32. Callie
Callie
Tessa leaned in close so she could whisper to me without any of the nosy parents listening in. “If you don’t stop glaring at every woman who gets close to three certain dads you’re going to have the rumor mill going crazy. The PTA will have you married and cheating on them by lunch tomorrow.”
I turned my back to the rest of the room and made a face at my best friend to show how frustrated and embarrassed I was.
I groaned under my breath and shook my head.
“I just don’t understand why these women are throwing themselves at some of the dads when they should be working with their kids. That’s all.”
Tessa’s grin was pure mischief. “Some of the dads? Seems to me like you’re not all that worried about the moms getting close to Michael Boles or John Young. Seems to me like you’re only concerned about Cole, Ben, and Luke, the three dads who also can’t keep their eyes off you.”
My ears turned red seconds before the rest of my face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, right. Those three…” Tessa stopped talking abruptly and I watched her eyes move across the room, stopping at each man I’d been watching.
I could see the wheels turning in her head and watched the moment the idea formed and grew roots.
The idea being the connection between the three men I’d told her about from the summer and the three men who I was watching with jealousy radiating off me like a bad smell.
Her eyes went wide and just as she opened her mouth to say whatever she was about to say, I slapped my hand over her mouth.
“No, no, no. Whatever you’re thinking, stop it.” It was too late. I knew she knew. I felt her teeth trying to clamp down on my palm and laughed like we weren’t two professionals at work. “Don’t bite me! I’ll move my hand if you promise not to say anything!”
She narrowed her eyes but nodded. As soon as I took my hand away she let out a loud laugh and grabbed my wrists. “You dirty little skank. Oh, I’ve never been prouder of you, bestie!”
I slapped at her hands and growled. “For the love of all things vampire, please stop talking.”
She huffed out one last laugh and then cleared her throat. “Since you pulled the vampire card. But this conversation isn’t done. I want to know everything. Nothing left out. At all. Ever. Okay?”
I glanced around to make sure no one was listening in and saw Vicki Knowles hovering close enough to Luke that I couldn’t find the gap that was supposed to be between them.
I scowled at her and then groaned and forced my face to relax.
“Fine. Not here, though. And if you see my face doing that thing it’s not supposed to, pinch me. ”
She reached over and pinched me.
“What the hell, Tess?”
“Your face was doing that thing.” She winked and then slipped out of the auditorium, leaving me in a tizzy when I was somehow supposed to be in charge.
My feet carried me towards the stage and before I could process what I was doing I was standing next to Vicki, a serene smile practically stapled to my face. I couldn’t look Luke in the eye; I was mortified by my actions and yet unable to stop them.
“Vicki, hi.” I got her attention just before she could get her grubby fingers on Luke’s chest. “I noticed that Gina is struggling retaining her lines. She’s been so amazing as Holly but I know it’s a lot.
I think if you spent a little time nightly with her, just reading the script as a story even, she’ll pick it up in no time. ”
Vicki looked annoyed at the interruption but she pulled it in at the last second and nodded. “That’s a good idea. I’ll do that.”
Seeing that she wasn’t going to give up on alone time with Luke, I finally looked at him and faced my jealousy in his knowing gaze. “Luke, could I talk to you for just a minute? I’d like to pick your brain about the timeline of the play.”
He didn’t mess with me about it. He smiled and nodded. “Sure. Whatever you need.”
I ignored the weight of Vicki’s gaze on my back as I led him towards the back of the stage. Once we were completely alone I tried to salvage my dignity with a lie. “You looked like you needed saving.”
Luke’s grin was boyish and knowing. He was standing with his back to the rest of the auditorium, blocking everything out to make the moment deceivingly private. His eyes dropped to my mouth and stayed there. “Did I?”
A shiver worked its way through my body and left me buzzing. “Of course. That’s why I pulled you away. I was just trying to help. If you didn’t need help, though, I can call Vicki-”
“Tell me, sweetheart, have you been as organized as necessary for this play to run smoothly?” He took a small step closer, blocking out more light. “Or have you been distracted?”
His words might as well have been a hand grasping my ass and squeezing.
I could almost feel his spanking. It felt wildly inappropriate and impossible not to respond to.
I shifted slightly and knew he’d seen the way I squeezed my thighs together.
Heat pooled there, hot and wet and messy.
I rolled my lips between my teeth and bit down.
I was going to hell. No matter how good I’d lived my life up until meeting the three men ruining me, nothing could save me from the way I’d just gotten so turned on that it was uncomfortable while directing a school play.
“You’re distracted now, aren’t you, Cupcake?” He lowered his voice even further. “I bet if I flipped that dress up and spanked you right now, you’d leave a mess on my hand, wouldn’t you?”
My breath hitched. My skin burned a deep red. My entire body vibrated with need. Everything hit me at once and I let out a shocked gasp when I remembered where I was. While I was horrified by my body’s reaction, Luke was grinning at how horrified I looked.
He stepped back a foot and crossed his arms over his chest, looking like a man who hadn’t just purposefully teased me. “I think I remember you wanted to call the groups back together before they all snuck away.”
I moved so that I was standing beside him and looked up at his stupidly good-looking face. “You’re terrible.”
His knuckle lightly brushed against mine. “And you’re possessive, like a pissed off little kitten watching someone else play with her toys.”
I almost stomped my foot. “You-... I can’t believe-… Go stand next to the edge of the stage and let me push you off, you evil, evil man.”
“You think I’m bad right now? Wait until I rub it in Cole and Ben’s face that you came to me first.” His eyes flashed with his honesty. “I’ll be insufferable.”
Our stolen moment ended as abruptly as it’d begun with a shout from a kid who declared, adamantly, that his classmate was trying to steal his part as Blitzen.
His classmate shouted back that he was just reading but it quickly turned into an accusation that Kid A could barely read and was messing up the lines.
Even with the parents standing around I stepped in to put out the fire and got busy enough to forget about the moment with Luke.
Too bad I couldn’t get busy enough to forget the discomfort of feeling my very damp panties slowly drying.