Chapter 16 Need an Eraser Room
Need an eraser room
Tinker couldn’t stop by the school until Thursday afternoon.
He was due back at Leonidas to update Graham on the birthday party event but decided to stop by the school to invite Abby to a barbecue on Sunday.
Who was he kidding? Even without an excuse, he’d started heading to the school after his meeting.
Messaging and talking to Abby on the phone every night wasn’t cutting it. He wanted to see her. He was more restless than usual, twitchy. It didn’t help that Angie kept giving him sly glances and muttering “mmm hmm” when she passed him.
Phillip, the front office assistant, grimaced when Tinker traded his license for the visitor’s pass. So Phillip hadn’t warmed up since their last meeting. Tinker made his way down the hall and spotted James in the atrium, holding up a sheet of plywood and patting his tool belt.
“Need a hand?” Tinker asked.
“Hey. Grab that tape measure over there on the toolbox.” James pointed to his right, holding the sheet vertical with his left.
Tinker snagged the tape measure and placed it in James’s hand.
“Hold this.” James wobbled the plywood and Tinker grabbed the edges.
Movement in a hallway drew his attention, and he smiled as Abby entered the atrium with a student. She was holding a sheaf of papers and pulled a pencil out of her bun to scribble a note as she walked.
“Hold it still, dingus. I can’t make clean measurements if you’re jerking the wood all over the place,” James said.
Tinker realized the sheet was leaning and moved it back into position.
James made several marks along the edge and released the tape measure, letting it retract with a snap. “Quit mooning and go talk to her. I know that’s why you’re here anyway.”
“I came to see if you needed any help. And I’m not mooning.”
“See those girls?” James pointed to the far side of the atrium. “Giggling over the floppy-haired kid over there? You might as well join them for all the help you’re giving me right now. Mooning.” He harrumphed to drive his point home.
“I’ll show you mooning,” Tinker said. Not that James was wrong. He felt more than a little ridiculous showing up at the school just to catch a glimpse of Abby.
“Better not. Showing your ass in a school will get you put on all sorts of lists.”
“Anyone tell you you’re a pain in the ass?” Tinker asked.
“The missus. All the time. Why do you think I’m here? She saw you.”
“What?” Tinker looked and found Abby waving at him with a look of surprise. “You got this?”
“I’ve had it, dunderhead. Go.”
“Cool. Later.” He let go of the wood and left James muttering to himself.
“Hey,” Abby said. “What are you doing here? I didn’t think you were able to help.”
Tinker shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I had some time and figured I’d stop by.”
“I wish I’d known—I’d have asked you to grab me a tea on the way. Although, if you’re on your bike, I guess you don’t have cup holders.”
“I’m in one of the TLC cars,” he said. “Next time, I’ll message you first.”
She smiled softly. “Okay.”
He glanced at the clock on the wall over her head. Damn, he needed to go back to the office, but he didn’t want to leave without kissing her. “I need to head back. Do you have a minute before I leave?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Uh, somewhere private?” He tried to make his voice somber.
It must have worked because two frown lines appeared between her brows. “My classroom is close; it should be empty.”
Tinker kept his hands in his pockets as he walked with her down the hall.
They entered a large room full of art and fabric.
The front half of the room held large easels and shelves full of what he assumed were art supplies.
The back half had sewing machines, dummies, and fabric tucked into every nook and cranny.
Abby stopped at her desk and set the papers down. “Is everything okay?”
Tinker stepped close and grabbed the sides of her face before kissing her.
He meant it to be somewhat chaste, lips closed.
But Abby gasped and her lips parted. Not a lot, but enough for him to take advantage and slide his tongue along her bottom lip.
Hers touched his lightly, but that was all it took for him to launch a full-on assault of her mouth.
Before he even knew what he was doing, her ass was on her desk and his hard-on was nestled in the juncture of her thighs.
“Where’s the eraser room?” He nipped along her jaw as her head fell back.
“We don’t have one. Smartboards. No chalk.” Her voice was raspy.
“Where do all the kids go to make out then?”
“No idea. I’ll ask.” Abby wrapped her arms around his head and pulled his mouth back to hers.
Just as he braced a hand on the desk to ease her back, a tone came over the announcement system. They jumped apart as if they’d been caught by a teacher.
“As a reminder, all student clubs and activities need to be supervised by a teacher.”
“Shit.” He ran his hand over his head, flattening his short hair. “I’m sorry.”
“Are you though?” she asked.
He grinned. Busted. “Not really, but that wasn’t what I intended to do.”
Abby straightened her shirt and smoothed it over the waistband of her jeans. “What did you intend?”
“Ask if you wanted to barbecue on Sunday.” He rushed on before she could protest. “I know you said no dates, but it’d be a family thing.”
“I don’t have a grill,” she said slowly.
“While that is a travesty, Graham is having one at Leonidas on Sunday.”
She frowned. “Wouldn’t that make it a work thing?”
“Not with Leonidas. We don’t have a lot of boundaries.”
“Doesn’t that get awkward?”
He nodded. “More than you’d think. Especially with Angie. The woman has zero boundaries.”
Abby grabbed one of her elbows and leaned against the edge of her desk. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable leaving Olivia and Will with my mom yet.”
Tinker shrugged. “Bring ‘em.”
“Really?”
“Family barbecue. Graham has his daughter this weekend—she’s around Olivia’s age. I’m sure she’ll appreciate having someone her own age to hang out with. She usually plays on her phone and rolls her eyes at us. You’d be doing Graham a favor.”
Abby stood and took a step closer. “So…he’d owe me a favor in return?”
“He’d owe me one since I invited you.” He snagged her hips and pulled her forward again. “But I’d owe you one.”
She ran her hands up his biceps. “Hmm…what kind of favor?”
He grinned and leaned forward so their faces were only a breath apart. “I have some ideas.”
A throat cleared from behind them.
Abby jumped again and Tinker reluctantly stepped away from her.
Lindsey stood in the doorway, grinning like she held a winning lottery ticket. “Hey guys. Whatcha doin’?”
“Talking,” Abby replied.
“Uh-huh. A couple of your students are looking for you. I’d told them I’d get you to avoid them interrupting your…conversation.”
Abby looked at him. “I need to get back to work.”
“Same. You on for Sunday?” he asked.
He could see the excuse forming as she opened her mouth.
“Bring Lindsey if it makes you more comfortable.”
“Bring me where?” Lindsey asked.
Tinker looked at her. “Barbecue at Leonidas on Sunday. Low-key. Family’s invited.”
Lindsey turned an excited and pleading look to Abby, and he knew he had an ally.
Abby sighed. “Okay. What time?”
“Two o’clock. I’ll send you the address.” He kissed her quickly before turning toward the door, giving a grinning Lindsey a conspiratorial wink on his way out of the room.
Lindsey squeed and clapped her hands.
Abby grabbed them to stop her. The last thing she wanted was for Tinker to hear Lindsey clapping and squealing like a schoolgirl. “Don’t get too excited. It’s a work barbecue.”
“That’s good! He’s introducing you to his friends and coworkers. That means he wants them to know who you are.”
Abby picked up her clipboard and led Lindsey to the door. “I’m not sure… It wasn’t too long ago he was running scared because I have a kid. Now I have two and he’s introducing me and my kids to the people who are essentially his family.”
“He’s been good the last couple of weeks, right? He’s not running anymore. I think it’s great he wants to introduce you to his people. He knows all of yours.”
“He hasn’t met my mom yet,” Abby said.
“Ask if she can go too. Really make it a family affair.”
“What?” Abby looked at her askance.
“What, what? Your mom’s cool as shit. Plus, she can help keep an eye on Will in case you want to talk to Tinker again.”
Abby shot her a baleful look as they entered the atrium. Lindsey just grinned back.
“I’ll ask tonight when he texts me. Right now, I need to focus on this. Who was looking for me?”
“What?” Lindsey asked.
“You said a student was looking for me,” she reminded her.
“Oh. I made that up. I saw you sneaking off and figured I’d interrupt before you both got naked.”
Abby shook her head. “Thanks. I guess.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Lindsey said.
“Are they though?”
That night she didn’t wait for Tinker to initiate their nightly text exchange.
Hey. Is it okay if I bring my mom on Sunday?
Sure. The more the merrier.
Thank you. She can help keep an eye on Will and she wants to meet you officially.
Her phone rang a few seconds later, Tinker’s name flashing across the screen. “Hey,” she answered.
“Meeting the parental unit already. That’s a big step. That means things are getting serious.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that. He sounded like he was joking, but meeting the parents was a big step in a relationship, unless they already knew the parents.
Then it wasn’t a big deal. Was she taking things too far, too soon?
Maybe she shouldn’t go on Sunday. Meeting his friends, meeting hers, and her mom. It suddenly felt overwhelming.
“Abby. I can hear you overthinking it. I’m kidding. Of course your mom can come.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “It was just…I—”
Tinker chuckled. “I’m sorry I gave you a hard time. It’s all good.”
“Okay.”
“Hey. You can always tell me what you’re thinking. I’d rather you tell me straight up than beat around the bush because you think I might not like what you have to say.”
“It’s just, sometimes I overthink things, then I don’t know how to say what I want to say.” It was something she’d struggled with her entire adult life. The only time she hadn’t struggled was when Tony had given her the ultimatum.
“Just blurt it out. I promise it won’t hurt my feelings.”
Abby pressed her lips together and took a deep breath. “I really like you, Christian, and I want to see where this goes, but I’m also afraid of where it will end up.”
The line was quiet for several seconds, prompting her to look at the screen of her phone to see if they were still connected.
“I like you too, Abby.” His voice was low and earnest. “I don’t have any guarantees, but I want to see where this goes as well. All I can promise is I will never purposely hurt you.”
Wasn’t that all anyone could ask for? “Okay.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll see you Sunday,” she said.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”