Chapter 5
Wade
Two soft hands cover my eyes from behind.
A syrupy sweet voice whispers not into my ear but close enough that I feel hot breath on my skin. “Guess who?”
My stomach is thrown into absolute panic mode. I immediately wriggle out from under the sexual-assault trap and spin around on guard. “Ashtyn.” I take three giant steps back. “How were your classes today?”
She takes one step forward. “Boring.”
“That’s not the right attitude.” I look around, checking my surroundings for help. “School is never boring.”
“Are you coming to the football game tomorrow night?”
I walk backward again, feeling a sudden onslaught of sweat gather at my hairline. “Yeah, I’ll be there. Got to support the team. Go Eagles!”
“I’ll wave to you from the sideline while I’m cheering.”
“Oh.” I clear my throat. “Um—” Instinctively, I take another step back, folding my arms across my chest. “How are your grades? Is your mom keeping a close eye on them? I know she was wondering about scholarship opportunities.” I’m grasping at straws, doing anything I can to remind Ashtyn Ellis that she’s a student and I’m not.
“The scholarship applications are so overwhelming.” She tosses her blonde hair off her shoulder, lifting it slightly. “Maybe I could come to your office, and you could help me fill everything out.”
Never. Ever.
“Oh, man. That’s what guidance counselors are for.
I wouldn’t want to do their job for them.
” From the corner of my eye, I spot Ari coming down the hall—the lifeline I desperately need.
“Miss Langford!” I call, waving her over.
I glance back at Ashtyn, already heading for Ari.
“I need to talk to Miss Langford. But it was good seeing you.”
“The offer to come to your office is still open.” Ashtyn spins around, a flirtatious smile teasing her lips. “See you tomorrow, Stevie!”
Ari’s brows drop as she studies Ashtyn walking away. “Stevie?” Her eyes flip to me. “Are you Stevie?”
“It’s a nickname students gave me when both my dad and I worked at the school at the same time. Confusing to have two Mr. Stevensons, you know?”
“Right.”
I don’t understand her frown over the nickname, but I decide to move on anyway. “Hey, so, great class today. Who knew you were such a good teacher?”
She smiles, a genuine one, not the usual suppressed grin she gives me when she’s trying to convince herself and me that she doesn’t think I’m funny…and a little cute.
“I knew I was a good teacher.” She begins walking toward the front office, leaving me to catch up. “You would’ve known too, if you actually interviewed me.”
“I didn’t need to interview you. The job was yours the second you applied. Like a friends-and-family discount. But now that you’re hired, what other skills do you have?”
“Skills?” She eyes me as I hold the office door open for her.
“Yeah, like, can you run the drama club or the school newspaper?” I think back to Ari in high school. She was one of the captains of the cheer team, and she looked amazing in that tiny little skirt—a fond memory of mine. “Sloan Avery is already the cheer coach, so you can’t do that.”
“Do I have to do something?”
“Well, we all kind of double-up. I teach two open P.E. classes, coach lacrosse in the spring, and run the fly-fishing club.”
Her eyes narrow into adorable little slits. “Is this for extra pay?”
“Nothing in this town is for extra pay.”
She stops in front of the teacher’s boxes, searching for Mr. Jeppson’s. “I guess I’ll run the school newspaper.”
“And be in charge of some activities at the fall festival.”
She gives me a disapproving look.
“Hey, we’re all making sacrifices,” I say.
“Fine,” she huffs as she flips through all the English teacher mail we’ve saved over the last week.
“Rosie Harper is in charge of the fall festival this year. You can be the liaison between the high school and Rosie.” Her eyes flick up like the mention of Rosie sweetened the deal for her.
“We need the students to run a couple of booths or activities. One idea I had is a kissing booth.” I lean my shoulder against the wall, facing her.
“It would give you an easy opportunity to kiss me.”
“Wade, everybody knows you’re a manwhore. Your existence alone provides an easy opportunity to kiss you.”
My smile pushes wider. “Man, I’ve missed you.”
She rolls her lips together, fighting that grin again.
In high school, no one was more fun to flirt with than Ari Langford.
A man could spend his whole life in search of the kind of hard-earned but well-worth-it “chase” she provides.
She’s the whole package: funny, outgoing, full of energy, and sweet. And that’s me being a gentleman and leading with the personality stuff. There’s a whole list of her physical traits I’m attracted to. But I’ll keep that list to myself.
“Oh, come on,” I say, infusing my voice with a little rural New England charm. “I hear your mom wants to set you up with a local guy. It might as well be me.”
“I forgot how fast gossip travels in this town—something I have not missed in my nine years living away.”
“Is it really gossip if it came straight from my mom to our family dinner table?”
This grabs her attention. “You still live at home?”
“Why wouldn’t I? My mom makes the best casserole in Vermont. Besides, don’t you live at home too?”
“Unfortunately,” she mutters as she turns to leave the office.
I waste no time following after her. “I’ll never understand your hatred for Vermont.”
“I don’t hate Vermont.”
“The great state of Vermont gave you Noah Kahan.”
“True.”
“So if you don’t hate Vermont, then you must hate Autumn Ridge.”
“I don’t hate Autumn Ridge.”
“You don’t like it either. All you talked about in high school was leaving, finding some place better, and marrying someone far away or else you’d be stuck here forever.” I hold the door open for her again, letting her pass through.
“I never said that.”
“Oh, yes, you did.” I know because it struck a chord.
The girl of my dreams or the hometown I love.
Ari’s desire to leave Autumn Ridge never made it possible to have both.
I can’t end up with a woman who just wants to leave this place.
But now that she’s back, maybe I can change her mind about this place.
She stops walking and faces me. “Well, the joke’s on me because it looks like I’m stuck here for at least a year.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll show you a good time while you’re here. Convince you why I love this small town so much.”
There’s a tiny breath of laughter. “I bet.”
“Was it at least a good first day of school?”
“Yeah, it was.”
“Well, then, that’s a start.”
“Mr. Stevenson,” the school intercom blares through the speakers, “there’s a phone call for you.”
“It’s tough to be important.” She smirks.
“Right?” I turn to leave but pause. “By the way, I need you at the football game tomorrow night.”
“What?”
“First home game vs. the Winooski Vikings.”
“Yeah, I know what a football game is, but why do I have to come?”
Because that’s where I’ll be.
Instead of showing my cards, I answer, “You’re selling tickets during the first half. You’ll love it.” Defeat crosses over her face. “We’re all sacrificing, remember?”
“Yes, I can see that.”
“Have a good day, Miss Langford,” I call over my shoulder.
Ari, reining in her smile, is the last thing I see before I escape into the office.