“Hey, Kaylee,” Dick says as he steps forward and gives me a hug. “I’m really sorry to barge in like this, but there’s some line that got cut in Bothell and it needs attention right now. Could you watch Skyler for a few hours?”
“Of course,” I say as I reach out and ruffle his hair. “I’ve got to go do some grocery shopping but we’ll go out for some ice cream or something after, okay?”
“But only if it’s bubblegum ice cream,” Skyler says solemnly. He stares at me intently through his glasses.
I glance up at Dick, looking for permission.
“We’ve been trying to cut back on the sugar, but just for tonight, I guess it’s okay,” Dick says with a shake of his head and a smile.
“Oh, Mr. Campbell,” Armando says as he appears behind me. “Always a pleasure.”
“And you as well, Armando,” Dick says with a smile as he shakes his hand. “Thanks again, Kaylee. I’ll text you when we’re done and when I can pick him up. You’re a lifesaver.”
“Anytime,” I say as Dick darts down the hall.
This happens every so often. Dick works for a utility company as one of their lead guys. Stuff goes wrong. Mom isn’t around all that often when it’s not a weekend, which is when she’s supposed to have Skyler, so Dick calls me. Or shows up at my door.
“I expect that picture before ten o’clock,” Armando says as he presses a kiss to the top of my head and heads out the door. Just then, his phone rings. It must be his boss, because suddenly his expression is serious and he disappears around the corner and out of sight.
“I’ll do my best,” I say, even though he’s gone already. I close the door and turn to Skyler.
“So, how’s school little man?” I ask, placing my hands on my hips. “Your first few days go okay?”
My half-brother shrugs and turns to wander about my apartment. “It’s okay. So far second grade isn’t much harder than first.”
“You like your teacher?” I ask as I set to washing the dishes. What I wouldn’t do for a dishwasher.
“He’s nice, I guess.” I look over to see Skyler flop onto his back on my bed. He kicks his shoes off.
“Did you hear I’m a teacher now?” I ask.
“Oh yeah,” Skyler says excitedly and sits up in the bed. “Why didn’t you come teach at my school? Having my sister work at my school would be so cool!”
I laugh and rinse a plate off. “Maybe I’ll be your teacher someday. When you get to high school?”
“Ugh,” he says dramatically and crashes back to the bed again. “That’ll take forever.”
I smile and look back at the dishes.
But the truth is that I really hope I won’t ever be Skyler’s teacher when he gets to high school.
Teaching is the plan for now. But my real dream is pretty similar to what I’m doing right now. I want my own kids someday. I want a husband who comes home from work and gives me a kiss on the cheek and wraps his arms around me from behind.
For some women these days, that would never be enough. The world tells us we have to gain prestigious careers and balance everything while wearing high heels and having no body fat.
But what could be more prestigious than raising other people? Then making someone else feel that they are loved beyond anything else? Because for me, it’s what I never had as a kid growing up, and always wanted.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast,” I say, rattling it all off as I look around my tiny kitchen trying to remember to breathe and function and not to have a mind explosion.
My hands shake as I scoop the last of the pancakes out of the pan and put them onto a plate. I’m a nervous wreck. Nerves, excitement, anticipation, it’s all making me freak out.
What’s going to happen today? We had an incredible make out session yesterday, but what does that mean now? I can’t help but overanalyze everything.
My stomach jumps up into my throat when the knock sounds through the studio apartment and my ears start ringing.
“Calm down,” I breathe to myself. “It’s just a…date, I guess. With a guy you made out with. In the library.”
I wipe my hands on the towel hanging from the stove and shuffle in slippered feet to the door.
My heart is hammering and my fingers shake as I grip the door knob.
But that smile breaks out on my face the second I open it.
Drake stands there, holding a bouquet of multi-colored daisies. He bears his own smile, though he’s pressing his lips together tightly to contain it.
“Hi,” I say, my voice higher than I mean it to be.
“Hi,” he says quietly.
“Come on in,” I say. My pulse is racing and I already feel ready to float up to the ceiling like I’m filled with love-struck helium.
“These are for you,” he says, extending the flower out to me.
“Aw, thank you,” I say, taking them and turning to look for something and somewhere to put them. “They’re very…colorful.”
Seriously, they are. They’re neon pink, blue, green, and yellow. Incredibly unnaturally colored.
“Okay, I’m a little broke and flowers are really expensive,” he laughs in mock defense. “For some reason, really colorful ones are really cheap.”
I’m tempted to tease him more about them, but I can’t do that. Not after he made the effort to at least look for some nice flowers for me. “I appreciate it.”
Drake does a little circle, taking in the entire apartment. It doesn’t take long.
“So, this is where you live?” he says, giving me a smile.
“Yep,” I reply. “It’s not much, but you know how being a first year teacher goes. Couldn’t afford much more.”
“I do indeed. My place is maybe fifteen square feet bigger than this,” he chuckles. “I live about a mile east of here.”
I scoop the last of the bacon out of a pan and set it on a plate with a paper towel on it. “You hungry?”
“Starving,” he says as he crosses the small space to the bar. I don’t have an actual dining table. There is no room for one. “I normally down a bagel or something at six-thirty on my way to school. Nine feels cruelly late.”
“Hey, don’t complain about the time when someone else is making the food,” I say, brandishing a spatula at him.
“Hey,” he says, holding his hands up in surrender. “I appreciate the food whenever it is served.”
I give him a crooked smile and set a plate in front of him.
“Eat up,” I say as I start loading my own plate. “I think I accidently made enough food to feed a small army. My brother went grocery shopping with me last night and insisted I get all the food.”
“How old did you say he was again?” Drake asks around a bite of bacon.
“Seven,” I say as I come around the bar and sit beside Drake. “Dick came over and asked if I’d babysit while he popped into work.”
“You like kids?” he asks. He glances over at me while he pours syrup on his small mountain of pancakes.
“Yeah,” I say hesitantly. Talking about such matters with someone you’ve only met a few days ago is a bit heavy. But this is Drake, and I feel way too comfortable around him. “I love kids.”
“Me too,” he says with that famous lopsided grin. “You know, I was thirteen when Kale was born and me and him used to have so much fun when he was little.”
“And now?” I ask as I fork some scrambled eggs into my mouth.
“He’s turning into a teenager and he’s already obsessed with girls,” he chuckles.
“Sounds like a heartbreaker in the making,” I say.
Drake digs into his pocket and comes out with his phone. He clicks away on it for a second and holds it up.
He’s showing a picture of a younger boy, who does indeed look to be around thirteen. He’s got much darker hair than Drake, and dark eyes and brows to match it. His features are chiseled and too mature for his age.
“He’s a good looking kid,” I say. Drake raises an eyebro
w at me and turns his phone back to him. He clicks again for a second and shows me once again.
“That’s Sage, my sister,” he says. She’s pretty, with honey-brown hair and the same sharp jawline Kale has. “She’s wicked smart and has ambition like you wouldn’t believe.”
“She sounds a bit scary,” I chuckle.
“She kind of is,” Drake laughs. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she rules the world someday.”
“That reminds me,” I say, standing from my stool and reaching for my phone on the counter. I open it up and pull up the camera. “Smile.”
He only has a moment to form that lopsided one I love so much before I snap the picture.
“What’s that for?” he asks.
“Armando says he needs to evaluate you for me,” I say as I text him the image. “And who knows, maybe I just wanted a picture for myself.”
There’s a smile on his lips, but his eyes are serious and thoughtful. He pulls out his phone and I give a shy smile as he snaps a picture. After that, we are quiet for a few minutes. We eat, we drink apple juice, and keep catching each other’s eye.
“I want to go do something fun today,” I say finally. “How good of a swimmer are you?”
“Uh,” he says, wiping at his mouth with a napkin. It feels as if he’s taking a moment to evaluate what I’ve just said. Like I surprised him. I like that. “I’m adequate, I think. What did you have in mind?”
“A challenge,” I say, finishing off the last of my food. “Now hurry up and finish. I’m going to get changed into my suit.”
“Hang on,” he says. He grabs my arm gently just as I am about to walk away. “I want to see something.”
He pulls me slowly toward him as he turns on his stool. His eyes are warm and serious at the same time and locked on my face. A grin starts growing on my lips as he pulls me closer. The hand that was on my arm slides around to my back, encouraging me to come closer. I step between his legs and my eyes can’t seem to look away from his lips.
And ever so slowly, he leans forward. My eyes slide closed.
And he brushes his lips against mine.
Slow, gentle, tender.
“Yep,” he says quietly. “Still kills me.”
I back away from him just barely so I can look him in the eye and bite my lower lip.
“Who are you and how is this so easy?” I say.
“I’m nothing special,” he says, his hand still on the back of my neck. “I’m just a poor high school teacher that drives a rust bucket of a car and has good taste in beautiful things.”
“I think I have to disagree with you,” I breathe as I stare at his lips. “You’re something special.”
Suddenly Drake’s phone starts chirping from the bar and we both laugh as we break apart and he reaches for it.
“I’m going to go change,” I say, leaving him to reply to his text.
I grab my swimsuit from my drawer and a simple baby blue sundress, and head for the bathroom.
I look at myself in the mirror. My eyes are bright, my cheeks flushed pink and warm.
The last time I felt this happy and relaxed is nowhere in recent memory.
By the time I come out of the bathroom, I find Drake doing dishes.
“Let’s leave those for now,” I say as I search around for a bag that can hold a towel and some snacks. “I don’t want to waste this day doing boring, day-to-day stuff.”
Drake gives that lopsided smile over his shoulder at me and washes his hands off before drying them. “You say ‘for now,’ does that mean you’ll let me come back and wash them later?”
“I’ll think about it. Now let’s go.”
Drake follows me down the two flights of steps and out the front door.
“So, I suggest we take your car,” Drake says as we step out into the warm, late summer air. “See that sad excuse for an automobile there? That’s my car.”
It is indeed a rust bucket. I’m pretty sure it was once a maroon color, but it’s now heavily veined with orange rust. The back passenger door is buckled in and the window has tape crisscrossing all over it to hold in the shattered glass.
“I think maybe we should,” I agree. Suddenly I am much more fond of my Mini Cooper.
Drake gives me directions and seven minutes later, we stop in front of an apartment building.
“Be back in a second,” he says and darts out of the car without another word.
Not three minutes later Drake is back in the car and we are off.
We drive for about forty minutes and our elevation rises and the trees grow thicker and taller. I pull into the small parking lot and look out over the lake.
“I’ve been here once before,” Drake says. “We went camping here once when I was a kid.”
“Me too,” I say. “Well, I wasn’t really a kid, it was when Mom and Dick were married. But it was a lot of fun.”
Drake looks over at me, his eyes serious and thoughtful. He brings a hand up and brushes his fingertips over my cheek.
This is unnatural. Building this kind of ease and comfort with someone is supposed to take time. It’s supposed to come after some kind of struggle. Belle had to tame the beast, Cinderella had to overcome poverty, Arielle had to lose her voice and grow legs.
But on just day four, I’ve found myself deep into Drake.
“Come on,” I say, nipping at his hand playfully. “Let’s see if you sink or float!”
I scramble from the car, and not bothering to get the bag that contains our stuff, I take off toward the lake. I strip off my sundress as I run, revealing my pink and white striped bikini, let my flip flops fly off my feet, and barrel toward the water.
“Think you can outrun me, short stuff?” I hear Drake tease. I make the mistake of looking over my shoulder. He’s stripped off his shirt and is chasing after me. And closing the distance fast.
I give a delighted scream as we both race across the dock. Drake suddenly wraps his arms around my waist right as we get to the end of it. He gives one giant leap and we both sail through the air for just a second before we crash into the water with a tidal wave.
The second my head resurfaces I send a flooding splash at his face. He squints his eyes closed and tries to grab me, but I defend and splash water in his direction over and over.
I should have known he would take it as a challenge. A wicked grin forms on his face and he suddenly takes a giant breath and slips beneath the surface of the water.
The sun is brilliant overhead, but this is a lake and the water isn’t exactly crystal clear. I don’t have a prayer at spotting him beneath the surface.
I push over onto my back and start kicking and stroking as fast as I can to get away from wherever Drake might be under the water.
I get fifteen strokes away when he finally pops up from the water with a gasping breath, not far from where we started.
“How’d you get clear over there so fast?” he asks as he starts paddling his way over to me.
A smug smile forms on my lips and I tread water to stay where I am. “I was on the swim team in high school. I was the backstroke champion. Still am, apparently.”
“So you’re part fish,” he says as he closes the distance between us. “Where are you hiding those gills on that beautiful body?”
I smile at him, but what he’s said makes my mind falter.
I’m short. I don’t have the build that most men consider beautiful. My shoulders are broader than seems proportional to the rest of my body, my boobs are lacking in size, my thighs are thicker and I’d like. I’m built like a gymnast, and a lot of guys down the line didn’t find that very attractive.
But Drake has called me beautiful.
“What?” he suddenly asks and that expression of his of being in trouble and looking slightly surprised takes over his face. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head and smiling. I swim closer to him and loop my arms around his neck, kicking my feet slightly to keep myself above water. “Everything’s…perfect.”
>
“Yeah,” he says as he leans in closer. “It is.”
His lips meet mine. They’re wet, and taste of lake water. But they’re Drake’s. And they were made to be companion to mine.
And then he slips under the water.
I instantly let go of him and kick to keep myself from going under as well. The water splashes around us and he pushes himself back up to the surface. We both break out into laughter.
“Maybe we should take this to the shore before one of us drowns,” he chuckles.
“Before you drown, maybe,” I tease as we start swimming for the dock. “I’m part fish, remember?”
“Part siren, more like it.” He gives me a coy smile.
We get back up to the sandy and rocky shore and head for my car. We retrieve our stuff and head back for the beach. We lay towels out side by side.
“Could you ask for more perfect weather?” I say as I lie down on it and shade my eyes from the sun with my arm. “It’s got to be, like, seventy-five degrees out here.”
“It’s gorgeous,” Drake says. He’s laid down next to me and is looking in my direction.
A smile curls on my face.
Drake reaches over and laces his fingers through mine.
CHAPTER SIX
Sunday morning I wake to a text from Drake saying Will you be my girlfriend?
To which I instantly reply YES.
The following two weeks are filled with late night dates, even later night texting, tired teachers, and more than a little making out.
But we did still have our jobs and we did still have to teach classes.
I couldn’t wait for school to get out. It was Friday, and I was feeling the sleepless nights.
“Mesopotamians believed that the world was a flat disk, surrounded by a huge, holed space.” I try to do a drawing, but it’s rudimentary, at best. “Above that, heaven. They also believed that water was everywhere, the top, bottom and sides, and that the universe was born from this enormous sea.”
The door to my classroom opens and in pops Drake’s head.
“Uh, sorry, Miss Ray,” he says, looking from my second period class to me. “Could I borrow you for like, three minutes?”