, but that was fine.

When she stopped next to me, I swallowed. With my heartbeat thundering, I eased my fingertips up the warm silken skin at the back of her thigh. When I found the firm swell of a buttock, Jeri vibrated in my palm. It was only a millisecond, but the thrust of her taut lace and the blaze in her dark eyes tried to convince me it was worth it.

However, the throbbing ache in my pants begged to differ. So not as pleasant as I’d hoped, hence the sucky morning.

After a gentle squeeze, I slipped my hand free. A stuttering sigh escaped me as Jeri’s perfect dusky frame went to the next student. Whew. I’d gotten away with...

Nope. Yeh, this was about to be the suckier part of the morning.

In a tiny, body-hugging black and red striped dress, Haley glared at me from beneath her crumpled brow. Busted! While I braced for the worst, she said nothing. As I turned from her, my heart went on hammering.

It was hammering for two reasons. First, the obvious, getting caught with my hand under my teacher’s skirt. Duh. The other was I’d yet to respond to Haley’s texts. Nor, despite several attempts on her part to catch me, had I spoken to her. She’d been like a hawk, stalking me since Monday. Heck, I wasn’t even able to be with Jeri, let alone figure out Haley.

No juice. Well, maybe after Mrs. Cameron, I possessed enough juice, but it wanted to be in, or on, Jeri. At my chortle, I caught Haley’s sidelong glance.

Shayna looked up at me before glancing at Haley. Her eyes glimmered when she returned to me. Oh, no. No, she wouldn’t? After rising to her paws, Shayna arched her back and yawned before rolling her head to look at me. As she took the first step, her gaze—deepened, daring me to tell her to stay. From across the room, Jeri tracked Shayna gliding before me, heading for Haley.

My saving grace was Haley’s long legs were crossed. Nonetheless, the deep sigh that fluttered from her shiny red lips when Shayna sat sideways, mashing her fluffy coat against a bare thigh, caused my shaft to swell.

When Jeri caught my glance at Haley, her eyes glistened. With a gulp, I leaned to my work and ignored Shayna. Or tried to. Each forceful slow press against my raven-haired classmate, pulled whimpers from her just loud enough for me to hear.

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