“Are you okay?” Teal asked.

  “That should be what I ask you.” She sniffled.

  “Dad. Is he not…”

  Bethany shook her head. “No, he’s not coming at the moment. He said there is stuff he needs to do and that I need to stop nagging him. Am I nagging him?”

  “Kind of.”

  Her mother sniffled. “Of course. Yes. We used to talk every single day, but now I’m the bully because I want to resolve this.”

  “Mom, you slept with another guy.”

  Bethany growled. “I know that. Don’t you think I know that? Damn it. It’s not like he’s a saint. Especially not now. You think I don’t know he has been through five PAs in the last two years? All of them young and blonde, and just begging him to pay them attention.”

  This was another contention between the two of them.

  “Mom, Dad wouldn’t—”

  She glared at her.

  Teal held her hands up. “I’m sorry. He’s, er, he’s not speaking to me either.”

  “Don’t take it personally, honey. He just wants you to focus on your studies.”

  Of course. That was the excuse they always made. They all just wanted her to focus on her studies. Those were the most important parts. Just her studies. Nothing else.

  “How was school?” Bethany asked.

  “Fine.”

  “Good. Good.”

  It wasn’t fine. Teal hated it. She didn’t mesh well. Making new friends had always been a challenge for her. At least at her old school, she was surrounded by people who seemed to understand her and get her. She was the weird one back in her old school. It didn’t sound like a lot of fun, but it worked for her. Boy, did it work.

  She didn’t want to be sitting with her mother, so she did no more than grab her bag. “I’ve got some homework I need to do.”

  “Okay, honey, you do that. Oh, I’ve got our neighbor coming around for dinner tonight.”

  Teal stopped at the stairs. “Dinner?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Mom, you don’t cook.”

  “I know that, which is why I’ve ordered takeout.”

  “Can you even invite someone over for dinner if you’re not cooking?”

  Her mother snorted. “Enough with all the questions, Teal. I’m going to serve him food that he doesn’t have to pay for. Trust me, that is enough.”

  “Why?” Teal asked.

  “I’m being polite. Your father isn’t coming home just yet, but I don’t want to put this house on the market. Something is telling me to stay right here. You’ve got your studies to do, which is far more important. Your father may not see what is important, but I do.”

  Oh, no.

  Her mother was going to make it a parental contest.

  “Do you think that is going to make Dad come home?”

  “I don’t care about what he does. He needs to learn to forgive, but our daughter is what matters now. I know you’ve had a few trying times, but don’t worry, I’m going to make sure you get through this final year of high school. Your grades will improve and you’ll test well.”

  This wasn’t good. Her mother was up to something.

  “Go on. Go and do your homework. I want to see it after you’re done, so I can find out where you’re failing.” She wasn’t failing any classes.

  Teal made her way upstairs, and as she did, she felt her cell phone beep.

  Her dad’s name flashed across the screen with a brand-new text. Before her phone’s screen went dark, she saw that he’d asked how school was.

  He hadn’t even bothered to text on Monday, or any other day. That could only mean her mother had used a new tactic when it came to earning back her husband.

  She was using Teal, and Teal was pissed. She hated this.

  Ignoring her father’s text, she threw her cell phone onto her bed and then quickly stripped out of her clothes.

  Jaxson was coming for dinner.

  How did one dress for a casual dinner?

  Teal looked at her clothes. There were a couple of formal dresses her parents made her own, but wearing them felt so out of place. This wasn’t a formal dinner.

  Nibbling on her lip, she glared at her closet, not finding anything suitable other than a summer dress. It had thick straps and flowed all the way to her ankle.

  It was still warm outside. She preferred fall and winter. Summer and spring were okay, but fall and winter were her favorite seasons. She changed into the dress and then moved toward her mirror.

  Staring at her reflection, she pulled her hair from the tight band that she’d pulled back with. She let it fall free and ran her fingers through the length a few times. This was stupid. Why was she even trying to do this? He was her teacher.

  Yes, she had him for math, and he was a good teacher. Half of the population adored him. The other half kind of wanted to be him. It was such a cliché and so lame. Jaxson was a great teacher, though. Out of all of her classes, his was the one she most enjoyed.

  Now, he was coming for dinner. Why? Was her mother going to attempt to make her father jealous? Just thinking about it was enough to make her cringe.

  All summer, her mother hadn’t entertained Jaxson. She hadn’t had any time for her neighbor, constantly on the phone, talking to Dad.

  Teal grabbed her bag, moved to her desk, and started on her homework. Her mother would soon lose interest.

  Her homework was never the problem. Working her way through the math questions, she cross-referenced with the textbook anything she didn’t know. Most of her assignments had already been set, and she’d been working her way through them as well. Schoolwork wasn’t hard for her.

  “Teal! Dinner is nearly here. Let me see your homework.”

  She looked toward the time to see she’d been in her bedroom for nearly two hours.

  Sitting up, she groaned as she stretched out her back and neck. Perched over her desk in the same position for a length of time was not what she had planned.

  Just as she made it to her bedroom door, the main doorbell rang.

  She cringed. Jaxson had arrived.

  Crap.

  Teal walked downstairs just as her mother opened the door.

  “Mr. Rebel, so lovely to see you,” Bethany said.

  “Thank you for the invite, Mrs. Larson.”

  “Bethany, please.”

  “And I insist you call me Jaxson.”

  Teal watched him, and his gaze lifted.

  “Ah, Jaxson, you remember my daughter, Teal.”

  “Yes, I do. I teach her.”

  “Yes, of course, that’s right. You are a teacher. Tell me, Jaxson, have you ever considered tutoring?”

  “Mom!”

  Bethany held up her hand. “You see, my daughter is going through a trying time. What with her father having decided to abandon us for his own personal pursuits, while I try to help my little girl. Teal, the books.”

  She wanted to roll her eyes and came close to doing so. Instead, she handed her mother the math book, and at the same time, she wanted to choke her. She didn’t.

  “I know there is so much potential there.”

  “Mom, I’m sure Jaxson has other things to do, and besides, shouldn’t you be ordering the takeout?”

  “Takeout?” Jaxson asked.

  The doorbell rang again.

  “Oh, Teal, take him to the dining room. I’ll handle that.”

  This time, Teal did roll her eyes.

  “Takeout?” Jaxson asked again.

  “My mom can’t cook. I don’t know why she said she would cook you dinner or invite you, but you’re getting takeout. Possibly Italian. It’s her favorite. She always said that Italian was a little easier to pass off as her own.” She shrugged.

  Jaxson laughed.

  “I’m sorry about my mom,” she said.

  “It’s no problem. Are you struggling with school?”

  Teal didn’t know what to tell him. According to the paperwork, yes. To Teal, she didn’t believe she was having a problem. Her homework was fine. More than fine. She got the grades she needed, always had straight As in her classes. Testing this one time had failed her, and she felt like a fish out of water. Nothing made sense to her.

  Teal had to wonder if her mom would even look at her math homework or any of her homework.

  ****

  Teal never got a chance to answer as her mother returned, complete with made-up plates of pasta.

  Bethany left them alone again, but not for too long as she returned carrying her meal as well as a large plate of garlic bread.

  “I hope you love Italian.”

  “I do.” He also knew the restaurant she’d used to attempt to pass this off as her own. It was one he frequented many times since he arrived. Italian food was his favorite.

  Teal, however, looked so uncomfortable.

  “So, before that brief interruption, have you had time to think of my proposal?” Bethany asked.

  Jaxson looked toward Teal, who appeared to be praying for what he could only imagine was for the ground to open up to swallow her.

  “Bethany, you haven’t actually told me what you would want from me.”

  “Oh, right, of course. Teal is struggling through high school.”

  “Mom!”

  She held her hand up as if to silence her daughter. “And I was hoping that you would be able to help tutor her. I’ve read your credentials. You’re extremely qualified for the job. Would you please consider helping tutor my daughter?”

  “Mom, I don’t need tutoring.”

  Bethany opened her mouth but stopped as her cell phone went off. “I must take this. Please excuse me.”

  Jaxson was left alone with Teal once again.

  “I’m sorry about my mother. She is a little, you know, full on.”

  “She’s fine,” he said.

  She shrugged and opened her mouth only to stop when they heard her mother snapping on the other end.

  “And so it begins. Like always. The shouting. That’s all they ever do to each other. Yell.” She stabbed at her pasta, twirling her fork into the long strands.

  “It’ll be okay.”

  “I know it will, but now they’re using me to get the upper hand. It started with Mom, and she’s only asking you to show that she’s caring more for me than what my dad does.” She sighed. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it. If you do need some tutoring, then my door is open.”

  Teal smiled at him. She stared down at her plate and frowned. “Do you ever wonder what went wrong and why?”

  He was a little confused.

  She looked up and smiled. “I’m sorry. It’s just that between my mom’s affair, and moving, everything seems to have gone wrong. I never used to test badly. I was a great student, or used to be.”

  “I understand. Going through your parents’ separation can be tough. It can affect you in ways that you’re not prepared for.”

  Teal laughed. “That’s not it, at all. Trust me. The only difference right now is that you’re not hearing the other side of the conversation. My parents are rivals. Or they used to be. They worked at rival companies. Same positions and everything. Trust me, I’m used to them being at each other’s throats all the time.”

  “Your dad’s not around, Teal. He usually is. That could have an impact.”

  She sighed. “I guess you’re right.” She put her fork down.

  “Damn it, David, you are not a better parent than me. While I’m trying to figure out what went wrong with Teal, you’re too busy licking your damn wounds with your PA. Who is now, Natasha, Becky, well…”

  Jaxson watched Teal as she listened. She was an interesting person.

  In his class, she sat in the back of the room, and each time he called on her, she had the answer. She never put her hand up. Always looked at the board, took her notes. She did everything right. There was a sadness in her eyes, and for the first time in his life, he had a need to make it go away. To see her smile.

  “So, do you think Leanne and Stew are going to make it work?” Jaxson asked, reciting the gossip he’d heard from his students.

  Teal looked at him and frowned. “Are you listening to school rumors, teach?”

  “It was hard not to overhear. Don’t you think they whisper loudly?”

  She burst out laughing, and that smile, damn, it shook him to his core. “Yeah, they do. From their whispering, I have since learned that apparently Leanne is a real hussy. She has slept with the entire basketball team, not to mention a couple of the guys from the wrong side of the tracks. As for Stew, he has screwed all of her friends as well as her enemies.”

  “Wow,” Jaxson whispered. “And when I was in high school it was all about getting to prom.”

  Teal chuckled. “There is still that as well. Prom is the most important social event of the year.”

  “I’ve already been asked to chaperone.”

  “Are you going to do it?”

  “Hell no. I remember prom. It was a long time ago, but trying to deal with these kids, not happening. Will you be going to prom?”

  “Hell no.”

  “You don’t want to go to a dance, dress up, have some fun?”

  “Not a chance. I’m not going to be the dateless girl on the sidelines. I don’t know anyone well enough to even accept a dance from them. Trust me, it will be no problem not going.”

  “You only get one prom.”

  “And this one, I will miss.” She shrugged. “Were you the guy who spiked the punch?”

  Jaxson snorted. “I was the prom king.”

  “Oh, my, you were?”

  “Yep. My girlfriend, head cheerleader, was prom queen.”

  “And you became a math teacher?”

  “Don’t judge. I had brains and brawn. I was the whole package.”

  Teal giggled. “Yeah, you are.”

  Jaxson watched her.

  Her cheeks deepened in color. “Er, forget about what I just said.”

  He didn’t want to. How crazy was this?

  She played with her food.

  Her mother’s voice seemed to have faded in the background.

  “You’re a very beautiful woman, Teal,” he said.

  She looked up at him. The blush had traveled down her neck and spread a little over her chest. He wanted so badly to run his tongue down, to see how far he could make her blush.

  “Your father is an idiot!”

  Teal jumped as her mother slammed her cell phone down on the table. “Now my food is cold. Perfect. He’s ruining everything.” Her mother pushed her food aside.

  “Mom,” Teal said, nudging her head toward Jaxson.

  “Oh, my. I’m so very rude. I do apologize. As you can see, my husband doesn’t seem to care when it comes to our daughter’s education. What do you think about private lessons?” Bethany asked.

  Jaxson looked over a blushing Teal. He had no idea what had just happened, but he didn’t want to reject her. Whatever was going on with her, he wished to help resolve it.

  “Yes, I would be more than happy to tutor her.”

  “Excellent, then that is settled.” Her mother clapped her hands together. “See, something is going right.”

  Teal kept stealing glances his way.

  Bethany’s cell phone went off again, and again. She eventually put it to silent.

  Jaxson wanted to make his excuses to leave, but it wasn’t particularly polite to do so. He couldn’t help but look at Teal, and she wouldn’t quite meet his eyes.

  He had no idea what was happening.

  When Bethany pulled out the bottle of wine, Jaxson knew it was the right time to make his escape.

  Tomorrow may be Saturday, but he wasn’t interested in listening to the rants he knew were coming.

  Bethany made Teal see him to the door as she started to pour.

  “You know, you don’t have to tutor me if you don’t want.”

  “You said so yourself, something has gone wrong, and you don’t want to have to repeat this final year or drop out. We’ll figure out what went wrong together,” Jaxson said.

  “I’m sorry for the way she behaved.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Tomorrow, ten o’clock, I’ll be waiting for you.”

  Teal nodded. “Ten o’clock.”

  He stepped out of her house, and the moment he did, he had this overwhelming feeling to pull her in for a hug and never let her go.

  What the fuck was that?

  The front door closed and he looked back, unable to stop himself from putting his hand on the main door.

  He had to get a grip on himself. Teal was a student. Twenty-two years his junior. Untouchable. She was out of bounds. Off-limits.

  He moved to his own front door, letting himself inside, and leaned back against the door.

  Jaxson knew of teachers who gave in to the pressures of their students. Who fucked them for fun. That wasn’t him. It had never been him. He never screwed around with kids. With teenagers. He’d vowed to never do it.

  Teal was so very different. She wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever met. This need inside him had never existed, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was all because of her.

  Chapter Three

  Saturdays were usually her days to avoid her mother. Teal would find any reason to be out of the house, away from the constant calls. This time, her mother had left the house early. The note that had been waiting for her on the table had stated she needed to clear her head and would be back later. Like all her other letters, it wasn’t signed Mom, but Bethany.

  At the end, she had added a little note to enjoy her tutoring. So, this Saturday, she stood on her neighbor’s doorstep, bag on her shoulder, hand poised to knock.

  She didn’t want to go in there. Not after last night, and she didn’t even mean the meal. No, this was about the dreams she had after the meal. Naked, sexy dreams of her neighbor. Inappropriate dreams of her neighbor that she shouldn’t be having.

  Before she could stop herself, she knocked on his door.

  It was early. Nine fifty-five to be exact. Did she appear too eager? Being late seemed rude as he offered to take up time on a Saturday to tutor her.

  Jaxson opened the door. He was dressed in a pair of jeans that should have been so inappropriate, but he made them work. Of course, he did. The man knew how to fill out a pair of jeans.

 

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