Chapter 8
Moira
For never having
played pool before, Zach is actually quite good. That means he has a
keen eye for angles and distances, a concept he told me he practiced
every day with this bow and arrow. After a few moments, whereby I had
to lean over the pool table next to him and show him how to hold the
pool stick, he was off and running.
One thing I have
learned is that Zach is exceptionally smart. One day at my house, I
spent a few hours asking him about his basic educational skills, and
he told me that Father Gaul had taught him a few things over the
years. He would bring Zach some used textbooks written in English to
learn from and some works of fiction for him to read and discuss.
When I pulled money out of my purse to show Zach our currency, he
easily learned the denominations and had no problems with adding and
subtracting, and he even understood basic multiplication and
division.
Zach told me he
enjoyed reading and devoured the books that Father Gaul had brought
him. Father Gaul only brought him books in English to help him keep
his native language alive, insisting that Zach would never know when
he might need to fall on the use of that skill. I smiled when Zach
told me his favorite book was Call of the Wild, and I thought
to myself, Of course, that would be his favorite .
Zach and I are
playing against Kelly and Lexi. Although they won the first three
games, the more they drink, the better Zach and I are doing. I can
honestly say it’s not a chore to watch Zach play. He looks
beyond handsome tonight with his long, dark hair falling forward
sexily and his jeans tight across his ass when he bends over the
table.
“Seriously,
Moira… I cannot believe you are not tapping that,” Lexi
says as she bumps my shoulder and whispers in my ear. “You
didn’t tell us how freakin’ gorgeous Zach is.”
“He’s
not a play toy,” I grumble at her, even as I keep my eyes on
Zach as he walks around the table to line up his next shot. “Besides…
that would be totally inappropriate.”
“Who made up
that stupid rule?” Lexi asks. “Is it written in your
contract that you can’t have sex with him?”
“Be serious,
Lex,” I tell her with a chastising tone. “I’m his
teacher. He’s like my ward. It would be taking advantage of
him.”
“Babe…
have you seen the way he’s watching you tonight? He totally
wants you to take advantage of him. Or rather, he totally wants to
take advantage of you. He looks at you like you’re his prey or
something.”
I roll my eyes at
her and reach over to our table to take a sip of my water. When I set
it back down, I tell her, “He doesn’t look at me in any
particular way. No different from the way he looks at you and Kelly.”
“Well, if he’s
looking at me the way he’s looking at you, then I’m going
to take advantage of that.”
I take my palm and
smack her lightly on her forehead. “Leave him alone. He’s
a babe in the woods when it comes to confident women.”
“Just my
type,” she says, and then sashays off to conspire with Kelly.
They both whisper to each other, cutting glances at Zach. I just
shake my head, because although my girls like to talk some smack, I
know they’d never make a move on him. They’re very
understanding of his circumstances and would never do anything to
take advantage of the situation. Doesn’t mean they’re not
talking about the fantasy of it though… right this very
minute.
Zach bends over the
table again, and I’m actually mesmerized by the way the muscles
in his forearms flex as he holds his pool stick. He’s developed
a habit of sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth just a
tiny bit when he lines his shot up, and of course, I can’t see
that tongue without thinking about what it did to me.
I have never been so
blown apart in my life as I was this afternoon. My face heats when I
think about the fact I shamelessly stripped in front of Zach, and
then proceeded to pleasure myself while he watched me closely. I had
been so turned on, so consumed by lust, that when he asked me to
release him from his promise not to touch me, I never gave it a
second thought. I wanted his mouth on me more than I wanted to
preserve the sanctity of my job in that moment.
I can try to
rationalize to myself until I’m blue in the face that I was
indeed teaching Zach something of our sexual culture, or I can even
justify it by saying it was the only way to keep Zach here in the
States, but if I’m honest with myself… I said yes to him
because I wanted it for myself and for no other reason.
Consequences be damned.
“There’s
my girl,” I hear at my ear, just before a pair of arms wrap
around my waist. For a brief, thrilling moment, I think it’s
Zach. But no… it can’t be him because I’m staring
blatantly at him while he plays pool right at this very second.
Craning my neck to
the side, I realize it’s Michael who now has my body wrapped
tight in his embrace and is resting his chin on my shoulder. I glance
briefly at Zach and see his head tilted up from the table, watching
us with curiosity, but his eyes are cold.
Shrugging my
shoulders upward, I dislodge Michael’s chin and step out of his
tight hold. Turning to him, I say, “What are you doing here?”
“You mentioned
you were coming here tonight with your friends, and I thought I’d
surprise you. My buddy, Philip, and I were up for a night out on the
town.”
I try to give
Michael a light smile, but my lips turn down in dismay. While Michael
is a great guy and our dates have been lovely, they’ve just
been a few dates. I’m not prepared to handle the warmth of his
gaze as his eyes rake down my body in appreciation, and the fact that
Zach is here just makes this seem awkward to me.
“This was sort
of a girls’ night out,” I tell him, now succeeding in
giving him a chastising smile.
Michael inclines his
head toward Zach. “All evidence to the contrary.”
“Come on,
Michael. You know what I mean. This is my girls’ night out and
Zach is here as my guest, so he can experience a little bit of the
nightlife culture.”
“Well…
if you don’t want me here,” Michael says with a kicked
puppy look, “of course, we’ll go. No worries.”
He starts to turn
away, but guilt floods me so I reach out and touch his arm. “No,
I didn’t mean it that way. Of course you should stay. You and
Philip can play pool with us.”
Michael beams at me,
and then waves his friend over to introduce us. Kelly and Lexi walk
up and we make all the introductions, although Kelly and Michael know
each other through the University. When I turn to find Zach, I see
him casually resting a hip on the edge of the pool table, his hands
clasped around the top of his cue. I motion to him with my hand and
wave him over.
He stands from the
table with unbelievable grace, and his eyes hold mine as he walks
over to us. His expression is unreadable.
“Zach…
I’d like you to meet a friend of mine. This is Michael, and his
friend Philip.”
The men all shake
hands, and Michael says, “It’s great to meet you, Zach.
Moira told me all about you today at lunch. I’m betting this is
all a step above what you’re used to, right, man?”
I cringe over
Michael’s thoughtless words and expect Zach to erupt, but he
just turns to me with a questioning gaze. “This was your date
today?”
“Yes,” I
say quietly, lowering my eyes in shame that Michael was so callous in
his words but not before I notice that Michael beams over the fact
that Zach knows we went out on a date.
“That’s
right,” Michael says as he puts his arm casually around my
shoulders. “I’ve been dying to get some alone time with
my girl.”
Anger surges through
me that Michael would be so proprietary. Sure, we’ve been
friends for a few years but geez… we went out on two dates.
I’m not his girl.
I smoothly shrug his
arm off my shoulder and step forward to take Zach’s cue from
his hand. “It’s my turn, right?”
“Actually,
it’s Kelly’s,” Zach says, and then turns to
Michael. “And to answer your original question… No. This
is not a step above what I’m used to. I find this modern
existence to be dull at the best of times, uninspiring at the worst.”
“Excuse me?”
Michael says in disbelief.
“This modern
world you live in. Everything handed to you and you do nothing overly
hard to get it. You don’t know what it’s like to truly
live until you need to focus all of your daily energies on avoiding
death. You swing through a drive-thru for your evening meal while I
go out and kill my food every day. You don’t know how safe you
are until you have to walk a daily path where at any moment, a deadly
snake can strike at your ankle. Sure, you have your fast cars, loud
music, and expensive meals at fancy restaurants, but you know what I
think about all of that?”
Michael just shakes
his head, his mouth hanging slightly open.
“I find it
boring,” Zach says. “Unfulfilling. A plastic attempt to
take life by the horns.”
“Well, I don’t
think that is really what I was trying to say,” Michael
stammers.
Zach’s voice
is menacing and filled with derision, and although I know his words
have momentarily stunned Michael, I know he won’t take lightly
the backhanded slap that he’s just been dealt. Reaching my
hands up, I put them on Michael’s chest and turn him toward the
bar. “Look… why don’t you and Philip go get a
drink and then you guys can get in on the next game, okay?
Michael glances over
at Zach briefly, and then dips his head down. “I didn’t
mean to offend him. He’s a little over reactive, don’t
you think?”
“It’s
fine,” I assure him just to get him away from Zach. “Just
be a little more sensitive. I told you it was hard for him to leave
his home.”
“Sure,”
Michael says before he heads off to the bar.
When I turn back
around, Zach is standing there. “It’s your turn now.
Kelly just shot.”
Placing my hand on
his forearm, I say, “Zach… I’m sorry. I didn’t
invite Michael here tonight, and I apologize for his thoughtless
words to you.”
Zach shrugs his