Chapter 24
High Hopes – Panic! At The Disco
Cassidy
Stretching lazily, the excitement in my stomach rolled through me, to every inch in my body.
My fingers, my toes, my everything. I felt exhilaration like I’d never felt before.
Like I wanted to jump out of bed and run five miles.
Hmm maybe not, my bed was lovely, warm and cozy.
Looking up at the bedroom ceiling my cheeks ached with smiling.
“Oh my God.” I kicked my legs up and down like an over-enthusiastic kid waiting to open their Christmas gifts.
The eek that fell from my mouth was loud and high-pitched, but I couldn’t help myself.
Gunner had kissed me again, or I’d kissed him, but it didn’t matter.
We kissed and we had an amazing date. It had been a perfect date.
He hadn’t even let me pay my share. He’d insisted on picking up the whole check, growled at me in fact.
A growl that I was beginning to like. A growl that sent a little shiver through my core.
A growl that I only thought existed in romance novels.
Glancing at the clock on my nightstand, I realized that I needed to get ready for work. As much as I would have loved to have stayed in bed and relived every single moment, word and touch, I had a job to get to.
“Miss. Turner…Miss. Turner…hello.”
I shook my head and quickly turned to the voice shouting my name. It was Elodie, one of my pupils and Bertie’s best friend. Concern in her bright blue eyes.
“I’m sorry, Elodie, how can I help?” I’d been distracted with thoughts of Gunner and our date. Wondering whether he would invite me out again.
“The bell went for lunch, but you didn’t say we could go.”
I glanced at the clock on the wall and was startled. “Yes, of course, sorry. All of you, off to lunch now.” The whole class was already lined up at the door, good well-behaved kids who always did as they were asked.
“Woah, thank goodness,” Bertie groaned, rubbing her stomach. “My belly feels like my throat’s been cut.”
I wasn’t sure who taught that child some of the things she came out with, but I’d put money on it being one of uncles.
“Off you go, guys,” I said, not even trying to bite back the smile I’d had all morning.
They all trouped out chatting animatedly and not for the first time I was grateful for my career choice.
Once everyone had disappeared, I pulled out my lunchbox and popped it open.
I usually ate in the staffroom or outside at the picnic tables with the other teachers, or with Lily, especially when there was gossip worth dissecting.
But today, she was locked in a meeting about prom logistics, and honestly…
I wanted the quiet. I wanted to replay every second of last night’s kiss like it was my favorite scene in a movie.
I hadn’t felt giddy like this since I was a teenager. Maybe not even then.
“Do not open that lunchbox.”
I looked up, startled, my stomach flipping at the sight of Gunner filling my doorway like a fantasy I hadn’t dared let myself wish for.
Wranglers. Shearling-lined denim jacket. Hat in hand. Hair slightly mussed like he’d been running his fingers through it in the truck.
He looked every inch the cowboy romance cover that had come to life.
“Gunner, what are you doing here?” I asked, my voice catching as I dropped the lunchbox to my desk.
“I brought you lunch,” he said, holding up a brown bag with a boyish, almost bashful smile that made my chest twist. “Is that okay?”
That glint in his eyes, half mischief, half something softer, lit a flame low in my belly.
“It’s more than okay,” I said. “Come sit with me.”
He crossed the room with that lazy, confident stride that made my knees weak and my stomach flutter. As he passed me, our arms brushed, and a thrill shot through me when he hooked his pinky with mine in a secret little tether.
“Hey,” he murmured, leaning in, lips brushing mine in a kiss so gentle it melted me from the inside out. “It’s good to see you.”
When he pulled back, his gaze dropped to my mouth. His thumb swept across my bottom lip like it was instinct.
“Look how fucking plump those lips are,” he whispered. “Just right for kissing.”
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think.
“I think maybe it’s your fault,” I managed, barely. “You kissed them pretty stupid last night.”
“Nothing stupid about those kisses, Cassidy,” he said, low and rough, adjusting his belt like it might tame what I’d just stirred up.
“Maybe we should eat,” I suggested, because if we didn’t, I was going to climb into his lap and forget we were in an elementary school classroom.
“Good call.” He flashed me a grin that turned my insides to syrup.
He stripped off his jacket, every move somehow sensual, and slung it over the back of my chair. His red plaid shirt clung to his chest and arms in all the right ways, sleeves rolled up to reveal forearms like sin and golden skin that practically dared me to touch it.
Sitting down far too gracefully for a man his size, Gunner opened the bag and laid out our lunch—two sandwiches, two apples, and two juice boxes.
“Miller beef with mustard mayo. Homemade. It’s good.” He slid one packet toward me with a wink. “And the apple? Thought it might earn me some extra credit.”
I laughed, full and bright. “You brought me a juice box too. You’re really pulling out all the stops.”
“I like to impress my teachers. Especially the pretty ones.”
He pushed the straw into my juice box and handed it to me like it was a love potion. I suddenly wanted to sip it just to keep his attention on my mouth.
As we ate, the energy between us, effortless and electric.
“I should be doing paperwork,” he said with a groan. “But I couldn’t stay away.”
“You drove all this way just to bring me lunch?”
He gave me a look so sincere it made my chest ache.
“I missed you. I know it’s only been a few hours but…
it felt too long. Too lonely. Which is ridiculous because I’ve got ten stable hands who think I’m God’s gift to horse training, but apparently none of them have your smart mouth or that thing you do with your eyebrow when I’m being an idiot. ”
“You are an idiot.” I could feel my blush spread from my neck to my ears. “But you’re dangerously good at this.”
“Only with you,” he said simply. And I believed him.
He reached across the desk and took my hand, thumb brushing back and forth. “I think we should tell people about the date.”
“It was one date,” I teased, even as my heart galloped behind my ribs.
He leaned in, eyes locked on mine. “You want there to only be one?”
I shook my head, no voice left.
“You think there’s something happening here?”
I nodded.
“You want to cool it?”
This time I found the words. “No.”
“Didn’t think so.” His smile softened. “You tell Lily. I’ll tell my brothers. We’re dating now.”
My teenage crushes had nothing on this man and the way he was making me feel. The way his eyes on me made my blood heat, made my panties wet. This was the man I couldn’t bear to talk to only a couple of weeks ago. Now I didn’t want this lunch break to end.
I let out a breathless laugh. “Okay. We’re dating.”
“Excellent,” he said, voice gravel and warmth. “Now drink your juice, sweetheart.”
I nearly choked on the straw. His eyes tracked every movement of my lips, and damn it, I needed to change my underwear.
When we finished eating, the tension between us settled into something deeper. Something quietly building.
It was more than chemistry now. It was…possibility.
“So,” I said, needing a subject change before I launched across the desk, “any word on the permits?”
“Not yet. But…” He reached into his jacket pocket and handed me a letter. “This came today.”
I scanned it. “Jenkins Industries? They want to talk about sponsoring the camp?”
“That’s what it says,” he said carefully. “But Nash did some digging. The owner is a guy called Nate Jenkins.”
I looked up sharply.
“He’s behind the development,” Gunner finished.
“What do you all think about talking to them?” I looked over the letter again.
“Depends on you,” he said, his voice low and deep.
“Me?”
“Yeah, you, sweetheart. What do you think we should do?” He brushed my hair from my face. “Your opinion is important to me.”
My heart stalled and our eyes met.
His hand remained wrapped around mine, warm and steady, while everything else blurred at the edges.
Two certainties crystallized in that moment: whatever was beginning between us would demand everything I had to give.
And somehow, I already knew that this man would break me apart and rebuild me, piece by piece, in ways I’d never imagined wanting.