Chapter 3
BELLA
“Oh my God, it was so embarrassing! My tit was out the whole time!” I take a swig of my water and cringe as three sets of eyes narrow in on me.
“Like the whole thing? Are we talking heavy cleavage, or did it include areola and nipple?” Raven asks matter-of-factly. She’s always been the pragmatic one of the group.
“The whole fucking titty,” I answer, hanging my head.
“That’s mortifying. I would be mortified. Were you mortified?” Summer asks.
I shoot her a what-do-you-think look.
“Hold on, I need more information to get a clear picture about what we’re talking about. Why was it flopping out of your shirt? Where was your bra?” Raven asks.
“Umm, how about ‘are you okay and why did you need an ambulance?’” Lucy asks.
“Clearly, she’s okay. She’s here.” Raven points at me as if this is obvious.
“Not emotionally. She clearly needs to talk about it,” Lucy says, placing a hand on my forearm.
“I do. And to answer your question, I was hooking up with this guy and he’d already gotten my bra off and my shirt was low-cut, so when I passed out, gravity took over.”
“You passed out?” Summer gasps.
“Yup. I’ve had some awkward hookups before, but this one wins the title for the worst. Between the passing out, almost tossing cookies in front of the hot EMT, and the accidental flashing, it was an eventful evening, and I didn’t even get an orgasm out of it.
Just a stupid bladder infection probably caused by my new birth control. ”
“But you’re okay now?” Lucy asks, and I nod. “Okay good, now tell me more about the hot paramedic.”
Summer keeps glancing at the door. “I don’t mean to be that person, but we have, like, fifteen minutes before the rest of the moms get here for the PTO meeting, and you know that Amber is always early.”
Shit, she’s right. “Good point. So, I’m in the back of the ambulance and the EMT is super hot, and I had to ask him to put my tit back in my shirt.”
“Can we stop saying ‘tit’? It feels wrong saying it in a room where kindergartners hang out all day,” Summer says as she shifts in the too small chair.
It’s my turn to host the November Parent Teacher Organization meeting, and my classroom is where we’re meeting tonight, despite the fact that there are other classrooms with adult-sized chairs.
I continue recapping the events. “So, he covered up my breast and then called me a good girl.”
“Umm, that’s kind of weird,” Raven says.
“Oh shit, I forgot to say that between the redressing and the praising, he had to put an IV in and I started to panic. I swear he made bedroom eyes at me and then he good-girled me to calm me down.”
Lucy leans back in her tiny chair. “That’s hot.”
“What are bedroom eyes?” Raven asks.
“You know, like this,” I say, and then give her a seductive onceover.
“Never do that to me again,” Raven says between laughs.
“What was his name? Tell me you got his name or his number.” Lucy is practically bouncing out of her seat, leaning over the table as she speaks.
“He said his name was Hardy, no number. I’ve never seen him around town before,” I reply.
“I think I sold him a house! Tall guy, dark hair, great jawline with the perfect amount of stubble? Lives in a small two-bedroom cottage on the side of Nicholas Bluff, on the edge of Chestnut Mountain limits?” Summer asks, rapid-fire.
“Sounds like his description,” I confirm. “No clue where he lives, though.”
The door swings open, and the air grows thick with Amber’s heavy, sickly sweet perfume as her nasal voice interrupts our conversation.
“Oh good, you’re all here. Are you going to just sit there gabbing, or are you actually going to help me set up the meeting?”
With my back to Amber, I roll my eyes to the group and slowly stand to help. In minutes, we have all the agendas dispersed among the tables as parents start arriving.
“It’s a shame you didn’t clean your room before this.
What’s the point of getting here early if you aren’t going to prepare for the meeting and make your room look presentable?
” she says, pointing to the bucket of crayons in the corner of the room that spilled in the chaos of dismissal earlier today.
“Wouldn’t want the town hearing about yet another mess you made. ”
I take a calming breath before I reply, choosing to let her dig roll off my back like water on a duck.
As a boy mom, I’m the queen of letting shit go.
“I’ll allow it” is a frequent mantra of mine since sweating the small stuff only brought me ulcers and nervous bowels.
“Eh, I figured I’d get to it when I get to it.
This is a kindergarten classroom, after all.
I don’t think anyone’s going to care about some spilled crayons.
” Just like no one should care about my messy private life since the divorce.
The responding twitch in her eye almost makes me laugh out loud. Instead I hold a fist to my mouth and fake a cough.
“Remind me not to put you in charge of Santa’s Workshop,” she mutters under her breath. “Don’t need you screwing another thing up like you did your marriage.”
I blink in shock. “What was that?”
Before she can answer, several parents walk in the room, and Amber gestures for me to go hand them the sign-in form before turning her back and effectively dismissing me.
As I trudge over to the door, Summer links her arm with mine, pulling me off course as she turns me to face her.
“About that guy you were telling us about…”
“Yeah?” I ask, my brows pinching in confusion.
“Don’t look now, but he just walked in.”
My head swivels toward the door, and I spot the tall EMT who recently touched my boob.
“I said don’t look,” Summer hisses, but it’s too late. Hardy spots me, and he lifts a brow as his eyes roam down to my chest and back up again.
In a panic I look down at my chest, worried I’m exposing myself again. Nope, all covered. Phew. When I look up at him again, he’s chuckling, and I cringe at my awkwardness.
This is why I do hookup apps. Get in, get off, get out, all before I can open my mouth and let my awkward turtle loose. That, and once guys learn I’m a single mom with a teenage son, my sexy meter drops to zero.
“Bella, the sign-ups!” Amber’s nasal voice singsongs in that syrupy tone you use when you’ve told someone to do something three times now and they haven’t done it but you don’t want to come across as a bitch.
I start walking toward the door, almost in slow motion, stopping in front of Hardy as I thrust the clipboard toward him, saying nothing.
He looks at me confused, before he takes it and pulls out a pen. “This is a blank sheet of paper. What am I writing on it?”
“Your number,” I say, then quickly squeeze my eyes shut. Shit. Maybe if I keep them closed, he’ll disappear.
He clears his throat, and I open my eyes. The corner of his mouth lifts. “Do I get your number if I give you mine?”
“I…uhhh. It’s a sign-in form for the meeting. You put your name, number, and email.”
“Ah.” His piercing blue eyes scan my face before settling on my lips. “You didn’t answer my question.”
My eyes drop to his very naked ring finger. A throat clears behind him, and I see a line of parents forming. “Bella!” Amber’s voice calls out.
“I’m just gonna…” I hook a thumb over my shoulder and then turn and walk over to my desk, wishing I could crawl under it. Why do I have to be so awkward with this man?
Minutes later, Amber calls the meeting to order and introduces me as the faculty representative.
I also have a kid at our K-12 school, but I don’t correct her.
She moves meticulously through each agenda item, sneaking glances over the secretary’s shoulder, probably to make sure she’s taking sufficient notes.
When we get to the holiday section of the agenda, I watch as parents raise their hands to volunteer for parties, fundraisers, and other events.
“Unfortunately, the person organizing Santa’s Workshop had to drop out and we need someone that can fill in at the last minute since it’s only a month away,” Amber says, looking around the room.
“I can!” My hand shoots up. It happens so instantly, I’m not even sure why I’m doing it.
You’re doing it to prove to this grinch that you are not the total hot mess she thinks you are.
Amber plasters on a big fake smile, looking around for someone else to raise their hand, but no one does. “Actually, you’ll need a co-chair.”
“I’ll do it,” a deep voice says from the back, and I don’t even have to look to know it’s Hardy.
Three sets of eyes look at me, and I can hear their voices in my head.
Is that who I think it is?
Oh my God, you’re right! He is so cute!
Why are you volunteering for that?
I bite my lips as I give them a small smile.
“I guess that will work.” Amber’s voice is strained as she continues. “What’s your name, and who’s your student?”
“I’m Hardy, and I have a kindergartener named Avery.”
Oh shit. My eyes go wide, and I try to hide my surprise. How did I not know he had a kid in my class? Avery never did have a parent show up last month when we did parent-teacher conferences. And I’ve never had any trouble with her, so I haven’t needed to call home.
I smile and nod through the rest of the meeting, not really paying attention as my mind races with thoughts.
How the fuck am I going to pull off Santa’s Workshop?
Am I allowed to date a parent of a student in my class?
Would he even be interested?
The room has nearly cleared out by the time I refocus my thoughts.
Amber walks by my desk. “Let me know if you need any help with Santa’s Workshop. This is a really important event. The kids look forward to it all year. I just want to make sure you know how big a deal this is.”