Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
SIMONE
Elias was gone for three hours, long enough for me to feed the kids, get Isla into the bath and do another hair care night with her, and put her to bed.
I didn’t think Jasper was asleep, the light under his door made me think he was just avoiding me, but I didn't push.
He was old enough to suffer the consequences if he decided he was going to stay awake all night.
I cleaned up from dinner and was going to text Elias for an update when I heard the rumble of his bike coming down the street.
He looked tired but pleased when he pulled up in front of the garage, grinning at me when I came outside to join him.
“Where did you go?”
“Hannah’s place. Help me take this inside, will you? Careful, some of it is fragile.”
He handed me his backpack while he grabbed the saddlebags from his bike.
Together we went inside and set the bags on the couch.
He didn’t turn on the lights, moving by the light of the kitchen instead, so I didn’t know what he’d gotten until he started placing them on every available surface he could find.
My heart swelled when I realized what he’d done.
Pictures.
He’d gone to Jasper’s family home and returned with pictures. Pictures of their family, of the kids, of the parents alone. Over a dozen of them scattered on every open spot he could find. When he noticed me watching him, he grinned sheepishly.
“I’ll hang ‘em on the wall eventually, but I don’t want to wake them up and–”
I moved before I could think it through, lifting onto my toes to press my lips against his. He seemed surprised for a second, but it didn’t take long before he was wrapping his arms around my waist, dipping his head and nipping my lip to deepen the kiss.
It’d been a while since I last dated and being pressed against his solid frame was a little addictive, but a voice in the back of my head chastised me for getting involved with a student’s guardian and I pulled back before things could get too heated, shaking my head.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have–”
“Yes, you fucking should’ve,” he argued, dragging me back for another drugging kiss. I almost gave in, but Jasper moving around upstairs reminded me of what was important.
“I can’t, Elias. Not while I’m Jasper’s teacher. I could lose my job.”
His grip on me tightened a little, like he didn't want to let go, but he took my words to heart and sighed heavily, resting his forehead against mine.
“Yeah, alright. I don’t want you risking your job.” A boyish grin overtook his face when he asked, “How long until school’s out?”
“Four months.” I huffed out a laugh when he pouted, shaking my head.
“It might not be that long. I’ve been testing Jasper.
He’s skilled in math, enough that I think he might need to start joining the eighth grade math class.
If I can get him on track and stop the fighting, it should only be a few weeks until he’s transferred to another class. ”
Pulling back a little, his eyebrows shot up. “He’s good at math? He’s been complaining for a while that he doesn’t get it.”
“He’s acting,” I explained, finally gaining the self control to pull out of his arms. “I noticed when I first started tutoring him that he only answered a few questions on the worksheets to make it look like he didn't understand, but the questions he answered were the more difficult ones. And the last time I was here, I gave him an assignment from the eighth grade class’s first semester. He got it all right. I’m not sure how he’s doing in his other classes, but he’s gifted in math.
I don’t think he’ll stay in my class much longer. ”
Blowing out a breath, Elias nodded slowly. “I mean that’s good, but also kind of sucks. He respects you, at least. Will the eighth grade teacher be able to keep him out of trouble as well as you do?”
I loved how his focus was on Jasper and not how quickly we could be together. If he was a careless guardian, I likely wouldn’t have found him as attractive as I did.
“Mr. Karlsen is disciplined, but kind. He won’t allow his students to act unruly, but he tries to make math fun in some ways. I think the challenge will be more of a help for Jasper than anything else. Unchallenged students are often prone to acting out.”
“I get that. If Rooster gets bored, it’s guaranteed he’ll find trouble. We try to keep him busy so he doesn’t act like an idiot.”
When I raised an eyebrow at him, he explained, “He’s a guy from my crew. Good man, great with kids, but a troublemaker. He once messed with the clubhouse wiring in an attempt to prank another guy and ended up shorting out the whole house. I was pissed.”
“So you’re basically all a bunch of big kids then?”
He saw the tease for what it was, winking at me when I smirked. I helped him fold the clothes he’d grabbed and the throws were folded up on the couch, murmuring that they belonged to Jasper’s moms, so technically they were his and Isla’s. He’d let Jasper decide what to do with them.
“Maybe sometimes we act like idiots, but I think that happens any time a big group of guys gets together,” he continued.
“Things have changed a lot in the last few years. Kids started joining the fray and it was like a wake up call for a lot of us. We had to grow up to take care of them. And we weren’t going to keep acting like idiots when we knew they were watching. ”
I smiled softly as I went to the door to slip on my heels and grab my things. “That you all decided to step up and not run from responsibility makes me think the rumors about you aren’t all true.”
“You should meet them,” he suggested. “They’d like you.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Really? Why?”
Shooting me a smoldering grin that made my stomach clench, he said, “Hot teacher giving them that stern frown? I guarantee a few of them would be fighting for your attention. I know I would.”
I rolled my eyes, still smiling. When he snuck another kiss, I didn’t stop him. I did give him a stern look, silently reminding him of what we’d just discussed. He put his hands up in surrender, his grin entirely unrepentant.
“I know, I know. Not while you’re Jasper’s teacher. I can wait. Just wanted to get one more in before you left and I had to be good.”
“Good night, Elias,” I said, exasperated. I was still smiling when he walked me out.
ZERO
It was hit or miss when I did something nice for Jasper if he’d accept it or find some way to yell at me about it.
When he came downstairs the next morning and saw the pictures, I held my breath, waiting for his reaction.
Isla had woken up first like usual and she was already in her high chair, eating little bites of avocado and scrambled eggs and making a mess of herself.
Jasper was a late riser when he no longer had to be the one responsible for his sister.
For a long moment, Jasper didn’t move. He’d stopped by the shelf cut into the wall under the stairs, staring at the picture I’d placed there.
I’d found it on one of the nightstands in the master bedroom, a picture of his moms on their wedding day if I had to guess.
It looked like a courthouse deal, small and intimate, but they were both smiling, both wearing white, and looked at each other with the love and devotion people wrote about in books.
It was a good picture and I figured the kids would want to have it.
“I, uh… figured you’d want some pictures of them around. I can pick up some other shit later, I didn’t have much space in my saddle bags, but I figured–”
“It’s whatever,” he murmured, tearing his gaze away from the pictures to glare at me. “Are you seriously coming to school with me today?”
Honestly, I should’ve expected the anger.
I tried not to take it personally, answering his question with as much of an upbeat tone as I could muster.
“Yeah. It’ll be fine, though. I’m leaving Isla with Mama Bear.
She already agreed to give you her phone number so you can text for updates like you do with me, and Isla will get to play with Ryder.
Might be kind of fun for her to play with a baby her own age, you know? ”
He frowned, considering it, then returned to his normal scowl of annoyance. “Whatever. Can we get this over with already?”
He stomped off without a backward glance, but after I came back downstairs from cleaning up Isla and getting her ready for the day, I noticed one of the throws was missing, as well as the picture from his moms’ nightstand. I felt a smile tug at my lips, but I didn’t draw any attention to it.
We dropped off Isla at Butch’s place, and stuck around long enough to show Jasper all the kid friendly shit in the house, along with the sheer amount of baby proofing, including gates on the stairs and covers on the stove knobs.
I didn’t even know that was a thing. Jasper accepted the set up with a heavy dose of skepticism, but it was either that or bringing Isla with us to school, and no doubt she’d throw a fit within a few hours when she got bored and I didn’t let her get into everything.
Jasper seemed to think the same way because he didn't protest. Much.
“I still don’t get why you have to sit with me in class.”
I was filling out paperwork in the front office while he kicked at the ground and complained. The secretary looked amused by the arrangement, but seemed to know better than to poke fun at the situation.
“Here’s your visitor’s badge. If you leave for lunch, you’ll have to sign out and back in, so–”
“No need. Brought my own,” I told her, lifting the lunchbox I used sometimes when jobs were too close together and I didn’t have time to pick something up for lunch.
I’d offered to make Jasper lunch as well, but he adamantly refused.
I just shrugged it off. If he wanted cafeteria food more than he wanted to eat food from home, that was his own deal.
The secretary smiled brightly. “Good for you. Here’s a copy of Jasper’s schedule, and your background check went fine, so you’re good to go.”
“Thanks.”
She waved me off and I gestured for Jasper to lead the way to his first class. He scowled at me.
“This is stupid,” he grumbled.
“Maybe you’ll think twice about fighting next time,” I countered with a smirk.